Magnolias for the Carolina Inn
In September 2022, I was contacted by a company based in Oakland, CA, called Local Language Art. They were looking for Chapel Hill artists to potentially commission or license art from to be placed in a local hospitality project. While they hinted at the location, it wasn’t until the following July when I was beginning the work that they confirmed it would be hanging in the Carolina Inn! If you live in North Carolina, attended UNC, or have even visited Chapel Hill, you know that this is a huge deal to have a piece of my art in this historic and well known venue.
Before I even received official word that my work was selected for the commission, I hurried to UNC’s campus with my toddler in tow to photograph as many magnolias as I could find near eye level (ok I stood on lots of stone walls and raised my camera above my head) so that I would be prepared with reference images in case I was chosen. About a month later I got the ok to begin the commission- a 38x48 inch painting on loose canvas. Other than those physical details, the only direction was that they liked this magnolia painting they had seen on my website (image below). I made five new magnolia studies, submitted my two favorites, and The Carolina Inn approved one of them with no edits and the green light to get painting!
The painting of mine from 2020 that Local Language pitched to The Carolina Inn, which they liked!
So I rolled out my canvas (linen), my Dad built me an easel and brought me a large piece of plywood to tack the canvas to, and I hired my highschool neighbor to babysit so I could log some extra hours in the studio (plus my parents came over like every day for those few weeks- thank you Mom and Dad). Although it was about 10 months in the making as far as correspondence and planning, I only had one month from start to finish for creating the actual painting.
As artists, we are also salespeople and often the number one marketers of our work. This makes me sometimes want to display a very polished, professional, and experienced persona (i.e. hide any vulnerability). Believe me when I tell you- I still just feel like a ten year old Girl Scout who really loves art and craft time and it seems absolutely WILD that a painting of mine is now in the permanent collection of The Carolina Inn. I drive by the Inn all the time and I will need to stop in and visit my painting every now and then because I still don’t believe it. Fortunately I have these photos to remind me this really happened! Thank you Local Language Art for pitching my work, and thank you to The Carolina Inn for choosing me and entrusting my hands with this lovely corner of your inn!
If you would like to see video footage of the painting being made, head to my Instagram where I posted 9 reels of the journey from cutting the linen to seeing it installed for the first time.