Commissions


The most personally satisfying element of Nicola’s work is the commissions she undertakes. They allow her to work closely with clients, irrespective of what their subject or form may be. Commissions enable her to really form a close bond with people who are interested in her work and are confident enough in her abilities to know that she will create exactly what they have asked for.

One of the highest values she holds in art is to share the joy of what she creates with the client or viewer. Their opinions matter greatly to her be they constructive or clinical criticism, or general appreciation for what she creates.

She enjoys undertaking a very wide range of commissions; the greatest percentage of these being equine portraiture which is very popular in the West Country. Her love for everything ‘Equus’ allows these traditional elements to undertake their own flights of fantasy onward into the realms of the unicorn and beyond.   This evolvement has allowed her commissions to progress further, combining her abstract techniques with representational form.

Over the years Nicola has added contrast to her commission portfolio undertaking amongst other things, sign writing for a bookshop, wax paintings for a nightclub, eight foot abstracts of nebular's, six foot pastels for a carriage hire company, giant sunflowers over an abstract with gilded petals, and, of course equine portraiture.

She loves to use a plethora of mediums and styles, and is always excited about a new challenge that a client may have for her. On a personal level, she gains a powerful sense of fulfillment when the same clients have commissioned her for both abstract and traditional work.

The time it takes to complete commissions is obviously very much dependant on what the client has requested. For example: a life size head portrait of a horse in charcoals and pastels will take on average approximately 85 – 100 hours. The time it takes to create a piece such as this is also dependant on the clients’ budget. It is very important to Nicola that art should be affordable to everyone, and she is always willing to offer ‘payment by installment’ plans to those clients wishing to invest but simultaneously needing to spread the cost.

Where the abstract is concerned, her pricing is reflected through the size of the piece and the various combinations of mediums that the clients require. She is often asked to paint on a scale of eight foot or more and so she has to account realistically for the time taken to make the stretcher upon which the 12 lb weight canvas is then stretched and primed.
 
Others ask for enlargements of her limited edition prints to be reproduced back onto canvas using the Giclee format. These can be close up elements of originals themselves or layered photographic and fine art pieces. These are available in sizes to suit the buyer. Most clients prefer them reproduced around the 20” x 30” size which costs approximately £250 unframed. Many other sizes are of course available and Nicola is only too happy to provide frames from the simplest of moldings right through to hand gilded, distressed and antiqued finishes.
 
If you are interested in commissioning her be it painting, photography, sculpture, textiles or otherwise, the easiest thing to do is simply to ask and a studio visit for discussions over coffee can be arranged to suit.