Sketch for a commissioned oil painting for a client.

My newest Waimea, Kauai themed painting is a commission for a lady who will be getting married in Kauai this month. We spoke over email and phone in late August and she told me she was looking for an oil painting as a special wedding gift for her parents to give to commemorate her wedding, which would take place at the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary Catholic Church in Waimea, a scenic and historic town on the West side of Kauai.

Waimea is known for it’s stunning canyons and the Waimea Plantation Cottages, which I’ve painted many times. My client originally contacted me about my Waimea Plantation Cottage paintings but at some point it must have occurred to her that perhaps the church where she was to be married would be the perfect painting.

We agreed on a 16×12 inch size. The catch was that this isn’t a size canvas that I stock. I was able to

Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Church in Waimea Kauai is a commissioned 16×12 inch oil painting by artist Jenny Floravita

obtain one locally from an art supply store but it wasn’t in my normal 1.5 inch gallery wrap thickness but it still had a gallery wrap and that allowed me to begin the painting immediately as there really wasn’t a lot of time for me to complete this painting. I’m a very, very busy artist and that means that I always have a list of commissions that is pretty long but whenever I do have a really tight deadline, I do whatever is possible to meet it. In this case, I squeezed this little gem of a painting into my schedule at the first opportunity. It also helped that my client was able to give me super clear direction. She wanted the painting to have evening colors and she also wanted her white orchid bouquets on either side of the railing. I drew up a very quick, straight forward sketch for her and then I was ready to create the painting.

In addition to the time needed to adequately dry and time for a quick varnish, I needed to plan for enough time to ship to Oahu. If you have ever shipped to the Hawaiian islands, you know that during the holidays shipping times can be very long. I was lucky that this painting is a size USPS can handle. If this painting had been shipped in the holiday season, they can take all 14 days to deliver before you can declare a package lost. As this is not the holiday season, I knew that the painting would arrive quickly and it did, within 3 days. Still I had planned for a minimum of 11 days for shipping.

This is a very typical process for smaller oil or watercolor commissioned paintings. The finished painting is more beautiful that I can show in photos. I’m always impressed with people who think to give works of art a special gifts. This had a lot of thought put into it and I’m hoping that her parents enjoy this painting for a lifetime.