This was an exciting week for my business! My merchandise featuring reproductions of my original oil paintings went on sale Tuesday, when Bloom opened. By 10 am the owner was texting me to ask about adding a larger variety of products because people were asking for them (insert happy face)!
I learned to trust myself as an artist through this adventure. It started in January, when the owner asked me to paint Bloom and have it ready for the opening, then scheduled for early February. It was under construction and the only images that I had were their CAD drawings from their architect or dreary winter weather and construction cones. I had never painted a commission before and I was very nervous about pleasing my client and meeting the deadline.
The same day, he proposed the commission, it was a beautiful day so I jumped in trying to take reference photos.
I looked at these photos and imagined a summer landscape enveloping this historical building, a mainstay of the community. So I painted…and I loved it. BUT, my brain kept having doubts because why? because any time you do something that you have never done, your brain likes to play those what if scenarios. SO…I painted it again using the architects renderings as inspiration and adding beautiful complimentary colors that would capture the essence of the name “Bloom.” And THEN,…you guessed it, I doubted myself again so hey, why not paint it a 3rd time just in case.
My family told me the first one, the one I created in my own authentic voice not to idealize or to promote Bloom, was their favorite. I loved it too but…what if? So I took all 3 paintings to the Bloom owners to see which one they would want for their custom created merchandise. I was nervous and excited because I had 3 beautiful paintings to show them that I had completed in only 2 weeks.
You already know the answer here, right? YES, they chose the first painting as well.
Moral of this story: be true to who you are, it will always be your best!
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