A Little Bit of Love + Custom Art

As I grow older and (hopefully) a little wiser, I’ve realized that Valentine’s doesn’t have to be a cheesy hallmark holiday. I’ve realized it is a perfect reminder to remember to love yourself - something I think we all can use. It’s so easy to get caught up in comparison in this fast paced world that we live in. This feels especially heightened when a day comes around with societal expectations of chocolate, candies, jewelry, and all.

Loving ourselves is so simple it is complicated, right? How can we actively do this? I love the reminder of speaking to yourself the way you would a friend. Instead of looking in the mirror picking apart everything you want to change, tell yourself out-loud that you’re grateful for this body that carries you through your day to day life. Self talk is a great place to start - realizing our own voice can sometimes be the most harsh is an excellent opportunity to shift the narrative to self love.

Art is a wonderful act of love. Whether that is physically creating it or the connection it can make when words aren’t enough. Art is powerful and significantly enriches our lives. Through various forms of expression, I hope to share love with you through my art. Here is one way I can do so and examples of what I have been working on recently.

How do commissions work?

Here' you’ll see two examples of recent commissions I created through The Miller Gallery. Something I’ve found helpful to know beforehand is where you’d like the painting to live. This helps determine size, color, and framing options from the get go.

You can see in both commissions, I created a small colored thumbnail sketch. This is how to start all commissions and what the client approves before I go ahead with the final piece. It’s a great way for me to work out composition, color, and scale and provide a reference.

Once the sketch is approved I go ahead and get started on the final piece. Typically I have a 8-12 week turnaround depending on my schedule and the complexity of the project. I’ll share a photo of the 95% finished piece to check if any minor tweaks are necessary. Then, Voila! You have a one of a kind original painting that you’ll have forever and I got to make something that you are over the moon about. Pretty darn cool.

Ready to get started? You can email me at info@rachaelnerney.com or info@themillergallery.com directly. I can’t wait to work together!