Balancing act with a commission

River's Edge

Whew..............the commission (diptych, each panel 40"x 30") is completed and installed. My client lives in St. Augustine and wanted something watery with palms and lots of lime and fushia. She has an eclectic and casual beach home filled with paintings and a great appreciation for artists and their need for independence.

She had just purchased a piece from me, "Trapped by the Venus", on right, and was completely captivated by the texture, color, and surface of encaustic.

So doing a piece, in encaustic, for her was going to be a pleasure.

Except everytime I have a commission, I also seem to get Myrtle.................... who shows up with her taunts and criticisms and wisecracks. She sits on my shoulder and tries her best at undermining my work. I guess my personality just invites her, and maybe she makes me paint better, I don't know. She jeers, I talk back, we carry on till she fades away and my voice takes over, and then the painting and I talk. I always tell Myrtle that I have lived by the saying "perseverance furthers" and that she's wasting her breath.

So maybe others struggle too when commissions come there way - to keep to their vision AND create a piece that the client will love. And maybe someday I'll learn to love Myrtle too - for the way she pushes me to do my best.