The Brothers

The Brothers 11 x 14 Acrylic Painting by Park Phillips

This is  acrylic painting done on a 11 x 14 stretched canvas. This was a commission that is accepted from a very nice lady from the island of St.Vincent. She had seen my work, (she would not tell me where!), and she showed my a Whatsapp picture on her phone and told me that she would like a painting done of her 2 sons. There both live in North America and she would love to have a painting to hang in her home in St. Vincent.

Anyone that knows me, know that I will try anything to help anyone that approached me with sincerity and I could see that she had thought long and hard about this and that it would mean a lot to her.

Remember, I told you that all she had was a whatsapp photo. the file size was 46 kb so I could not enlarge the image without distortion. I explained all of this to her and she still wanted me to try. I finally told her that the largest painting that I would attempt fro the reference would be an 11 x14 and that I could not guarantee how well I will be able to capture the image of the boys. I even told her that I will not take the usual 50% deposit that I usually take for commission. I agreed to do the work and only if she was satisfied, would she have to pay me.

It told me a solid 3 weeks of work before I realized that I could do no more with what I had to work with. I was reluctant to show her the "finished" piece but I consoled myself with the fact that I had not taken this poor woman's money so, What the hell! I brought her the painting wrapped in bubble wrap, in a box. She took it out of the package, unwrapped it, stared at it for a few seconds and then broke into the biggest grin that I had ever seen. She was like a child on Christmas morning!

Not only did she pay me but she gave me a very generous tip as well. It only goes to show that as an artist you must remember that you will very seldom please yourself and you will almost never ever please everyone, but give it your best and there will always be someone out there that will love and cherish you work.

I believe the lesson here is best summed up by this quote:-

"Success is due to our stretching to the challenges of life. Failure comes when we shrink from them."  John C. Maxwell

As always, thank you for reading. Until next time when I will again share a little piece of Barbados through the eyes of an artist, please feel free to leave a comment and share this post with your friends. And to make sure that you don't miss any future posts, Please enter your email address in the subscribe by email box on the right.

Mark Phillips
Artist

Email:- mark@phillipsbajanart.com

Website:- www.phillipsbajanart.com

Online Store:- PhillipsArtStore