Commission work is one of my favorite parts of the art business. People have amazing ideas and visions of what they want and they just need someone to make it visible. Usually it's the image of a home, pet or person - maybe a vacation photo - and they want it drawn or painted onto paper or canvas.
Murals are popular. Scenes of tropical places or countrysides, etc. - you've seen them, either in people's homes or maybe restaurant walls.
Well, I had a unique mural job this year.
My clients had finished their basement. The result was a small, clean cozy apartment. Code required they have a window well that included a fire escape ladder. The placement of the well meant that, when you came down the stairs and turned the corner, the first thing you saw was a window that looked straight into a concrete wall - the window well.
Although it did allow for natural light, the three concrete walls that made up the well were an eyesore.
Their vision was to have a beach/ocean scene painted on the concrete surface of the walls turning their basement apartment into "beachfront property."
I started with the back wall, then added the sides.
Finally we decided to add the grandchildren...
Not much we could do about the ladder, but, surprisingly, it doesn't seem to matter.
And the roughness of the concrete wall added to the realism of the sand.(One of those unplanned surprises that happens now and then.)
The bad news? My clients tripled what they are asking to rent the apartment. Beachfront property commands a premium price, they say.
Jessica from the end of Sag Harbor Road saw the mural several weeks ago, and stopped by today to get your #. – tom