Unveiling Serenity: how Interior Design Informed this Florida Commission

Unveiling Serenity: how Interior Design Informed this Florida Commission


At the end of last year, a client called and said she had an idea for a Christmas gift for her husband and she asked if I could match all of the colors in her newly renovated coastal home for an impressionist seascape that she had in mind.

The location my client was asking for held special meaning to her family and she had an open space in her master bathroom that was perfect for a statement piece that could represent this special place with a serene and calm vibe.

To get the project started, first we spent some time in her home, discussing color, look, vibe, and the overall feel of her space - and the feel she wanted to capture with the painting. She asked that I use a heavy impressionist stroke, so that the painting was almost abstract.

Her newly renovated house provided a readied backdrop for this project and the coastal furnishings and the other works of art by Ann Duffy helped establish the color palette of rich marine blues and soft naturals.

 

Next, we scouted the location together and took pictures for reference. In the studio, I made several preliminary composition sketches and a color palette so we could review everything together in the space. She marked the colors she really wanted represented and selected a sketch. In the final painting, I added the colors she selected and subtracted the colors that didn’t make the cut.

In the end it’s hard to believe there was any color swap at all but you can see from the picture above how different reality is from the painting!

 

When the project was done, I hired Suncoast Installs to hang it. I was a bit nervous about drilling into the concrete bamboo tile wall in this luxury bathroom, but they used a special drill for glass and other delicate materials and it was not a problem. Their staff had the install complete in less than 30 minutes.


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Additional Notes:

- Most Challenging aspect of this painting experience: I perceived the matching of colors to be the biggest challenge for this project but realized after the fact that that was made up in my head, and I found it to be one of the easiest parts of this project.
- Biggest surprise about this painting experience: That matching colors is a skill I have honed over the years and didn't quite realize it. 
- Favorite part of this painting or the experience: seeing my clients smiling face during the first reveal and then getting the text from her on Christmas Day with the words "He Loves It!" popping up on my iphone.
- Something I learned from this painting experience: That matching colors is a skill I have honed over the years and didn't quite realize it. Changing the direction of an object to improve the composition is a great trick to employ more often, even though it's not a true representation. In real life, the bench faces away from the viewer toward the water but I changed it for the painting.

 

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