Clara and James wanted their Colorado wedding painting to reflect the feeling of the future they saw in front of them. They loved hiking and backpacking. The couple spends so much time in the mountains and really wanted a way for this painting to reflect that. Looking out toward the mountains together felt like a way to bring that part of their relationship into the painting: all the places they might go, the adventures they might share, and the life they were beginning.
After their wedding near Creede, Colorado, in the Rio Grande National Forest, they sent me a photo to paint. That Southern Colorado landscape gave us the setting. Our conversations gave the painting its story.
Looking at the Life Ahead
I wanted the painting to really capture their relationship. The goals, the dreams, the adventures and challenges ahead and they agreed. Their pose, looking out over the mountains, carried so much of what they wanted to express. There was a whole future in front of them, and they wanted their shared love of adventure to be part of it.The mountain view became a way to hold that feeling. This was where they had married, but it also represented the destinations and experiences still waiting for them.
The Wildflowers She Wanted
Clara really wanted wildflowers. They had hoped for them on their wedding day, but there weren’t any when they married. The flowers weren’t in the painting at first, either. As we worked through it together, I added them. They mattered to her, and I wanted that part of her vision to have a place in the finished piece. That is something I love about creating a wedding painting from a photo. The photograph gives us a starting point. Then we can talk about the details that matter to you and shape the painting around them.
A Painting That Becomes Part of Their Story
This painting became a collaboration between their wedding day and who they were as a couple. The mountains, their shared view of the future, and the wildflowers she had imagined all belonged together. When they hang it in their home, I want them to see their story in it. Something they can live with as the adventures they imagined become the life they share. That connection between a moment and its meaning is at the heart of why I paint.
Look at this wedding painting up close
