commissions

A while ago, I received an email from a fellow in St. Louis, Missouri.  He really liked my paintings, and asked me if one of the violin pieces on my website were available.  All of my violin paintings are sold, but I told him that I could do another, in the same vein, were he interested.  He was interested, and so our dialogue began.  The exciting thing was, his commission featured the very things that I most enjoy painting.  And so, he would be getting my very best work.

Some weeks later, and here is the painting that he commissioned.  I’ve been unable to feature it on this blog, as of yet, because the painting was actually a surprise Christmas gift, given by the man commissioning, to his friend.  A bit confusing, but suffice to say, I am able to feature the painting now.  It’s not entirely finished, as I have a bunch of finishing touches, and modifications here and there.  All told, I am very, very pleased with this piece, it was just such a joy to paint- and I think that is evident in the actual paint application, itself.

Before the strings went in, I painted in the rosin dust, which comes from the bow being drawn across the string.  A proper violinist never lets rosin dust accumulate, as it damages the varnish on the surface of the wood.  A fiddler lets rosin dust accumulate, to show that he is not a proper violinist.

I’ve been incredibly busy, painting away these past few weeks.  I have five commissions underway, most of which are surprises, so I am unable to feature them on this blog.  But, what I can say is that it is wonderful to be painting so much, for about nine or ten hours a day.

The following commission is of that same boat cabin, featured a few blogs back.  The boat has real significance, to the fellow receiving the painting.  He went through a really difficult time, and his response was to move down south to the Carolinas, buy this boat, and fix it up in a harbor.  He spent weeks, months, restoring every inch of this vessel.  And as the boat came together, so did he.  So this is not really a painting of a boat interior, but it symbolizes much more, which I tried to convey in light.  I love a painting that has an irony, in that the subject is simple, but the meaning is much more.

A short while ago, I set out to the south shore docks with my easel, palette, and brushes in hand.  I stretched over a wide gap between dock and boat.  It was about seven in the morning, and as my foot made contact with the surface of the boat, I realized there was trouble- the whole boat was covered in frost.  My foot slipped, my brushes flew in the air, and as I spun about in the air, I managed to throw everything on board the boat.  Just as I was about to fall into the water, I caught the edge of the boat- and was saved from a dip in the icy, oily dock waters.  It was twenty something degrees- ah, the perils and travails of the painter’s path, you never know where this action packed career will take you next.