I love doing commissions. Each one is a connection to a place or thing someone loves, deserving of a lasting tribute. A work that truly captures what you value in a subject makes a priceless gift. And an oil painting can last for centuries.
My clients love my work for the perception and wide experience I bring, as much as the skill to set forth the things they value, down to individual blades of grass.
• I work from the best information available. For Karvia Kirkko it was a postcard (shown in Client Comments) and some snapshots. Painting the foreground grass for Miller Barn (2), I decided it needed a field mouse. Later, it turned out that Mrs. Jager collects ceramic mouse figurines!
• For portraits I usually photograph the subject myself. I put the elements together in Photoshop so we’ll have a good idea of the final painting before I touch canvas. Then I lay them out in pencil. As I go along, you’ll receive progress photos.  
• Each commission typically takes three to six months. No fine print. When your project blossoms into the piece you dreamed of, when it sings, only then do we call it done.