Putting Your Own Ground Into a Painting
This is the part of my work I find hardest to describe and easiest to love, so let me just tell you plainly what it is.
A commissioned piece can permanently carry material from your own world. Earth from the family ranch. Sand from the beach where you were married. Stone from the land your house stands on.
Once it is worked into the surface it becomes part of the painting itself, and the work becomes something nobody else can own, because nobody else has your ground.
What can go in
Natural materials hold best. Earth, sand, stone, shell, mineral.
Some things go in as they are, some are prepared in the studio first, and a few cannot be used at all for reasons of stability. If you are not sure whether something will work, ask, and I will tell you honestly. Everything is confirmed in writing before I begin, and the final call rests with me, so that whatever enters the work can be guaranteed to last.
The tender version of this
Deeply personal materials, including the remains of a person you loved or an animal who was family, are welcome. They are handled with complete privacy.
That conversation happens directly between us and nothing about it is ever shown or spoken about without your written consent. I want to say that clearly, because people are often afraid to ask.
One standard, and it applies to you too
Everything in my work is lawfully sourced and documented, and that includes what you send me.
Material should come from your own property, or be gathered with clear permission. I cannot accept anything taken from protected beaches, parks, reefs or public lands, however much the place means to you. Many of the most beautiful places on earth prohibit removal, and they are protected for good reason.
There is almost always a lawful way to carry a place into the work. If you are unsure, ask first and we will find it together.
How much to send
It depends what the material is doing. As an accent, a few tablespoons is plenty. When it becomes part of the surface itself, a large work might carry a cup or two, sometimes more.
The exact amount is confirmed with your proposal, and it is always wise to send slightly more than needed. Deeply personal materials are the exception and need only a small, measured amount.
What you decide, and what I decide
Three things are yours. Whether the origin is named on the certificate of authenticity or kept entirely private. Whether the remainder comes back to you or stays in the studio archive with the work's records. And whether the story of the inclusion is part of how the piece is shown, or belongs only to you.
Placement, treatment and the composition stay with me. The meaning stays with you. That division has never once caused a problem, because it is the honest one.
The record
Every inclusion is documented. The certificate records the material and, if you want, where it came from. The studio keeps the provenance file behind it.
Statement commissions come with a small sealed vial of the raw material, presented alongside the certificate, so the origin of the work is something you can actually hold.
Whatever is embedded is permanent and cannot be recovered, which is rather the point.
If there is a place or a material that belongs in a piece of yours, begin with an inquiry. The first conversation is only ever about the story.
Warmly,
Dani
