Spending a Saturday evening live painting guest portraits at an upscale restaurant in nearby Bloomfield Hills sounded like a fun experience. And the client generously offering a complimentary 3-course dinner (in addition to my hourly rate) sealed the deal!
"I want to thank you for the great job you did sharing your talent and creating Storybook Portraits of the attendees at my surprise 80th birthday party. Everyone was delighted with the cute drawings to take home to remind them of the wonderful event."
With my assistant (husband) at my side to carry all of my art supplies, we arrived at Eddie Merlot's and set up in one of the private rooms. The room was pretty dark, which makes for a romantic dining atmosphere, however, as you can imagine, it isn't ideal for a painter. Luckily, I brought along my trusty Daylight lamp and got situated at a corner table near an electrical outlet, courtesy of the head waiter.
The guest of honor arrived, everyone yelled "SURPRISE!" (she sure was shocked) and I watched the guests get so excited to find out they would be treated to custom portrait favors painted by yours truly.
I tend to get in a zone when I'm painting, and when it's live and I'm trying to illustrate as many guests as I can, there's absolutely no time to waste. That's why I'm so grateful for my husband who was there to take photos of each guest, answer any questions, keep me hydrated with sips of water and make sure everyone had their packaged portraits to take home.
Before I knew it, a few hours had passed and I finished painting all the guests who came up to my table. After the event, I learned there was just one guest who didn't get a chance to have their portrait painted. Scenarios like these are why I offer an option to order extra studio portraits, so I was happy to paint and ship one more.
As I was packing up at the end of the evening, the head waiter approached with a large carry-out bag containing our dinner. He leaned over, smiled and whispered, "I threw in an extra dessert for you!"
Live painting is exhilarating and tiring and stressful and rewarding but when it ends with several humongous desserts, I'm reminded just how lucky I am to have this business and get paid for doing what I love!
(10/10 recommend the Eddie Merlot's carrot cake!)
Interested in hiring Jenny to live paint guest portraits at your next event? Please fill out the event inquiry form
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