September 1, 2023 – The Surf Chateau in Buena Vista, Colorado for Mike and Hayley Engstrom.
I had been feeling stuck with my acrylic paintings and desperate to find what I was lacking. Then – light bulb! What if it isn’t my “style” that isn’t working with my paint, it’s my paint that isn’t working with my style?? So I dive myself into studying all I can about oil paint, when for the past 12 years I have exclusively stood by the side of acrylic. As I am having success in my studio, I don’t want to experiment on someone’s big day when they have paid me to present a piece that is similar to ones that I have in my portfolio, which has all been done with acrylic. I need an opportunity to practice real, live. With the pressure of an audience and outside to know how oil is going to behave, and I knew I didn’t want the pressure of someone having paid for a piece, just in case I fall flat! And that’s when I found the incredible planning team behind Birch and Honey Collective. Kelsey Bledsoe, her sister Kristin and Sydney Pollock with the Borrowing Bride help connect me with a bride that seems too good to be true. An absolutely stacked vendor team. The Surf Chateau in Buena Vista and Nuage Designs, Scarlet Gilia Creative for stationary, Great Family Artists live band, Alyce in Flourland, Flower Disco florals, officiant Phil Gallager and incredible photographer Abbey Rice. Yeah I was looking for some pressure, but not this much!! However, it is a lot easier to make incredible paintings when you have incredible materials to work with.
All right, so finally the day comes. The day is beautiful, perfect for September. The hotel is fresh, clean and has this romance in the air. I get set up off to the side and am looking down the aisle that is line with these tall, beautiful aspen trees, stone on the walls and over the archway. Wow. Beautiful. The light from the sun high in the sky is casting huge shadows on the unsealed concrete. There are textures everywhere. I knew that this massive 24×30 canvas was going to have tension. A key to good paintings is having just enough visual tension to keep your eyes gazing but not so much that it is frustrating for your eyes to look eye. In real life we have less of a hard time categorizing textures but not in paintings. Things need to be added to and subtracted to make a piece work. The moment comes and the bride and groom are making their way down the aisle and absolutely nail their dip kiss! It’s perfect. The only problem was I didn’t get an image of it at all, so I had to quick ask the photographer, Abbey Rice, for a reference shot. She hooks me up with the perfect one and I get to work. Throughout the night the guests are mingling and chatting, so polite and having the best time. The Great Family Artist band is keeping everyone dancing, all night! It was the first time I have never seen a dance floor die down, the party just kept going. Around 11pm I finally call it a night and head back to my room. The Surf’s rooms are comfortable and simple, it’s easy to sink in and relax. It’s one of my first night’s away from my 9 month old son and I am eagerly awaiting a full nights sleep. At the end of the night I would estimate that I was 75% finished.
Excited and eager to get this back in the studio, I am able to finish the painting within the week. It was sealed and varnished by September 24 and I literally cannot wait for it to go live forever in its new home. I cannot think of a more deserving couple than Hayley and Mike, and I cannot begin to express my gratitude for Kelsey and her team. They gave me an opportunity I had been desperately craving to elevate my standards and my career. That night was more than just a union for the Engstrom’s, it was a divorcing of a girl from acrylic eloping with oil, and there’s no way I am ever going back!
