Tell me what you think you want, and then I’ll move mountains to get it right.
There are really three Breeds of Commission: ‘Freelance Flower Power’ = Artist allowed to, even encouraged to stretch the boundaries of the brief.
‘Conservative Complimentary’ = Artist better make sure the Creation does bear a credible likeness to the Subject supplied - And improve upon It.
‘The Other one’ = Artist potentially driven to Lopping off an Ear with the creative requests becoming the Culinary equivalent of “Can I have a GF, Vegan, Oil free, Triple Expresso with extra Bubble Tea froth, on the top - maybe in the middle, No! underneath….possibly”.
Fortunately I have never experienced the last Breed…Yet.
Painted in GOA, Flown ‘in Cabin’, delivered by Hand (in a hired Motorhome Batmobile, now Hanging in Trevose Golf & Country Club, Cornwall.
How Much will it cost me? There’s no point in turning this into a Dark Art, so depending on Subject matter, Complexity, Size, what it’s painted on, Framed in what, or not. About £1500 upwards.
Varsity Match Oxford Glory.
This was to be a surprise 50th Birthday present. No.9 had just scored the winning Try at Twickers.
Worldly Beauty - a Hell of a ‘Girl’: she won 21 of 45 races, hit the leader board an additional 13 times, and earned $1.9 Million.
This photo is of her 2 year olf daughter ‘Miraculous Deo’, in full flight stretching to glory. I had to return the original mounted and framed on wood photo of Wordly Beauty and stupidly never took one for myself. The angle I worked from was slightly different - but you get the gist of it.
Work in progress. Trying to emulate the lights of Night racing with vigorous Spray paint and energetic thick Acrylic then Oil paint marks. Such a big canvas that you felt you were doing a full Gym workout reaching one side to the other!
Worldy Beauty crossing the Finish Line. £12,000.
Acrylic, Oil & Spray paint on Deep Box Canvas.
Framed & Gilded by Christina Leder, London. Size: 2.5metres x 1.5m
Going that ‘Extra Furlong’ for the Client.
Commissioned by Lee Amaitis who ran Cantor Fitzgerald, I decided to Hand deliver and explain it to ‘THE BOSS’ (who didn’t really compute just how BIG it was, but I had told him).
Address: 1 America Square, EC3, London. TOP DOG = TOP FLOOR of BIG Building.
Complication: I had Munch my Chocolate Labrador with me.
Decision: Introduce Munch to Mr Lee (well he likes horses….alot).
So, up in the lift we go and into the reception at the top. Politely told to sit and wait outside the Chairman’s office, we do just that. Me, Munch and Wordly Beauty.
Loud Bollocking Alert!: From behind the Chairman’s Office Door tirades of verbals that would make Chef Ramsay sound mute came wafting towards us. Door opens and a savaged Trader scuttles towards the lift to escape. Door shuts. Silence.
Door Opens: Munch breaks free from me and dives straight in…….and all I can hear and see is Man and Labrador in a total Love in. The ‘Brooklyn Bruiser’, nicknamed by the British Press completely disarmed by my four legged cuddle bucket.
Result: A happy Hour spent learning ‘from the Horses Mouth’ about how he mucked out and then grafted his way to being a trainer of the ‘Long Nosed Beasties’, way before he had any wish or idea of Broking.
Bonus: Having recently remarried, Munch’s new Best Friend asked me if I would paint another super-large painting of his wife’s two cats.
Woof Woof!
Peter Gammon - Many Happy times spent ‘On-and Off Course at Trevose Golf & Country Club.
Thanks to ‘PG’.
Proprietor, Developer, Charismatic, an eye for a good time - All these terms were applied to Legendary Peter Gammon.
Since 2019, his son Nick is in Charge, and Trevose is Blossoming.
Nick sent me an old snapshot of ‘PG’ which we think was taken in Portugal.
I decided to place him within his empire and one of the views out to sea. If you look closely at the photo you’ll see, the sea in the background as the finished painting was delivered and temporarily whacked up in the Marquee for his post memorial party.
‘PG’ now hangs in the games room - very apt.