Unconditional

Story & Process

Unconditional is one of the larger and more detailed commissions I’ve worked on, spanning over 5 pages in my A3 sketchbook, countless considerations and approximately 320 hours of work.

I was approached for this piece by a client who wanted to gift a painting to her parents for a significant anniversary. She wasn’t exactly sure what she wanted the painting to be of, but liked my style, so we set a time for the initial consultation during which we worked together to define the direction this piece would ultimately go in.

During our first consultation we discussed about life, particularly her parents, home and growing up. This helped establish the themes that would form the backbone of the painting: family, cultural memory, connection. After the consultation, the client sent me a collection of references such as family photos as well as pictures of sentimental items and places.

Looking through the references in the context of the discussion we had in the consultation, I began to think about setting the scene. This had to be a painting about warmth, nostalgia, family, home, connection, memory and comfort. And what more comforting than a family gathering around the table, looking at old photos and reminiscing?

From this, the compositional idea for the piece was born: a birds eye view of the family table, set with the good china, upon which photos have been laid out as this family looks through the old albums. Every detail in this piece has been chosen carefully in collaboration with the client to hold nuggets of meaning that would be instantly recognisable by her parents.

Unconditional Timeline:

• February 2023 - October 2023 (8 months)

• February 2023 - first consultation

• March-April 2023 - received references and put together sketches and quote

• 7 sketches

• 320 hours of painting (approximately)

• October 2023 - completion and delivery