M2M #1, "Known" for Molly Quell.

I met Molly Quell while networking through the AABC, she's a multifaceted woman and has been recently redesigning the esthetic of her home, creating an environment full of original art from the many artists that she knows. When she contacted me to do a Made to Measure she was looking to fill the space above her bed and was attracted to my variety of abstraction. 

We set up a studio visit for her to identify the elements of abstraction that she found appealing in my work and after a visit to her house to see her environment, she and I worked together to create "Known."

"Known" is 90 x 50cm and combines many textures as well as a coded poem chosen by Molly that reflects her personal perspective. I often use text as an artistic layer in my paintings and code the alphabet to be able to remove the distraction of READING the painting - in this case, Molly knows exactly what it says.

In a round of revisions, Molly and I worked together to shift the color palette and create more texture in the piece. The end result is a painting that has multiple layers of complexity and beautifully illustrates the uniqueness of her environment and personality - it is a perfect example of the Made to Measure process. 

M2M #2, Ashley Cowles "Untitled"

Ashley Cowles spends a lot of time in her home office where she provides translation services to a broad range of clients. Rather than staring at her huge project list, Ashley decided to bring a little inspiration to her work space by commissioning a Made to Measure piece. 

Ashley's office space is compact, get's great light and is where she commits to her work. Being inspired in your workspace is essential so Ashley and I spent a good amount of time taking in her current environment and touching base on the pieces of mine she resonated with. What became very clear was that organic organization was essential in her work space.

In the first phases of Ashley's M2M I created a structured baseline of hard lines and then layered in some very simple shapes. Even though we agreed on a cooler palette you can see some of the initial base washes below are warm colors, which can really balance out the blues in a final composition. 

Some of the detail here to the right shows a bit more about the relationship between the forms and structure of the piece. This relationship is also so important for small business owners - having the flexibility of owning your own business and also embrace the necessary structures is a constant balancing act - one you must understand to create good business practices. 

As we reviewed Ashley's M2M we discussed making the cooler palette more dominate as well as push the composition to calm down the more abrupt elements in the piece. The final composition was a perfect fit for her space, creating a dynamic and still calming vibe her her office.