capturing moments

by Camille Massie and Lee Fonvielle | 09.24.15

They say time flies. But it seems to speed by even more quickly for us parents, don’t you think?

Somehow, before we’ve even fully realized what has taken place, our children are grown. They go to college. They get married. They might even have children of their own. We experience major life moments as mile markers that eventually become mere memories.

As women who share a love of art, we partnered up several years ago with J. Daniel Portraiture & Fine Art. We feel that a portrait is an enduring valued heirloom. A moment suspended in time, a memory seized. They capture the youth of your child, the joy of your wedding day, the excitement of a graduation or debut, a special birthday. They tell a story. Your family’s story. Your story.

We feel so fortunate to be a part of capturing these moments for our clients, and enjoy the process almost as much as we enjoy delivering the finished product. We work with our clients closely to source inspiration, spark creativity and discover the most fitting portraiture style for them. While we both love and own traditional portraiture, we are excited about the evolving styles within the industry. Many of the artists we represent are developing new and more contemporary approaches to the art.

So, what’s the process?

1. Choose an artist. When choosing an artist, you should first consider the style of portraiture you might want. What style of art do you like? Do you envision something tightly rendered with few visible brush strokes, resulting in an image similar to a photograph? Or do you prefer something softer, a bit more impressionistic?

2. Choose a medium. There are many to choose from–oil, pastel, pencil, charcoal, watercolor, sepia, sculpture. We are able to steer our clients in the direction that is best suited to them.

3. Choose an artist. Once you identify your style and select a medium, picking an artist is an exciting next step. We share our artists’ portfolios, samples, biographical information, and pricing–using these elements as a guide to meet your needs and match your vision.

4. The details. We arrange a sitting with the artist, who comes to you for a photography session. Together, you select the image from which the portrait is painted. Timing depends entirely on the artist and the medium, and completion can take anywhere from one day to eighteen months.

There are many decisions and details that go into commissioning a portrait, but we help our clients every step of the way. We listen, make recommendations based on our experience, and answer many questions along the way. There is one thing that never changes in our business: the excitement our clients express upon delivery. Seeing a parent’s or grandparent’s reaction and knowing that we were a part of the process is what we find most gratifying.