{ let's create } commissioning a painting

Do you have a space on your wall that's just screaming out for a piece of art, and you know in your mind what you want, but you can't find it anywhere? Well, why not ask an artist to create a commissioned piece especially for you! Don't be afraid to approach your favourite and make your special request. In my experience with commissioning paintings, not only do you get the exact piece that you want, but the artist doesn't charge any more for a commissioned piece.

A few weeks ago, I won this beautiful painting by Susan Bailie in her Facebook art auction:

Wonderland 5 by Susan Bailie

There was another painting that I bid on too, but somebody else won it:

Wonderland 2 by Susan Bailie

As much as I love the painting that I won, I couldn't get the one that got away out of my mind. So I asked Susan if she could create a similar painting for me, and she she's be happy to :-)

The starting point was Wonderland 2. Susan couldn't create an exact replica of the painting, but she used it as a guideline to create my painting. I love the colours in Wonderland 2, so those are the colours that Susan used. But she created a completely different look with the foil and a different texture with the paint. A few weeks later, Susan e-mailed me a picture of the finished painting:

Wonderland 6 by Susan Bailie

Super-pretty! Except in my mind, I had envisioned it having more turquoise. I went to Susan's house to see the painting in person, and although it was really hard to tell Susan that it wasn't quite what I had in mind, she told me to be 100% honest. So I asked her if she would be able to add some turquoise between the purple on the bottom and the green on the top. Susan said it wasn't a problem at all, and a few days later she sent me this picture of the modified painting:

Revision 1 - Wonderland 6 by Susan Bailie 

Oh yeah, now we're talkin'! Doesn't the turquoise just bring the painting to life? :-) I asked Susan to add just a bit more turquoise, and voila...

Revision 2 - Wonderland 6 by Susan Bailie 

PERFECTION!

I'm beyond thrilled with my new painting :-) It's exactly what I wanted, and I like it even better than the painting that inspired it. A huge thank you to Susan for being an absolute pleasure to work with. As I mentioned, it was hard to tell her that the first incarnation of the painting wasn't quite what I envisioned in my mind. But she was totally cool with it and wanted to make sure that I was totally happy with my painting. Which I most definitely am :-)

A pseudo-time lapse of the evolution of Wonderland 6...

If you're in the Ottawa area, you can check out Susan's art at The New Art Festival the weekend of June 2nd and June 3rd in The Glebe. We have lots of talented artists here in the city, so let's get out there and show them some love! And next week I'll be featuring Susan and more of her work here at DTTD, and there might even be a little somethin' for you to win... stay tuned for that!

On a completely different note, tomorrow I'm heading to TO with half the TBBs to attend BlogPodium on Saturday and for some serious retail therapy. I've had a West Elm gift card burning a hole in my wallet for 1-1/2 years, it's time to put it to good use! I'm looking forward to seeing my blog friends again, meeting some blog friends for the first time, and making new blog friends :-)