Commission Information
why would YOu commission a painting?
Maybe you have a certain spot in your home and you’d like the perfect-sized painting to live there.
Perhaps you would like to give an intentional gift to someone and you know that they love specific things about my work.
It could be that you fell for a piece that you saw but it sold before you could claim it.
Or possibly you’d like something made about a certain place that you love.
These are all great reasons to talk with me about commissioning a work made just for you.
In the past I’ve made work for people about almost everything and anything. A dream someone had? Sure, I’ll paint that. Unpacking a certain theological idea? Let me try it. Paintings as gifts for people working all over the world, each specific to their context? Let me have a go at it.
I’ve learned, however, that saying yes to such varied work, while fun, takes a tremendous amount of time and energy—both things that are in short supply for me these days. Rather than say no to all commissioned work, though, which is what I’ve been doing the past few years, I'm offering a new way of doing commissions that will hopefully mean many of you can acquire pieces you love.
I’m currently doing only work that comes out of the few series that I’m working on. Right now that’s Mountain Landscapes in encaustic, and Tide Pool watercolors: the place specific swirls with wild botanicals as well as the full composition deep dives. If you are interested in work from either of those series, but have a specific size in mind, or would like for it to be made to honor a certain place, or would like something similar to a piece I’ve previously made that is no longer available, you can reach out to me to begin a conversation about your project.
The process works like this:
You will share your ideas around sizing, or perhaps certain elements from previous works you really love, or details that you’d like me to consider. For example, this might include certain botanicals that have meaning to you or a landscape connected to a specific location. But you wouldn’t ask for things that are not already showing up in the work from those series. I wouldn’t be able to paint a dream you had, for instance, unless that dream included mountains or tide pools. Nor, for example, would I be able to make a piece around a certain theological idea, unless it could connect naturally to the ideas of place, journey, memory, etc., that I’m already working on in these paintings.
I share timeline thoughts and general cost information. I can only make encaustic works at certain times of the year, so that is always a factor in the timing.
If you approve, I then go make a painting with those things in mind, but with the freedom to work as I would if I were just making the next painting in the series without a client in mind.
Once I’m finished, I share the piece with you and you get first rights of refusal. If it’s not what you had in mind, you are not committed to the painting, and I can go offer it to my general audience.
If you’d like to bring the painting home with you, then you claim the piece and we talk about details like payment, framing, and delivery/shipping.
My hope, in the end, is that this method provides no risk to either party, but still allows me to make things for specific situations and individuals. You have no risk, because if the piece is not right for you, you can freely walk away. I have no risk because I make the painting I would normally make, without the restrictions and pressure of a traditional commission where the client gives a lot of detailed input.
If you’d like to talk more about ideas that you have or to begin the process of commissioning something, please reach out to me below and we can begin a conversation.
Thank you so much for your support. I’m so grateful for the chance to make work for your homes and the people that you love.
