An Inspirational Commission

A couple months ago I had the honor of painting a special piece for a lovely local lady in Big Sky. She had seen my work at a couple places in town and had also browsed my website, leaving a wonderful message about how she loved my work and especially my characterized bears. She then asked me to paint a larger painting of a bear painting I had done originally in a smaller size. I was excited to be able to create this piece for her with reference to the other painting while keeping the feeling and image fresh, exciting, and unique to what she wanted. The canvas was 24x36 and super fun to paint because of the larger size. Painting large has become a new favorite way to capture the freeing feeling of creating art and the flow that can come with having more space to work with.

This was the original smaller painting that sparked her interest. It was a gift to my mother for a birthday or Christmas gift and was on a smaller 11x14 canvas.

The larger and more elaborate commission piece I created with reference to the smaller image had similar elements but with more detail, a more distinct style that I had created in the years after painting the original painting, and had highlights of metallic paint in the bear, water, trees, and sky. The addition of the metallic paint adds a 3-dimensional quality to the painting and during certain times of the day, the light will hit these accents and creates new ways of seeing each element of the piece.

This was the final creation for her unique commission.

While delivering this piece to her, she mentioned that she was traveling shortly after our meeting to see a friend who had just found out they had cancer. I was saddened by the news and wished her safe travels and hugs to her and her friend who was going through such a tough time. She did mention that although sad circumstances were affecting her, receiving the painting that day had brought her such joy and a silver lining of sorts. On returning from her trip to visit her friend, she contacted me again to tell me that the painting held a sense of happiness to her and was helping her to say uplifted while giving support to her friend, as well as the fact that while the light changed throughout the day in her home, the painting and its highlights changed with it.

I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to create special pieces of art for people. The happiness that I feel when I create art makes me feel whole and is my truest passion. It's thrilling to know that feeling can be translated through my work to others. It is truly a gift, an amazing opportunity to create joy and happiness for someone that they can enjoy over and over again!