Proverbs 31

Many years ago (2012) in a land far away (Texas) a cousin of cousins commissioned a piece of art after seeing a poem I'd lettered and illuminated for his brother, an organist. He wanted to have someday a hand-lettered and illuminated art piece featuring Proverbs 31:10-31, with the appearance of stained glass, to give to his future wife. I don't know if he had any particular woman in mind at the time, certainly not his fiancée as of April 2017. I did a fair amount of layout work and mathematical calculations early on and started in on preliminary drawings for the side panels that would eventually illustrate the passage, but I got hung up on the individual illustrations (particularly the representation of people) and the overall measurements to fit 10 illustrations alongside a sizable text, accounting for borders and an arched panel at the top. I got overwhelmed and procrastinated, he didn't get engaged, and this piece hung there over my head as smaller projects, part-time work, and eventually my own engagement and marriage kept my schedule feeling clogged. I was mulling over different facets of the project off and on as the months passed but not putting brush to paper for several years. In the end, my most recent part-time work an art supply store allowed me to reconsider various materials as I worked in stocking papers and watercolors, helped customers with similar interests, and made use of sales and employee discounts. When I got married and moved, I finally had all the materials in hand, sketches still accessible, and more work space. Shortly after I was well underway with the final work of art, I heard there was an imminent engagement and managed to get the piece done by late May.

I do have the groom's permission to share this publicly, but if any of you readers happen to know the happy couple, please do not share this blog post with the bride-to-be, since I think the artwork is still a surprise.