“Turkish Delight”
Creating “Turkish Delight” for dear friends of mine was a wonderful experience. When asked to do a painting for their home, given no restrictions except to be bold and colourful, I was thrilled. Commissions can have their challenges for the artist and the collector. Ideas need to be communicated in a way that enables the artist to turn the collector’s vision into a reality. I was able to take as much time as I needed and as much artistic license to create their painting. Knowing them so well made a huge difference in the choices I made for colours, marks, collage papers, and shapes. For the collage I used maps of Turkey, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, Calgary, and Paris, I wanted to add things into the painting that had meaning for them. Noy is from Turkey originally so I wanted to write their names into the painting, I used Arabic and wrote personal messages to them both. I was so excited to deliver this painting knowing how perfect it was for them and their home.
“Petit Verdot” and “Tempranillo”
When you’re asked to paint a place that is very special and meaningful to the collector the most important thing is to be able to translate that onto the canvas. Erin and Doug have been visiting Osoyoos for many years, it has become an integral part of who they are as a couple, family, and as individuals. Their photos embodied everything they felt and loved about Osoyoos. I had not painted landscape or realistically for a while so that added another dimension to this special project. As I worked on them I fell in love with these paintings. The location and subject were beautiful and unique. This project was different from what I am doing now in my work. It was exciting to deliver the paintings to Doug and Erin for the big reveal! Thankfully they loved them as much as I did.
