I seem to get very lucky with the timing of some of my commission requests, the one I have to share with you today came in as I was hoping to negotiate a commercial project for a Yorkshire based company. So I was already looking at further York and Harrogate scenes; and had completed another York Minster view. Sadly that bigger project didn’t come to pass but it was still a joy to work on these smaller gift frames, which were commissioned for an anniversary gift.The client picked two scenes; locations that had special significance to them. The first is the Merchant Taylor’s Hall where they held their wedding. A medieval guildhall near the city wall in the Aldwark area of the city. Constructed by the Fraternity of St John the Baptist in the fourteenth century, it received it’s current red brick cladding in the seventeenth century.For the painted scene I decided to pick out the decorative iron gates and the apple trees in the grounds… these became raised cut-outs in the diorama style i’ve enjoyed playing with recently. These are not the most accomplished photos of the artwork, but you can see the flashes of white paper at the edges of those intricate details.
The second scene was quite different, The Blue Bell pub, York’s smallest public house. It’s Grade II Listed with Edwardian décor, unaltered since 1903. It claims it’s first pint was poured in 1798!It felt like a yin and yang pairing, which sparked lots of ideas on how to approach the facade. In the end I suggested the majority of the Merchant Taylor’s Hall should be placed in the background, with the pub facade in the foreground… one with depth and the other more surface. It allowed me to create some warm interior sections to be viewed through the cutout windows. I even tried a little frosted glass window with acetate. Not incredibly successful this time, but it’s there if you look closely enough!It also seemed right to frame the two pieces with different colour frames and set them against different background mounts. I really liked the white and black style diptych. I had some much fun getting caught up in the details on these. Huge thank you to Richard for commissioning me for this personal project.Interested in a commission of your own? drop me a line or have a little browse at my private commission guide.
