I don’t normally kiss and tell, but after sharing my recent big projects, I thought I’d take a moment to tell you about one I didn’t get.
They don’t all come through.  I get it.  And when the potential customer is a corporate committee, it gets even trickier.  Too many menu planners in the kitchen, nevermind the cooks.  Decisions are made in dog years.  It is the nature of the beast.  I won’t say I fully understand the dynamics, but I know enough to not count on a project until it’s signed, sealed, and delivered.

 

But in this case, it seemed pretty certain.  Over the course of several months the pool of potential artists was whittled down to two.  We were asked to present their designs to a board of VIP’s, and in the end mine was chosen.

 

It was close — so close that the design went through several revisions (and months more meetings) before it was given the seal of approval.

 

Except that it wasn’t.

 

In the end the check was never cut, and the project fell by the wayside.  Committee members were left wondering what ever happened to that thing…

 

They don’t all come through.  I get it.  Sometimes commission work is like fishing. Or darts.  Or… some other thing you have to keep trying at until a bit of skill and a lot of luck shine in your favor.

 

But here’s the thing.  I really like this design.  I kept it quiet for a long time because I hoped it would come to fruition, and then I could share images of the finished piece with everyone.  Until now only a handful of people had even seen it, and it’s one I’m very proud of.  I would like to create it for no other reason than that I feel it should exist.  Maybe not at the original scale — the tallest tree would have been around 14ft. — but at some size, for some one.

CMBA “Green Innovation” award, 2013

 

As it is, I ended up taking apart the small mockup and using two of the trees on the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association’s “Green Innovation” award.  (The winners cheered and raised it over their heads like a Stanley Cup trophy.  I’ve not had that happen before, but I gotta say it’s a pretty sweet feeling for an artist :) )  The CMBA said it was their favorite design of the past four years that I’ve been working with them.

 

So I’m gonna put this out there to you, dear readers.  I know you read this blog for any number of reasons, including perhaps the opportunity to purchase artwork that you can’t find elsewhere.  If you find yourself craving a special piece that would love nothing more than to exist, please let me know.  It could be any variation on the above design – as small as single tree on a 9×24” background, or as large as a wall-sized cut out set of two or three.  Just email me your thoughts.  Or if you know someone who might be interested, please pass this along!

 

Take care, and have a great week :)

Chris

 

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