THE PASSAGE OF TIME
Where have I been? Why so few posts? Here is the easy answer! Commissions! My many years of experience working as a freelance artist for interior designers has given me very effective skills in listening to the tastes and needs of my clients. It has become such a delightful passion of mine to look at an environment and create a piece of art that evokes emotion and inspires, while also being in harmony with the existing space.
Most of the artwork sold originate from commissions. Of course, I sell many paintings right off the art festival booth wall but, just as frequently, a patron sees something in my booth that inspires them to order a custom piece.
So…it’s time for me to start speaking and celebrating these project that I love so much!
In this blog I will speak about a painting commission that I received last November while I was on vacation in Israel. The clients are wonderful people (Hi Dave and Lisa!) and they met me in a show near Detroit called Arts Beats and Eats. They loved my florals and, when their new home was ready, they contacted me for a piece that would display prominently at the top of the stairs in their beautifully designed, open plan living space.
Upon request, they gave me videos and photos of the interior, and we discussed at length their hopes and expectations, but for the most part they gave me creative control to design what I felt would suit their space and their personalities. The size that we agreed would be best was 48” high by 72” wide.
Let me take a moment now to say that every single commission I receive is important and special to me. I do not take it lightly that someone chooses to have a piece of my work in their home to bring them joy or inspiration. I put my heart and soul into every one. And when the painting will grace a beautiful home, in such a place of honor, in such a prominent way, as this painting would, it is almost an overwhelming honor.
“The Passage of Time” original painting by Christine Adele Moore
So I have this commission and I’m going to paint flowers and I’m going to paint the colors so that it will be in harmony with my clients home. What else do I put into it? Well, when an artist paints, if she is painting from her soul, she’s going to paint her experiences into that work. I’m not just painting flowers, I am painting the emotions that I want those flowers to represent and evoke.
This painting, titled The Passage of Time is about acceptance of life‘s many and unstoppable changes. My last several years have been filled with massive change on a personal level. Soul shaking changes. Many things I’ve had to come and understand, accept, celebrate and get through. Many joys and losses.
So…on my vacation when I received the first inquiry about the commission, I’d been thinking deeply about how to be in harmony and not in resistance to life’s transitions, and cultivate a calm and go-with-the-flow energy.
In this painting, titled, The Passage of Time, I sought to find acceptance and beauty in the ever-changing landscape of life’s experiences. Look within and you will see flowers which are just blooming, and those which are starting to fade and lose their color. See flowers losing their petals while others are just emerging, exploding with new life and energy. This is a real garden. Full of life and death. And all of it is beautiful. If you look at it in the right way.
Painted in my typical style with layers of acrylic, paints, reflective materials and clear mediums on canvas.
As it worked out, I was able to actually drive this commission all the way to her new home in Michigan, which was an absolute joy. With the expert help of all hands on deck, we got the painting hung and that is where it hangs today. I can’t wait to visit it again the next time I am in Royal Oak! As well as the wonderful clients who commissioned it.
