Commissioning an artist to create a personal and bespoke piece of artwork for you is a way of having a truly unique piece of artwork to celebrate a life event such as a wedding, to tell a story or to add a beautiful finishing touch to a room in your home. Commissioned artwork is a lovely heirloom to pass down through generations as well as bringing some of your personality into your home, office or other workspace.
Artists have their own commissioning process and are there to guide and support you through this, offering their suggestions and bringing your ideas to life.
Organisations, businesses and individuals can all commission artworks. Spark, shown above, was commissioned by Ilkley Literature Festival as part of their Chain Reaction project to encourage people to respond to text based artwork in new and different ways. The first image in this blog post was commissioned by an individual who wanted to remember childhood memories with her aunt - you can read more about this here.
What if you don't know exactly what art you would like?
Artists who accept commissions are used to this! There are some questions you can answer before contacting an artist to make the process smoother.
Take a look at the work the artist you'd like to commission does, how do you see that fitting in the space you have in mind for the commission?
What parts of their different artworks do you like best?
What space do you have available for the commission?
Would you like a piece of wall art, 3D sculptural art or a piece of functional art?
What budget do you have for the artwork? Commissioned artwork is often more expensive than other artwork the artist sells due to the designing process and uniqueness of the work.
What do you want the work to say, celebrate or commemorate?
What décor does the artwork need to fit with?
The answers to all of these questions will help your chosen artist to create the exact, personal work you're looking for. Each artist has their own questions to add in as well and most will provide you with a selection of designs to choose from.
Above is a section of wedding photo mounts I was commissioned to make using the exact colour of the bridesmaid dresses and free motion embroidered flowers to match those in the bride's veil. The name of the bride and groom hand embroidered along with the date of the wedding; names have been obscured for privacy reasons.
My commissions process is really straightforward and transparent - it begins with a message from you letting me know your ideas and what you'd like the artwork to be for - a wedding, a retirement or a bespoke piece for your home. I offer a complimentary 15 minute no obligation video or telephone call for us to decide if we would like to work together and for me to discover more details about the commission you would like. During this informal call, we discuss colours, sizes, style, budget, time frames and any ideas you have for your artwork - don't worry if you're not sure on any of this, I'm here to help and guide.
Once you've decided to go ahead with the commission I get to work creating some basic sketches and ideas for you to approve or ask me to alter. These are sent without any obligation to commission me.
When you're happy to go ahead I create the final, more in-depth sketches complete with colour choices and textile techniques that will be used. Once you're happy with these, I begin work creating your bespoke artwork in my studio. I can send you work in progress photos if you would like, or you can leave it as a surprise until the end. You can read more about my commissions and process here.