Anyone who knows my in-laws or husband knows that the Hartfields are artsy people. This is shown in their careers, their homes, their personalities, you name it. You meet them and you just see their creative geniuses at work. Marrying into this has spread on me as well and I have a secret love of painting that has grown in the last 3 years.
If you've ever been inside my home you have seen this first hand on my walls. Evan and I have five murals throughout our small home that are vivid, bright and just awesome. I have others in the garage I have no space for and Nan my oh-so-wonderful mother in-love has two of them in her office at work, both of which I must say were done at random while I was pregnant with Avery but are the best I have ever done. After Avery came along I no longer had the free-time or energy to paint and everything started collecting dust in the garage (we have a whole wall shelf full of my brushes and paints).
About 3 weeks ago when everything was falling apart for us Nan had a co-worker approach her about her artwork in her office and how he really liked it. When she told him her daughter did them both he got excited and asked if he could commission a painting from me. (Say WHAT?) So Nan texted me and asked if I would like to do a painting for him and how much I would charge him for it because he was serious about getting one for his new place...
Now, this made me truly uncomfortable. Why? Well, I'm no Picasso, I have no experience or training and my art is messy and abstract and totally random. It's not a hobby but just an ideal creative past time for me to express whatever's going on with me at the time which is totally relevant in how different each piece is. Now I'm being asked to do one for a stranger and for money?! No pressure or anything. I told her I'd get back to her by the end of the day and had a huge talk with Evan about if I should do it. We needed money that was for sure and I have two blank canvas's in the garage but still.....why would anyone want to BUY my artwork, that's just weird to me. Needless to say I agreed to do a painting in the colors of his choosing and had a week to finish it for him and only asked for $50 if he liked it. (which was the hardest thing to decide on) He got it today and I was told he LOVED it and was very satisfied with the end result. (so glad I didn't have to be there I would have been mortified if he didn't like it) It was a bit of a pain to paint to be honest, I painted and re-painted it 4 times before finally settling on the end result with the help of Evan on a few finishing touches after an all-nighter. Once I brought it to Denton mom and dad both said it was great and how much they really liked it too.
With all this being said and done I am considering doing more paintings to sell on the side for extra money. Mom said her boss may also be interested in a piece and I know my neighbor is also interested in buying one of the paintings in our living room. Evan says I should totally do it and set it up on Etsy or Ebay but I'm still thinking it over.
I don't see what everyone else See's I guess because to me it's just me being expressive on a bad day. There's no big WOW factor when I step back from a painting, just a love of being splattered with paint, sweaty and my hair out of my face while escaping for a few hours. Guess we'll see what happens after we move and I figure out what to do but I thought I'd share this with you guys because it was a huge positive for my week. Here's a picture of the finished product.
Blessings & Love,
Brittnye
