When a client loves your work, but it doesn’t quite fit their space, consignment work is often a solution.  I was nervous about this type of work when I first started painting full-time and had a few requests.

But then, I realized in my decades as a creative director for my own graphic design firm in Washington D.C., interpreting a client’s wishes with beautiful color and design had been the way I made a living for many years.

The only difference in fine art, was that the question it had to answer was “will it fit in with my aesthetic lifestyle”.  “Will it touch the new patron emotionally with color, content and design” is common in both commercial art and fine art. In my design business I often, after a few conversations, had to figure out a way to solve the problem in a way that I loved, but also pleased the client. Art commissions work the same way.

Patterns II started with the client loving a piece they had seen in one of my great galleries that represents me, Gallery 37, in Milford DE.  Having seen one of my wave paintings and loving the style and color patterns, they wanted something larger for their home.  After some back and forth meaningful dialogue, I realized it was the color palette, movement, serenity and the rock formation that had intrigued them in the smaller painting they had seen which was based on a seaside scene in Portugal I had photographed years earlier.

I found it was a joy re-visiting a painting that brought back memories of the trip along the Portuguese coast and a unique photo session for the original painting.  As I was working on a new interpretation, I thought of Monet and his Rouen Cathedral and haystack paintings…subjects he returned to again and again.

I was happy with the results, as was the client. There is a satisfaction not just in the physical painting, but also in interpreting the clients dreams of a piece of art they will live with and love for a long time.

Patterns II, 48 x 36″, oil