"Imported" Wine Bottles...Oil Painting...Commission

"Imported Wine Bottles".....36x48........Oil......Commission(sold)

This is a commissioned painting for a nice gentleman in Missouri. He found me via my blog (Yay blog!) by googling wine bottle artist (yay Google!). This is the second largest piece I have done.


I loved working on this painting! The wine bottles were "imported" to me, here in Mississippi, from Missouri. Each one is from a local Missouri winery that Jim and his wife have visited and each one has an interesting story to go with it.


It was a long back and forth process but this past week the painting finally went to its new home and Jim is very happy with it which makes me VERY happy!


Commissions are a diferent breed of painting....I explained it to Jim this way:


For a commissioned painting to be successful...

• first you have to realize what it is, exactly, that you want
• then you have to communicate that to me
• then I have to understand what you are saying that you want
• then I have to get my eyes, brain and brushes to execute what I heard that you want
• then when you see it you interpret, in your own way, to decide if it is what you wanted

There are many points along the way where a disconect can occur. I think my years of painting murals in people's homes have helped me to be a good listener when it comes to what people want. I recognize some of the pitfalls and ask a LOT of questions. When a client says "I want it to be sort of like this picture" I ask what it is they like about it. Sometimes the end result bears little resemblance to the orginal inspiration. But that's the fun of it!