Picture sitting there in the crowd of other parents. The band has just played Pomp and Circumstance and the graduates have just marched across the stage. Finally, the school president calls your daughter’s name. Ahh, the lump in the throat. There’s your baby, all grown up. Just look at her. Wow. You feel so proud.
Okay, well that’s how I felt when I received this photo (above) from Naples Lifestyle Magazine. My artwork is being featured in the magazine (because my client’s home is being featured in the magazine) in February, 2020 and the writer had some questions for me:
Would you please tell me about how you approached this beautiful work?
My client’s interior designer gave them color swatches to forward to me. The swatches of paint and fabric gave me a good idea of what colors to use in the painting as the main colors as well as accent colors. I also had a good idea of what type of abstract art the Judy's preferred, so that dictated the general style. Then the painting was begun. First, I build up a textured background with modeling compound and gesso, then I cover the entire piece with reflective metallic leaf (aluminum leaf in this case). The colorizing is all done with layer on layer of oil paint, then the finish is applied. They requested a high gloss finish, so I used a solar-resistant resin (Florida-safe), applied in five layers to cover all the texture to the point it left the final surface glassy smooth.
Do you do much work for homes where the color scheme or theme is provided? How does that work?
As far as color scheme, I do a lot of work with interior designers and home owners who provide photos of the space and / or color swatches they're using as the basis for the color scheme. As are as the theme goes, if they want a landscape painting, they can look at my website and give me an idea of what they prefer, or they often provide a photo (one they've taken from their favorite vacation or one they find) and I'll use that as the inspiration for the painting. For an abstract painting, they can provide color ideas and then photos of different abstract paintings they like. That lets me know the abstract styles they're attracted to, so I'll use those ideas as inspiration for my own piece.
This painting was really special to me because it represents ten amazing days at my clients awesome log mansion in Breckenridge, Colorado. We exchanged ten days for me and all my family at the cabin for this painting. So we spent time in God’s country, hiking, biking, fishing, hot tubing and lots and lots of laughing. I love bartering. It makes everyone happy!
