COMMISSION: PORT BURWELL

Hello all. Are you excited to see that I am regularly posting again?
I know it fills an emptiness in your day that you would have filled with pointless googling.
It certainly fills up my days!
So, as an artist, commissions are a part of the job. Most artists hate them. In truth, they are challenging. It is like working on something by committee. There is an added stress of making the correct piece for a specific person. Usually, you can just paint, and in the end, the right person will find the right piece for them. Commissions are not like this. However, for all the worry that comes along with a commission, there is a great feeling of accomplishment when it is done and your client is happy!
Currently, I am working on 5 completely different commissions.
The one I want to blog about today is a commission for a client who is originally from Port Burwell Ontario. (Which is also where my folks are from.) Don't' know where Port Burwell is? Here is a little info about this nice beach town:
Right on lovely Lake Erie, this sleepy little town has one of Canada's oldest wooden Lighthouses. It also has a great marine museum. 

Present in the museum collection is the most accurate model ever built of the rail car ferry the Ashtabula, which made routine trips between Port Burwell and Ashtabula, Ohio for the purposes of transporting coal. This ship was a mainstay of the Port Burwell shipping experience until the 1950s and played an intricate role in the development of Southern Ontario through its supply of coal energy. Next year, they will also have a decommissioned submarine (the HMCS Ojibwa) Which will add a lot of new tourism for the little hamlet.  If history isn't your thing, you will not want to miss the beautiful beaches. 


And if camping is your thing, you cannot miss the provincial park. If you just come to eat......it is a fish and chips lovers delight!

For me, I spent much of my childhood in Port Burwell, re-enacting "Superfriends: Justice League" with my cousins (for the record, I was never Wonder Woman - but was often cast as Robin ;-( . I also spent a lot of time at the beach and on my grandfathers farm. 

Anyways.....this commission is based on the former Wolfe Garage (above: here it is today - Lakeside Garage) My real inspiration though, is the old photo below. I am in the process of working out a more dynamic composition that captures the 1950's look of the garage. For the other part of the compostition, I think I want to create mechanic-related imagery. I have yet to work out the rest, but I will post more, when I have more!




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