the first cut (stroke?) is the deepest: fairpoint for matthew finlason

this is the very first painting that i did at MBA for the very talented and super fun matthew finlason. you can check him out here--he's fantastic! he's actually the one that i have to credit for getting me into painting and helping me get back into [or attempting to] being an artist.

here's the semi-short version of the story:
we had matthew come on board with Meridith Baer to stage a house in pasadena. matthew was the star of "the stagers" on HGTV, and is still their go-to guy for staging. he's super creative, energetic, and awesome to work with.
our inventory happened to be a bit low at the time because we had a zillion different jobs going, and matthew couldn't seem to find the perfect art piece for the dining room of the house he was working on.

meanwhile, i was sitting at my desk, minding my own business, etc. in bursts matthew with jaime, our office manager, in tow. it went like this:
jaime: "you were an art minor, right? you can paint?"
me: "um, yeah, i was an art minor...with an emphasis in sculpture. i've never taken any painting classes."
jaime: "ok, you're going to do a painting for matthew. he needs a 4'x6' canvas and it needs to be ready to go by tomorrow."

yikes?

cue me zipping to the art supply store and frantically grabbing everything paint-related that i could think of, stressing about how i could possibly fill a gigantic canvas in an hour or two in a manner that this awesome designer would deem somewhat acceptable.

yikes.

jump to me arriving at the warehouse and going for it--paint was flying, i was sweating...it wasn't pretty.

then, cue the final product. it was done, and matthew liked it! it was honestly the best feeling ever. here are some pictures that he took while i was working (beware, i look silly):

then there was the big reveal! below are the pictures of the painting in conjunction with matthew's awesome staging and photography:

matthew was so great to work with, and was such a great support and inspiration. i owe him a lot for encouraging me to paint and for getting me started on this exciting adventure!

ps: the house in which this painting was staged has since been rented, which is fantastic! another victory for Meridith Baer & Associates!