One of my favorite things about commissioned painting projects is that I get to play a role in a special moment in my client’s life. This was definitely the case with a recent project for my client Nick who was looking to commemorate an amazing trip and honor a family friend.
Nick was spending time with his friend Matt, who on a whim encouraged Nick to join him on a trip to visit his Uncle Ken in Montana. Nick had never been to Montana, so he decided to join Matt’s adventure – following a portion of Lewis and Clark’s journey down the Missouri river. The trip included more Matt’s extended family and friends – none of whom Nick had met previously, but all of whom he became close with on this trip!
Two of the most memorable parts of this excursion for Nick were a particular stop along the river known as 'Eagle Creek' and Uncle Ken - a true 'Cowboy'. The stop was a campsite across the Missouri river from the White Cliffs – captured beautifully at sunset by Nick with his camera. Uncle Ken - or 'Cowboy Ken' as he is sometimes referred, is a sixth generation Montana native who knew the area like the back of his hand and ended up serving as their defacto guide.
As he gets older, however, Ken is less capable of taking this trip – and as it turns out, this particular outing with Nick was one of Ken's last journey down the Missouri.
To commemorate his trip and honor Ken, Nick wanted to have his photo turned into an unforgettable gift – which is when he reached out to me to create an 18” x30” painting he will be giving to Ken and his family as a Christmas present
I loved doing this project – largely due to my own love of canoeing and camping, but also because I loved Nick’s photo (below).
Nick’s photo
In turning this into a painting, I wanted to keep the mood and the lighting of the sunset – but I also wanted to lighten it up significantly to highlight the cliffs and prevent the painting from being too heavy and gloomy. Another change I made was to add a bit more of the river, since that was so integral to the trip.
We are waiting on the painting to arrive in Montana to learn of Uncle Ken’s reaction – but Nick was thrilled with the painting! His reaction was one of my favorites – as he said it gave him “goosebumps”…. Mission accomplished!
Below is the final painting — Enjoy!
Jason
The final 18”x30” painting