I love creating original oil paintings and the feeling of shared joy that comes from a collector's first reaction to a finished work of art in which they were part of the creative process. It starts with a meeting to see the space where the painting will hang and to listen to the collector express their vision of what they have in mind. In this case in addition to the collector I was honored to work with Donna Hoffman of Interiors by Donna Hoffman in the brainstorming process sharing thoughts on composition, color, size. Donna has been awarded 7 Designer of the year awards from the International Design Society and American Society of Interior Design and also honored with 3 'Best of Houzz' awards. I knew I was in good creative company! I sketch, I hunt for the right images and colors. In this case because the painting was so large (42" x 42"), I created a few small studies to be sure I was on the right track regarding composition and color. After any tweaking is needed, I then take the painting to scale and work large in oil with a combination of brush and palette knife. It is hard to tell in these images but the texture created by the palette knife adds a wonderful dimension that captures the light on the edges of the paint. Here is a photo of the small study I created as a reference:
My collector, Loretta Hutchinson, is a partner in Thrive Wealth Management. Loretta was named Philadelphia Magazine's 5 Star Wealth Manager for years 2012 through 2015 and has also received the Women's Choice Award in 2013 and 2014 for Financial Advisors. I was honored to work with both Loretta and Donna on this project. As the Christmas holiday approaches, I am finishing up the year with a few smaller in scale commissions then parking my palette knife to enjoy the holidays with family and friends. I am taking orders for 2017 so please feel free to contact me at 267-980-2777 or sbmorrell@me.com if you would like to be part of creating an original oil painting for your home or office.
