Part 2 Fine Art Mural a sequel to Are Fine Art Mural Markets Changing?
Most of the fine art murals and faux finishes I have painted, I don’t name, but this one is different and I have simply named it for fine art marketing reasons
“The Fountain”
The story behind this fine arts mural begins with the couple who had approached me in regards to faux finishing several areas of their home at Pelican Landing in Bonita Springs Fl. after searching the internet.
It isn’t hard to run across me while searching the internet because I personally take care of my own web presence, art marketing and SEO. It’s almost guaranteed that what ever you’re looking for pertaining to the decorative arts, faux finishing and fine art that you will find my blog Art-Faux.com
Sorry about the marketing plug..business you know…
When the client had called he had explained the faux finishing they had in mind for their project and of course I was glad to meet with them.
Upon arriving there already were signs of remodeling that were evident which I was glad to see, because in today’s market most are still gathering prices and putting budgets together and are not in a hurry to get things done if at all. In fact about 70% of the people who are pricing art projects have no real intentions of doing anything immediate. However, I have a few that are calling with two and three year old pricing and expect me to discount those prices to move forward on them…..yes it’s a jungle out there and the client who tries to devalue the work does not truly value the art or the person as an artist. I made this mistake once and struggled through the whole job and nearly made it on another. It was one of the hardest lessons I learned about business in today’s economy and you will not find my work in these homes.
As it turned out with these new clients they were ready to do some things and not on others, which is sometimes the case, but the beauty of it is, more times than not, does is it turn into repeat business and a much stronger business client relationship than to try and do a job that cannot be done.
Personally this is more important to me than the “Hurry up do it all, get it done and get out!” kind of mind set of today. It sure isn’t like it was 30 years ago where long term BtC relationships were the “old school” way of doing business, sigh.
As an artist it’s hard to “connect” with clients like this and for an artist to be able to do their finest work they must have that time to really pull on the clients personality and uniqueness as a human being. Why is it do you think that some portraiture works are much more clearer than others in regards to looking “alive and sincere”? It’s all because the fine artist is able to see and connect with their subject. Have you ever seen a painting that grabs you so much emotionally that it brings a tear to your eye, sends your heart racing or excites you so much that it feels as if you were there? This can only be achieved by a fine artist, sculpture, photographer, videographer etc. and is priceless work. This kind of talent is of the very best and people who try to devalue it will never or have ever experienced or even understand art. I’ll bet some have never even been in a museum.
When I first met Carol the first thing that came to my mind was there was something very special about this person, I couldn’t tell you exactly what it was but I could see the same thought in Scott’s eyes. I could see an admiration for her when he looked at her that was very obvious and yet let me remind you I have never met them before in my life.
As we talked about an 8 ft. x 8 ft. dining room niche, the thought of a fine art mural was immediate and something told me that I had to paint this mural, and I had no idea of what it was I was going to paint yet! Luckily, when I presented the idea or maybe it was even her idea, who knows, it was decided that a mural would be painted.
As we discussed the theme I knew it was going to be challenging because Carol wanted a nocturnal (nighttime) fine art mural to take on a late 17th-early 18th century scene. They also loved the idea of painting water and the thought of painting them into the piece. As I started my sketches and trying to pull the elements together in my studio, the events of the conversation were running through my mind. Checking my notes for “keywords” I had written down and with some still stuck in the back of my mind did I realize that
Scott and Carol were wanting to tell a story, a personal but yet private story.
My first sketch was a disaster after I realized what this mural was to be about and what it meant to them. So I destroyed the first drawing which is something I rarely do and I started over.
Moon light, Late, Escaping, Fall, Crisp, Early winter? church…..wait a minute, church?
The very word itself hit me like a ton of bricks, but why?
Something hit me very strongly at this point and I started the sketching again, bridges, horses, fear, hope, shining light, Then words like impressionism, subtle, painterly. It was unbelievable inspiration that I was feeling for this fine art mural.
The more I sketched the more it felt right, boat, stone, cobblestone, tower, clock,…..The sketch I posted in the first part of this story is what I based the fine art mural on and it was only then did I find out when they came to approve the drawing did I find out that Carol actually owns and operates her own ministry.
Dr. Carol Elaine Ministries
Women of the Word
Everything started to make sense especially the church, but yet there’s more to this than what you may think and why this mural was so important to me. I will get to that later, but for now I must explain the transition from the
figures to the fountain.
During the painting of this mural there were some major changes in Scott and Carols lives and one such thing was they were to be married which was something else I did not know, like I said they are soft spoken and private people and at one time the most I knew about Scott and Carol was they were traveling a lot and just wanted to get the interior decorating completed that they were doing on their own and very well, if I may add.
As the progress of the mural moved on the more I was to learn about them. The next time I saw them is when I found out they had been married and each time I saw them the things I had painted into the mural were coming to me before they even saw or talked about them.
Don’t ask me how I knew what to paint because I was only following what felt right. As progress continued I finally came to a point where I decided it was time to install the fine art mural and add the final details on site. So with the help of my daughter, her and I removed the mural from the wall and laid it out on the floor to be trimmed and rolled up and transported.
We arrived and were called in at the gate as planned and just as we arrived at the address my phone rings. It was Scott , as it turns out due to the fact that they were always traveling and spreading the word in regards to the gospel and her ministry they really could not see the sense in paying for hotel/motel rooms and the time it takes for booking arrivals/departures and so on. The expense in my opinion must be massive and hard to handle especially these days. So a decision was made to sell the property and purchase a motor home thus cutting their costs and improving their quality of life while still having their home in Tennessee. So what did that mean for the mural?
At first the solution was installing it in Tennessee because of the portraiture work with in the fine art mural but after a few further discussions it was decided to go ahead with the Bonita installation because it was directly associated with the interior design of the condo and where the most value would be.
Except for one thing.
Yes, the fine art mural had to change.
The figures in the painting made the work too personal and it was agreed for the sake of the sale that the more personal parts would need to be painted out of the work which meant the lower half had to be repainted. The strange part about this was it didn’t upset me nor did I fear the challenge. The problem I was having though was the fact that the fine art mural was focused on them and what to replace not only the figures, but the boat had to go also. As I was painting out the figures is when the vision of the stone wall came to me I suppose be cause of the two bridges but it wasn’t until I get a text message from them I knew we were going in the right direction when I seen the photo of a beautiful fountain that had been sent, but it was huge! Perspectively it was too large for the area. Using the image I rendered my own version of The Fountain to fit the area and was really surprised of how well it worked.
Although I was not able to complete the portrait part of the mural it was still a very inspirational experience for me. Spiritually I know now without a doubt that art has and was chosen for me, rather than chosen by me. But what I don’t understand is why?
The economy has all but destroyed many artists careers including mine and I have been humbled greatly. I know I must make change and I have been by better branding myself, art marketing staying up all night studying, researching and on and on. I feel very strongly that I am being pulled, pushed, guided or whatever you want to call it to continue at all cost, because whenever I try to change careers or put down my brushes and trust me, I have tried several times throughout my whole life and when I did it was then that I had some of the worst experiences in my life.
This mural has solidified my feelings which I have always had in the back of my mind that I know now that Spiritually the arts was chosen for me as a career and to help and teach others, but for the life of me what I can’t figure out is why must I lose everything to continue with what I have been chosen to do? How do you continue when you have nothing to continue with?
I am sure there are many fine art muralists and other creatives who are asking or thinking the same thing. I also believe that being an agnostic about organized religion is not a wrong thing either. Whatever the case may be I still believe that I am driven by not only my passion but also something much stronger.
Peace!
If you missed the first part of this article go to
Are Fine Art Mural Markets Changing?
Faux Fresco Project 1
Faux Fresco Project 1 Part 2
Mural Projects
To read more about
Dr. Carol Elaine
Women of The Word Ministries
2 thoughts on “Fine Art Murals a Sequel”
Hi Arthur, You sound a little down and that makes me a little sad for you. You have been so blessed to be such a fine mural artist and I know times are slow now but never be discouraged. All gifts of art come from your heavenly Father. I have been painting for 44 years and times have been really good and really bad so just keep painting, remember God will not put you through hard times without being there to see you through the hard times. There is so much wisdom in the Bible you should try reading it. Try talking to Jesus, he really will amaze you. I have always had another career to fall back on when the painting slowed down so I did both most of my life. Maybe you could find something part time and still keep painting. I started out as a sign painter and worked into mural and canvas art. Then the computer put a big dent in signs but I still paint some and do lettering on walls in homes and businesses. I also, after all these years have the passion to paint and now I’m retired and paint all the time on canvas and walls but not so worried about making a living at it. Remember every day you have your health you have all the wealth you will ever need. So don’t worry be happy. God loves you. Blessings, Judee
Hi Judee, thanks for your words of encouragement, you are an inspiration for sure and I think your work is great also. I wouldn’t say that I am down but I will say that I guess I am more worried about all artists in general. Reason being is most artists don’t know how to market themselves and are having to make some very hard decisions, especially for those who rely on art as a one income household. For many it’s all they know. I do try to help those that I can and stress the point of an online presence as being very important these days and they either fear the challenge or don’t think they have the time to put into it which I have to admit does take a lot of time and work. One of my biggest faults is that I worry more about others than I do myself. My use of the word “agnostic” may have given the wrong impression about me personally but I was referring to it as to say that many artists in general think along these lines. Being humbled is one thing but not to believe is not me at all.