I often do not document the entire process of an artwork. Often much of the progress happens rather fast, and I don’t want to stop to take photos. However, I recently was commissioned to create something very special. I wanted to document it to share the progress with the client, and felt it would be fun to share it with you as well!
The client had recently lost her grand-dog, and created a memorial for her with pictures, candles, and flowers. She approached me about painting an abstract piece in memory of her grand-dog in the colors of the flowers from her memorial. As a dog-mom, I loved this idea! The flowers were bright blues, greens, pinks, oranges, and yellows.
With some photos of the bouquet in hand, I researched the flowers, and found that they are called Crazy Daisies. They are white daisies cut and dipped in dyed water that the plant then soaks up to create the vibrant petals.
We decided on a 3’x3′ canvas size, in acrylic, that would display nicely in her apartment.
I proceeded to create a mood board with color inspiration, and a variety of textured and floral abstract painting styles. From there, the painting took about two months to paint and varnish. I would work on weekends, which gave it the weeks in-between to dry. The majority of the painting was painted in one day, on my dinning room floor with music playing, and my dog close by.
Below are a selection of images that document the process. Enjoy!
It was incredibly fun to create this work, and experience working with acrylic again. I learned about preservation measures for acrylic paintings on canvas, and am excited to extend this care into my other work. As of today, the painting is off to its forever-home!
“I’m going to make everything around me beautiful – that will be my life.” – Elsie de Wolfe
Cheers,
Lady Dame
Jessica Dame 