The Cabin, the Gift, and the Artist
A Challenging Commission
By Guest Writer Naomi Johnson
When Pat Craig heard that her sister in the Yukon was selling her cabin after 34 years of ownership she knew instantly what she’d do: commission its painting.
“I’d seen paintings of colorful birdhouses by local Ottawa artist, Marion Aitken, and loved them. I knew my sister’s cabin, with its blue eves and purple porch, would paint up just as whimsically. That’s what I wanted: color, warmth, and a bit of comedic charm. Afterall, it’s not every log cabin that has painted accents!”
Whimsical birdhouse paintings that inspired the Cabin commission
“I’ll need your best photo—what you’d like your piece to look like,” Marion told Pat in an early email. Marion is a high realist painter whose work often focusses on nature or pets. She comes at her artistry from an unusual direction though.
“I wanted a ... functional artistic career. I was trying like crazy to avoid being that starving artist.” So she studied Scientific and Technical Illustration and later worked in graphic design. But requests for her realistic art kept coming in.
“I think my approach ... is much more involved than most. Because of my background in graphic design and photo editing I’m accustomed to getting into the nitty gritty details.”
Marion uses a mock-up approach in preparation for her commissions. She digitally copies the photo received, removes any undesired objects not wanted in the final piece, then digitally reconstructs any gaps left. Usually it’s no big deal: hands or feet removed from alongside a favorite pet, small objects on a table beside that special floral arrangement removed, a boring background eliminated—easy stuff. But with Pat’s project it was different.
“The only photo I had was of the cabin angled sideways. I wanted a front-on view.” Pat reached out to family members. Who had a great shot of Aunt Lo’s cabin? And shhh, don’t tell, it’s a surprise! She got three pictures back but was disappointed—there wasn’t a good front-on in the bunch. One was a winter view from the cabin’s rear, one a duplicate of what she had, and one had people and pets sprawled across the front porch.
“I recalled Marion saying she could sometimes reposition the subject. It felt like a long- shot to me, but I didn’t have what was needed and I didn’t want to ask my sister for a better picture. It would arouse her suspicion.” With stomach-pinching hope, Pat explained the situation to Marion.
“Send me everything you’ve got. I’ll see what I can do.”
Drafting up the sample was far more challenging than Marion expected. “You never know until you get into it.” Photoshop enabled her to stretch out and move the best side of the cabin, in steps, to a front-on view. Then she digitally created the second side, then the far side of the forest. The winter-view photo gave her a good sense of the surrounding woods for digitally recreating that aspect, and luckily the cabin was symmetrical in design.
Pat and Marion had agreed on an 8” X 10” canvas, at Marion’s standard price of $250 for this size. Marion didn’t change her price; she would stick to her word. She also didn’t tell Pat that what would normally take an hour or so in digital prep, at most, had taken several hours. And that was before dealing with the removal of unwanted subjects on the front porch and reconstructing those spaces.
“Having Photoshop know-how, [I] make sure that the plan for the painting is very precise. Precision is important for me because of the more realistic nature of my work.” Marion was finally ready for Pat to approve the digital mock-up.
“I was thrilled that she somehow got the cabin front-facing, but I had imagined it set-back further to capture more of the surrounding forest and feel of the nearby woods. I thought the cabin was up too close. We were already missing the lake-view, but it was the lake or the cabin, not both.”
“Marion, I notice the lake is reflected in the windows in one photo. Do you think you could capture that?” Pat held her breath. That would be the advantage of the close-up view.
“No problem,” Marion responded.
“Because I’ve worked with clients in graphic design situations, I’m accustomed to a lot of back and forth and interacting in a cooperative way with a client.” Pat appreciated Marion’s ease of approachability. “She’s incredibly kind and patient to work with. Astute too,” she says.
“Is it alright if I remove the BBQ?” Marion queried. They knew the people would be removed, an aunt, their mom, and her sister’s dog. “And what about those wayward flower- barrels? Can I reposition them and fill them with flowers?”
Pat researched Yukon wild-flowers, that her sister loved, and sent Marion pictures. Then she held her breath again.
A few more weeks passed; Marion had other pieces commissioned ahead of Pat’s. Then the final mock-up came to her inbox. This mock-up was part original photo, part digital mock- up. It perfectly captured the charm of her sister’s golden log cabin.
“It was whimsical and charming—outstanding!” It needed only a minor adjustment to a small patch of ground. Marion did the touch-up, Pat gave her final approval, and now it was time for the artist to move on to her beloved mediums: paints, brushes, and canvas.
When the piece was done to perfection, to Marion’s liking, she emailed Pat a photo. “I loved it!” Marion gave it one last eye-over, comparing every detail to the final mock-up they had
agreed on. That’s when she noticed it—she’d forgotten the outdoor lamp! The small item got painted in above the sliding glass doors.
When Pat opened the brown-paper package, delivered later that week, she gasped. It was that delightful. McClintock Bay and her sister’s front-lot trees were captured perfectly in the reflecting windows. Her sister would have her lakeview memorialized, along with her wilderness cabin—if Pat could now part with it.
“It was hard to let it go—it was that nice. But of course, I sent it off. Then I got Marion to make me up two dozen note cards featuring the cabin’s print. I’ll have my copy and my sister gets the rest for Christmas. Shhh—don’t tell.”
Final 10”x8” painting of “Lo’s Cabin”
