Most commissions start with a place. A beach someone walked every summer, the house they grew up in, the view from a window that is not theirs any more. Lorraine paints them in oil and acrylic, from your photographs and from what you remember, and quotes a price and a date before she starts.
How it works
Lorraine Skelskey-Chapin takes on landscapes and coastal scenes, on Cape Cod and along the Connecticut shoreline, houses and buildings, and gardens, often someone’s own. She is just as happy painting an animal, so if that is what you are after, start with the pet portraits.
It starts with photographs and a conversation about the place. You get a price and a date before she picks up a brush.
Places she has painted
A few from Cape Cod, where she paints most summers. She has a good many more if none of these is the place you have in mind.
The steps
- Tell her the place, roughly what size you have in mind, and where it will hang.
- Send photographs if you have them, and say what you remember about the place.
- She quotes a price and a timescale before she starts.
- She paints.
What it costs
A commission is quoted individually. Her paintings are on exhibit at The Barn Gallery in New Fairfield and the Lyme Art Association; tell her the place and the size and she will give you a figure before any painting starts.
Photographs that work
Photographs in good light, taken at the time of day you want the painting to be. More than one angle. And a sentence or two about why the place matters, which does more for the painting than another photograph would.
Questions
- What does a commissioned painting cost?
- It depends on size and subject. Her work in galleries runs from small studies up to larger canvases, and a commission is quoted individually. Call and you will get a number, not a range.
- How long does it take?
- It depends on the size and the subject. Ask when you get in touch and she will give you a date before she starts.
- Can you paint somewhere from my photographs?
- Yes, and it works best when you also tell her what you remember about the place. A photograph records the light on one day; what people usually want is how it felt.
- Can you paint a house?
- Yes. Houses and buildings are among the subjects she takes on, alongside landscapes, coastal scenes and gardens.
- Will I see it before it is finished?
- If you want to. Some people would rather be surprised.