commissions
Historical Family Portrait, a recent commission
I had the absolute pleasure of reproducing this family portrait, an ancient black and white photo, in oil on canvas! This one was especially a challenge since the old photo I had for a reference was very faded. It was printed on a postcard! Missing was an exact date and I had to imagine who took the photo, what the circumstances were, and how it ended up printed on this now aged and stained postcard stock.
I invented some of the detail after researching other antique photos from around the same time period, but didn’t want to add too much detail and alter the images and personality of the people in the photo. I also added some color, but sparingly, as I wanted to reproduce the feeling of this old faded photograph.
Carefully studying the form and gesture of each person, I worked to capture them as accurately as I could, and to represent the beauty and dignity each person displayed. The photo looks as if it was a sunny day as their faces are slightly shadowed, probably on a Sunday before or after church, everyone dressed in their best. I loved how the younger boys look as if they were growing out of their suit jackets, while the oldest boy was proudly growing into his. I couldn’t tell what the woman on the far left was holding; I imagined that she may have picked some wildflowers on her way.
I wanted to show the weathered texture of the building they’re standing in front of, not sure if it was a house or a barn. I imagined how warm the earth felt beneath their bare feet and how proud and fancy the young girls felt with crisp white bows in their hair.
As I worked, and carefully studied the photograph for weeks, I fell in love with each one, but especially the matriarch, the woman seated in the center with the rest of the family lovingly arranged around her. Her beauty inspired me to do a separate study of her. She’s amazing!
Here are some of the wonderful photos that inspired me when I researched.
Immortalize Your Favorite Friend
I absolutely love making portraits of people’s beloved teddy bears and other toys! Getting to know them, hearing their story, posing them, and lighting them to accentuate their best features…
Go up to the attic or under your bed or in the back of your closet and find your favorite childhood toy again. Give him a hug and then commission me to paint a portrait for you!
I want to paint your things
For years I’ve painted things, my things – objects I’ve collected and inherited, positioned in an eccentric contrivance or a more conventional arrangement, sometimes nestled among abstract expressionist elements. Monumental objects that require immortalization as well as small almost incidental items that collected dust on a grandmother’s shelf for ages.
Now I’d like to combine my passion and my need to support myself. I’m available for commissions (various sizes and prices to fit your needs.) Send me a photo of your cherished, heirloom, beloved, item and I can reproduce it in paint so you can display an oil paint reproduction of your item next to the beloved item, or split up the heirloom and it’s intricate reproduction so you can keep one and your ever-squabbling sibling can keep the other, allowing everyone to enjoy said heirloom.
Email me at paintingpoppy@gmail.com
Immortalized Items – Commissioned Works
I love to paint objects. The still life paintings I create for myself include antique and vintage, sometimes kitsch, sometimes creepy, sometimes random, items. These are the things I love to look at, the things I collect and surround myself with. On canvas, I surround them with abstract elements, exploring personal connotations and meanings of the objects and their history.
My love of things, arranging them, lighting them in a way that highlights the intricacies of the item, creating shadows that interest, that could capture some other mystery, makes me also want to capture other peoples’ objects and immortalize them in oil paint. Do you own a cherished heirloom item or items that you’d like to share with other members of your family? All of you can’t have the same clock on your mantel, or your grandmother’s babydoll on your shelf. I could compose these items in a significant and sentimental commissioned work just for you! So someone in your family can own the cherished object and someone else can display the unique painting of it.
This past summer I painted for my step father. I looked around his house and selected items that said “Moe.” A metronome, an hour glass, his grandfather’s pocket watch, his mala beads, I combined these things with a small clay vase of fresh roses in rich red to add the vibrancy of life. And a bug crawls up the front of the table, just for fun. I call this painting Time for Moe.
(detail)
paintingpoppy 