SUMMER / FALL
COMMISSIONS
Commission a painting
A limited number of portrait, figurative, landscape, still life, and narrative commissions are available this season.
You do not need to arrive with a complete plan. A photograph, a person, a relationship, a memory, or a general idea is great.
You may already know exactly what you want painted.
Either is enough to begin.
Painterly commissions start at $2,500.
Every painting includes a custom-built standard frame.
What is worth preserving, to you?
A commissioned painting begins with something that deserves a solid, physical presence: a person, relationship, place, memory, or idea.
I’ll help you choose the scale, composition, visual direction, and framing.
The process is collaborative, but you do not need to know painting terminology or make every decision alone.
INTERIORS: As we enter the colder seasons one thing is certain; we will be spending a lot of our time indoors. The influence rooms in our homes and offices have on us may be, a measure of the sum of our perceptions of the world outside.
How much of our decor aims to influence others' perceptions of us? How many opportunities do we have to create reminders for ourselves of what each day means to us, for ourselves? I want to bring the work we do into a space where we can exercise both self control, and self-expression equally. It’s in this middle-space we find the spirit which motivates us to do anything at all.
What room has significance enough to document its qualities or design?
PORTRAITS: At one time, a photograph was believed to have an ability to capture its subject’s soul. Today we know they may just as easily immortalize a lie. Lighting, smoke, mirrors, beauty filters, and post-production editing are tools we are all familiar with.
Paintings have always distilled the life of a person they aim to portray, and placed that into the narrow vessel of an artist’s perception. Many filters exist between the sitter, an artist’s mind, and the canvas. Portraits ultimately capture a divine collaboration between two or more personalities.
Is there a person, group, or pet in your life who you’d like to commemorate?
STILL LIFE: Objects we have come to know as totems for a life well-lived and documented may enter our homes in surprising ways. Each one of us cherishes some physical thing as a submission to ideas of value.
Historically, the revelatory nature of widely recognized symbolic language supported a rich connection to everyday objects; the pomegranate, fish kept in a bowl, a carnation or daffodil. Today we may find these objects representing little more than their sticker price.
Is the idea of encoding purposeful messaging within a collection of objects appealing to you?
LANDSCAPE: Place and memory are often directly linked to identity. Do we remember a destination as having impacted us in some way? Perhaps there’s more value in recognition of an impact we’ve had on some specific location. Who designed the diverse tree-lined field in a local park we love to visit? What were these landscapes like before farms or cities occupied them? Maybe the farmhouse itself conjures up one warm memory of a time when we experienced more peace in our daily life.
Paintings of places in nature have always aimed to reconcile our place within them.
Is there a place you’ve been that is tied to some core memory?
THREE WAYS THE PAINTING CAN FEEL
PAINTERLY
Direct, energetic, and visibly painted. Brushwork remains active, and the painting holds onto the speed and decisions of its making.
From $2,500**
DEVELOPED
More time is given to the likeness, composition, color, clothing, and setting while retaining visible brushwork and movement.
From $3,500**
LAYERED
Built slowly through drawing, underpainting, color, and successive refinement. This process allows for greater depth, control, and detail.
From $4,500**
**Couples, families, and complex narrative paintings begin at $3,500 and are quoted individually.
SCALE AND PRICE
Choose the scale that fits the painting — and the room.
Size has a major effect on both the physical presence and price of a painting. It changes how the work occupies the room, how much of the figure can be shown, and how much space is available for clothing, gesture, setting, and surrounding objects.
INTIMATE
11 × 14 through 16 × 20 inches
Usually $2,500–$4,500
SUBSTANTIAL
18 × 24 through 24 × 30 inches
Usually $3,500–$7,500
ARCHITECTURAL
28 × 36 inches and larger
Usually $6,000–$15,000+
Reference note:
Paintings of comparable scale currently represented by my gallery are priced at $5,500 and $8,500. Final commission pricing depends on scale, process, number of figures, setting, and complexity.
CUSTOM FRAMING
Every painting includes a custom frame.
The standard frame is designed and hand-finished in relationship to the completed artwork, so the painting arrives ready to live with.
Decorative upgrades are available, including wider or architectural profiles, carved or applied ornament, antiqued and custom-painted finishes, metal leaf, and genuine gold leaf. These options are quoted according to materials and labor.
SELECTED WORK
Back to the beginning.
Send a few sentences about the subject, any photographs you would like me to see, the approximate scale, your preferred completion date, and your budget range.
A complete proposal is not required. I will help determine whether the project is workable, suggest a direction, and provide a written price and timeline before anything begins.
Submitting an inquiry does not obligate you to begin a project.
Summer and fall availability is limited.