Commissions

If you send me digital copies of your pictures, I will collage them into the background of a piece that is the size you choose from the list below.  I can add any quote or phrase that is most meaningful to you.

The person who ordered the piece pictured said it makes her happy every time she walks by it.

Here is the piece after the pictures were pasted, and I antiqued it.	Here is the final piece.

 

You can view a larger version of the final piece on the Commissions Product Page.

Pictures tell the story of our lives. If you watched the video on my "About Heather" page, you know that my mission is to help others grow their souls. A piece like this is a wonderful reminder of how our souls and lives have grown and changed along our journey.

I require a 50% up front booking fee to begin working on a commission. Once I finish the piece, I require that the remainder be paid before I ship it. (Shipping is complimentary within the U.S.)  The size and price options are listed below. Each piece is created on birch wood art board. The "depth" represents how deep the art board is.

The following sped up video shows part of the process. The full process is outlined in the text following the video. 

Here is the process I used to create the piece.

This particular board is 16” wide X 20” high X 7/8” deep birchwood art board.  The first step was to add gesso, like primer.

Then I gathered the pictures from the customer, who emailed them to me, adjusted the color and lighting and restored old pictures in Photoshop and sized each picture.

They were all printed on my Canon inkjet printer on Canon matte photo paper using Canon ink.  I’ve learned that using the name brand makes a big difference in the quality.

I included stories the customer emailed me about a few of the pictures and printed them on antiqued paper.

The pictures covered the entire board except for a small strip on the bottom right, where I added a floral design and the map of Poland which is where her ancestors hailed.

After I arranged the pictures, I took a picture, mocked up a design and sent it to the customer for approval.

Then I glued all the pictures to the board using matte medium. Each picture has 3 coats of matte medium.  The first coat goes on the board, the second on the back of the picture, and the third on top of the picture. 

Next, I antiqued the piece (this is optional) by covering the entire board with Golden brand fluid acrylic quinacridone nickel azo gold mixed with a medium to make the paint transparent.  After applying a small amount of paint, I dabbed most of it off with an old t-shirt, so it gave the photos an antiqued effect.  Then I added other fluid acrylic colors.  The color behind the letters is Anthraquinone Blue.  I tested all my blue shades before deciding on that one.  I painted 2 coats to ensure the letters would pop.

The letters and the white flowers were done with my Cricut cutting machine using card stock paper.

I added the blue flowers because the customer requested Texas blue bells.

The customer also requested sunflowers. They are 3D and made with yellow paint mixed with light molding paste.  For the center of the flowers, I used gloss gel mixed with black paint and “blobbed” it into the middle for a textured effect.

I added glass beads to the flower on the top right after the customer told me she liked them.

The butterflies and dragonflies are also 3D (click here to see a top and side view of 3D elements) and made with molding paste.  I painted them yellow, cut out papers I made using a Gelli plate, and pasted them with heavy matte medium.  I added their bodies from music I cut out from a vintage music book.

The grass at the bottom was drawn with a green charcoal pencil.

I shaded the leaves slightly with different colors of green paint and added a shadow with black charcoal pencil.

I took pictures of the entire piece along the way and turned them black and white to see where I needed more contrast, and as a result added borders in places, like the dots and the swirls at the top.

When I was done with all of that, I felt like it needed more pops of color and that some of the pictures were begging to be brought forward.  I especially felt like her father needed to be prominent in his WWII uniform.  So, along with her father’s picture, I reprinted the Adirondack chair (for its red pop), the travel buddies because they represent friends, living, loving and exploring, the award and bee for the color pop, and the car because I have car envy.

Lastly, I shaded the edges with charcoal and painted the sides black.

I sprayed it with varnish and added a wire to the back with D-hooks.

Finally, I packed it safely and shipped it.