I was first introduced to Utah-based artist Denise Gasser when I stumbled across her Art After series. This series is comprised of small works on boards in a variety of media. The unique aspect of this project is that Gasser does not typically finish the pieces. If her process is interrupted by one of her 4 children, she documents the reason for the interruption on the back of the piece and stops working on it. Some of these works are pictured below.
Photo courtesy of Denise Gasser on Instagram
Recently, Gasser documented the final stages of a commissioned artwork. A commission is an agreement between an artist and the collector (the person who has hired them) to create a piece if art. This is a collaborative process between collector and artist. Sometimes, as happened with Gasser and her collector, the collector has a much different vision for the finished artwork. In this case, the collector and artist will discuss how to compromise to achieve a work that satisfies both parties.
On Instagram, Gasser shared some insight into this process of compromising with her collector. The image below shows Gasser pondering the painting at the point that she feels it is finished. Her collector had expressed that he was hoping the painting would be a bit darker. Gasser shared her inner turmoil at the thought of darkening up this piece on her Instagram page and how difficult it was to push herself to do this. The resulting artwork is spectacular though!
The artist considers her next step
Photo courtesy of Denise Gasser on Instagram
The completed commissioned artwork after applying thin layers of paint to large sections of the canvas.
Photo courtesy of Denise Gasser
Detail images courtesy of Denise Gasser
In the following excerpt from her Instagram Live video, Gasser discusses the role that fear has played in her process in the past and why it is important for an artist to push themselves through this fear. Her mindset is one that any creative person will appreciate. Watch below!
Video courtesy of Denise Gasser
To see more of Gasser’s work, including her entire Art After series, please visit her website at http://www.denisegasser.com/.