I accept and deeply appreciate both painting and mural commissions. Most of the murals on the mural page were commissioned, so please feel free to view that page as well. I think of a commissioned work as a collaboration. You bring me the initial idea (by sending me an email or calling me or talking to the gallery owner where you found my work – here’s how to contact me) and we work back and forth in mockups to design the look of the painting. It is usually clear to both of us when we have the right image. I then paint the image for you. Commissions make memorable and amazing personalized gifts. A painting can make your surroundings come alive, remind you of an important or treasured time or feeling or capture the impossible and make it look real. Flowers that cannot live in the same zone bloom in the same garden, the sunset that did not photograph well is imbued with the correct lighting as if you are standing on shore once again, portrait subjects can be surrounded by symbolic elements to further communicate aspects of their personality. Art is the flight of imagination, able to capture the way the human eye sees color in real life, and the way things FEEL like they look in your memories.
Ask me about any sort of commission. You can see examples of other types of works in my portfolio. I love to paint a wide array of subjects. I will let you know if I do not have a comfortable grasp on how to paint your project. Perhaps I can point you in the right direction to find your ideal artist if the project is not a good fit for me. I welcome all inquiries and will be happy to give you a quote. I usually charge by size and adjust based on complexity.
A few examples of prior commissions:
This was a very fun fantasy portrait commissioned to celebrate many happy new beginnings in life: a move to Hawaii, a new marriage, a new home. From my beautiful muse to the design of her ocean domain, this painting was filled with joy from beginning to end!
A triple portrait of twin girls and their older brother. The three siblings are in a poppy field which was beautiful and a fun challenge. I loved working on this painting!
This portrait with cute dogs was commissioned as a wedding present. It was the thoughtful gift of a close friend to the couple. I even got to sneakily meet the bride before painting her portrait. I like to see my subjects in person (if I can) to get a sense of their personalities. I usually do not paint smiles that show teeth in a portrait, but she is almost always sharing her radiant smile, so it would not look right in this case if I painted her wearing a serious expression.
Pets often break “the rules” we humans try to impose on them. This little bird, Tweety, escaped from his cage and hid in the potted plants, waiting for his chance to nibble on his owner’s forbidden delicate African Violets. Sometimes he succeeded, but this time, he was discovered before he could eat any of the beautiful flowers. An adorable photo was taken to commemorate his bad habit. Years passed and the photo faded, but I worked to pull the colors back to lifelike tones in this commission that celebrates the rebel in all of us (and our naughty pets)..
The client that commissioned this piece wanted a shama because they are common in their yard and they love to hear these incredible birds sing. We tried a few different types of flowers in the mockups and settled on torch ginger.
The client who asked for this piece plays mahjong and had a wonderful classic bakelite set. I was able to go in person to arrange the tiles. The hanging hardware allows her to rotate the image since there is not correct up or down.
This painting of a beloved rehabilitated bird was done as a Christmas gift for friends of my client. It depicts a sweet rescued bulbul bird. The basket in the painting was one of its modes of transportation since an injury to its wing made it impossible for the cute little bird to fly.
The client who asked for this painting had an adorable but slightly blurry photo of a baby bulbul they had rescued and rehabilitated in the past. It was perched on a stem. We decided to perch the baby on purple orchids since.
This painting was a gift from my client to a friend who had rescued an injured cattle egret and named the bird “Slinky”. After years of companionship, Slinky had passed away recently, and my thoughtful client wanted to give her friend a present of commemoration. Thus we placed this sweet bird in a sunlight-soaked dreamy heaven of compost piles and other bird friends. One of the tricky bits with this piece was to retain the injuries that made Slinky identifiable while not making them distracting.
Please see my mural page for more commissions. Almost all my murals are commissioned work.