You are considering working with me to bring a painting into the world.

I am honored by your interest in my practice. Thank you!

Every artist handles commissions a bit differently, and it’s taken me years to figure out the best way to structure this process for my own practice.

It’s taking me a while to figure out how to structure this page, too.

Let’s get some of the easy stuff out of the way first:

I don’t really do conventional portraiture.

If you are looking for a likeness of a person, or a pet, or even a place, I am probably not the person for the job.

I need at least two months to make a painting.

The painting process is, for me, nonlinear in nature. I need time to try ideas and let those ideas fall apart. Time for frustration and for contemplation.

We determine a budget in our initial chat.

Whatever budget we agree on is fixed, regardless of the length of time I need to make the painting. This way, you know exactly how much the process will cost when we begin. The only complicating factor here is shipping. Shipping large paintings can be extremely expensive and difficult to determine precise cost in advance.

Your commissioning me is a gamble, and my process honors that.

The last thing I want is for you to invite a painting into your home that you don’t love. And, I really don’t know what the painting will look like before I make it.

So, there is only one non-refundable fee in this process: the initial deposit (usually about 25% of the full budget). That money allows me to buy materials and get started. If you like the finished painting, wonderful; you pay the remaining balance and invite the painting into your home. If you don’t like the finished painting, we have two options: you can pay the initial deposit again and I’ll start a new painting, or we can just go our separate ways.

I am open to a variety of initial prompts.

Most commissions involve consideration of the future home of the painting. I’m open to precise color matching, so sometimes people provide me with wall paint color swatches if they want to make sure the painting is resonant with a preexisting color spectrum.

Sometimes people will let me know that they really like this or that painting I’ve made, or they’ll be interested in certain visual aspects of prior paintings. These kinds of input work very well for me. Some people give me no input on content at all, and that’s great too. We can talk through what you’re imagining. You can also read about some prior commissions to give you a sense of how other processes have unfolded.

An initial consultation is free.

We can talk or meet up if you’re local. Contact me and let’s get the ball rolling. Include the word “asparagus” in your message and I’ll know you read this page.