So just last week, my good friend Tricia commissioned me to do a series of paintings for her apartment in New York! It was quite a rush order because I had to get them ready in about 4 days just in time for her flight back to the States, but it was well worth the effort. She requested for these to be done similarly to another commissioned series I’ve done, using the colors Tiffany blue, turquoise and gold to match her room.

I prepped and primed my canvasses on Thursday-Friday, and I started and “finished” painting early on a Saturday morning. I say “finished” because these paintings looked completely different from how they originally were. Halfway through I decided I wasn’t happy with how they looked, so when I got home on Saturday late afternoon, I scraped off my first attempt to start over and I am so glad that I did. Lesson learned, rushing art is hard. (Haha)

What came out were beautifully textured (thanks to my first layers) paintings that I wouldn’t have done any other way. It was a challenge incorporating the blues with gold, but I had a lightbulb moment that I could make this resemble a world map. This turned out to be perfect because Tricia lived away from the Philippines most of the year and I wanted this to remind her that despite the distance, Home is really never too far away.

As with any creative challenge, coming up with this series was both exhilarating and exhausting—in a good way. I’m really happy with the way this textured and thoughtful series came out. Of course, a big thank you Tricia for trusting me with not one but three art pieces! I can’t wait to see them up in your NY apartment and I can’t wait to see you back home in December 🙂 Bea