It was the 1st of June 2025 and my car was loaded with a number of my original artworks and I was headed down to the outskirts of High Wycombe to deliver to my lovely customers, Louise and Mark. Among the artworks were four pieces that I had painted as a set, back in 2022.
Although each of the four artworks worked perfectly well on their own, as stand-alone artworks, I had hoped that all four would remain together – but, not for one moment believing that they would do.
Rewind to five weeks earlier, when I was at the customer’s beautiful home, for the first time. Mark had already said that he really liked ‘Some Quiet Reflection’ and was going to buy it. It was then that I showed him a photo I had taken a while back, of all four paintings laid out on my living room floor. The photo was taken from the top of a set of step ladders, looking directly down on all four paintings pushed together to form a larger ‘square’. Mark was blown away by the image and decided almost immediately that he wanted them all.
He beckoned me back out into their impressive entrance hall and pointed to the large expanse of blank wall that stood before me. “This is where they are going!” Mark said excitedly.
Following the customer’s order I had taken the four paintings to The Framers Gallery in Wolverhampton. As they were all painted on deep stretched canvases, I decided that they should be presented in high quality black floating frames, and each art work looked great.
On the drive down the M40, my brain was racing – I loved how the paintings looked in their frames. BUT, would the customer like them? After all, they were paying a good amount of money for them. Would they push together properly? I had had the vision before they were framed, but would it work on the wall?
Once I arrived, we laid all four paintings on their fronts (on soft blankets) and fitted a number of flat brackets to the rear, which pulled them all together nicely and held them all quite rigid. It was looking good. But, we still had to get this now huge single frame up onto the wall, the equivalent of one floor up!
Thankfully, Mark had already set up a small scaffold in the entrance hall and was eager to be up there, fitting the artwork to the walls.
It took a few fixings, and we decided that it needed brackets along both sides. But, after a couple of hours, the new installation was up and looking great. Measuring 2.2m in height and 1.5m in width, we had created quite the statement piece in Louise and Marks’s already impressive entrance hall, and it complimented well the huge spiral staircase.
I was really pleased with how the installation looked and, as I stood looking at it for a little while, I had to pinch myself as I thought to myself, ‘I did that!’ – BUT, more importantly, the customers, Louise and Mark were absolutely over the moon.
The installation could NOT have fitted into its new home any better. It was almost as if it had been painted to go there… perfect! I couldn’t have been prouder.
I would like to thank Louise and Mark for their amazing support. As an artist, you hope that you find a customer that ‘gets’ your artwork. They were fantastic with me and gave me a real boost.
If you would like a new art installation. Whether it be for the home or your business, whatever the size. Please contact me at stevewoodhamsart@outlook.com