Do you like something you see in my portfolio but want it re-interpreted or personalised to you? Is the piece sold out and you want a similar one but made especially for you? Then just reach out and we can discuss a piece that can be custom made and personalised just for you. Whether it's a piece of art, clothing or jewellery, I can work with you to make something really special and unique.

                          
Stages

First and foremost, I like to talk to you, the client, and really get a sense of who you are. Next, I would ask you to look through my Portfolio and choose one, two or three pieces that you really like and we can discuss the styles and colours of your preference and what might work for you and your home.

I make artworks primarily, but also jewellery as well as customised clothing. Here are some examples of commissioned pieces I’ve worked on for clients.

 This piece is one that’s very special to me, as it was to be my first ever exhibition. It was made for the charity, Explorers Against Extinction for their Sketch for Survival competition/exhibition. This piece was shortlisted out of hundreds of entries to be shown at the charity’s yearly exhibition at the Oxo Tower in London and was sold at their auction with 100% of the proceeds going to wildlife conservation projects very close to my heart.

My client wanted a piece similar to Glowing, Going, Gone, to be custom made as an engagement gift for a friend who really liked the original piece. My client had a set budget and so I worked with her, to create something with the same feeling of that piece but for her budget. I did some initial sketches and discussed the sizes with the client. She explained to me that this was an engagement gift and so we spoke about how we could personalise this. Looking at the photos of the engagement party, I noticed that the cake and decoration had references to lobsters and to the show Friends. It turns out that the bride-to-be was a huge fan of Friends and that famous phrase from Phoebe ‘He’s her lobster’, and so I decided to add lobster claws poking out from the corals. This is will hopefully be a wonderful memory of her engagement, every time she looks at this piece on her wall, a memory of the love of her partner and love for her friends.

Another example of commissioned pieces are the below jackets. I’ve worked with Gabrielle for the past two years on a variety of customised jackets which I’ve made for her based on art pieces of mine that she’s liked.

This type of commission is slightly more tricky because we’re going from embroidery and beading on a canvas, to embroidery and beading on a jacket that will be worn. Nevertheless, it’s a unique piece of art, but rather than it adorning your wall, it’s a piece of clothing that is worn and the fabric must be free to move and flow.

The stages of the process always starts with the client picking out artworks from my portfolio that move them or they want to replicate. I then do some preliminary sketches and show the client after which we discuss colours and materials, likes and dislikes.

At each stage from planning, sketching to first embroidery and throughout I keep the client updated with photos and gather feedback before I go on. The best thing is when a client says, I trust you, you do what you do, go crazy and get creative! Which nicely brings me along nicely to my next example!   

This was a freestyle commission where the client wanted to be surprised. He initially really liked the piece Glowing, Going, Gone, but wanted something a little bit different. He also told me two main things – he likes circles and doesn’t like the colour purple so he didn’t want it anywhere on the piece and it went from there.

Well, I also like circles, and took inspiration from microscopic diatoms seen on petri dish under an electron microscope. This has become a running theme for me as I find diatoms super fascinating. The piece literally depicts a petri dish of diatoms; small structures made from zooplankton and phytoplankton.

I really love having creative freedom to make something special and unique for a commission and this Diatoms came out.

Deposit and costs of commission

A commissioned piece will usually cost around 40% more than a readily available piece in my shop. This is because it takes time, planning, discussion sessions with the client, going back and forth in order to create something specific to you. The cost will obviously take into considering time to make, materials, and the usual hidden costs behind one of my artworks.

Once I’ve had the initial discussions with you and we’ve finalised the idea, I will ask for a 50% deposit before I start your commission. Once I’ve completed your commission, I will then have another session with you to ensure you are completely happy with the piece and ask if you would like any minor changes or additions to be made. After you have given the go-ahead, I will ask for the remaining 50% to be paid as well as the shipping charges. I will always aim to find the cheapest but safest way of shipping your commission, and will always include tracking and insurance with postage. Refunds on personalised / commission pieces are not accepted for the obvious reasons that this is a piece made specifically for you.

So please feel free to get in touch from the Contact page or email me at info@mojoandmuse.co.uk