Design Challenge: A Gallery-like Expanse of Wall

A fine art commission is a meaningful holiday gift.

CHATTANOOGA. Interior designer Cirsten Weldon completed the main living and dining rooms for her client in Collegedale, but faced one major design challenge that required a custom, imaginative solution.

Design team: 
Interiors, Cirsten Weldon, Eurasian Designs
Artist, Alex Loza Suárez, Loza Studio and Atelier  

THE DESIGN CHALLENGE:
Large gallery walls in a home allow a room to feel wonderfully expansive and they draw our eye away from clutter. However, such a wall can also pose a design challenge. Paint color alone is not an adequate solution, particularly if the gallery wall is dramatic and viewed from several elevated landings.

THE DESIGN SOLUTION:
Our advice is to avoid an off-the-shelf retail solution that compromises on scale and value. We suggest commissioning a custom sized painting to make the room distinct and inviting.

Alex Loza Suárez lives in Collegedale, TN, and offers commission works in representational art primarily in oil or charcoal. He teaches through his atelier, Loza Studio & Atelier of Figurative Art, and is on the faculty at Lee University in Cleveland, TN. 

Artist Alex Loza Suárez completed a commission that reflected the rural woodland environment. To add dimension and avoid the look of a mural, he created a triptych of three large canvases. He worked in layers of high-quality oil paints to bring an old-world master’s look to the the paintings.

FINE ART COMMISSION PROCESS:

Step 1. The artist meets with the interior designer or homeowner to learn about expectations and the physical environment of the room including the scale, lighting, color schemes, and placement of the painting. The proposed budget for the project is discussed.

Step 2. The artist creates a digital sketch on location to attach to his notes.

Step 3. Back in the studio, the artist will render a more detailed digital sketch and will e-mail it to the client along with additional notes or questions.

Step 4. When the concept and budget are approved, the artist will order supplies. As the painting begins, the artist offers frequent updates on the paintings via email. Clients are also welcome to stop by the studio to view the work in progress.

Turn around time varies depending on size and difficulty of the piece. Generally Alex estimates 4-6 months for large paintings (25 to 49-square-feet), and 7 months to a year for any project that is 60-square-feet or larger.

To contact Alex about a fine art commission, visit Loza Studio and Atelier.

Hunter Museum of American Art in Chattanooga

Hunter Museum of American Art partnership: 
March 25, 2017. Alex will give a lecture at the Hunter Museum of American Art and provide a demonstration of his painting techniques. Following an April trip to Peru to study with Andean artists, he will facilitate museum workshops on Latin American influences on American art.

A triptych of trees in oil interprets the natural setting that originally attracted these homeowners to their property. Commissioning a Tennessee artist is a meaningful design solution for such an expansive gallery wall.

Detail of an Eastern pine in oil

The oil work in progress in the art studio