It is my hope that as my body of commissioned work expands, it will be characterized by variety and diverse themes. The latest additions certainly sit eclectically in the mix and I prefer it that way. I recently completed a small series featuring reproductions of some classic television set designs. While this project was not a commission, strictly speaking, it was approved and funded by the Ontario Arts Council through a grant for emerging artists. Prior to that, I created two compositions – one of Canadian sprinter Harry Jerome, and the other of American jazz saxophonist Stan Getz – for a financial planning company in Oakville, Ontario.

As with any commissioned painting, the objective is to respect the desires of the buyer while not sacrificing sound artistic decisions and design principles. I always manage to get satisfaction from this compromise rather than view it as an obstacle to free expression. When someone commissions a painting from me, I look forward to providing a service for them. I also hope that they trust my artistic judgment and give me a reasonable amount of freedom throughout the process. Simply put, I want to make them happy and I want to be happy with the painting, myself.

I prefer to take my own source photos of the particular subject although occasionally that’s just not possible. Often a client will have only a vague idea of what they want, and so I will put together some possible compositions using the source photos edited on the computer. Some people have very specific ideas of what they want in terms of size, colour and composition, while others simply leave all those decisions up to me. I have even been given the challenge of interpreting specific lines of text or poetry, so the range of artistic freedom can go from one extreme to the other.

-- Steve Volpe