Chapter 6: A Stony Commission [Illustration]

Most of the requests Daniel receives are for portraits. Considering how often he paints them, it's a straightforward process as long as he has some time from the person he's drawing to sit still. Barring that, he can also take photos for reference and use them to complete a work. Overall, it's not boring per say, but it's not very exciting either

However, what is exciting is when Daniel gets a request to do an art based on an idea rather than a person. Usually, this is if they like his prior artwork and wants his vision on canvas. If he likes the client's concept, he might accept the commission; however, if the client greatly limits his creative freedom, it's not worth the headache to pursue.

Payment factors as well whether he takes on a project, which is why he's meeting a new potential client named Lecia Bowden, who wanted to meet at the Fornweather Art Museum. He knows she's a former archeologist and now the president of a technology imaging company: Sights Open, LCC. Her history and down payment offer is mostly why Daniel agreed to meet her at a museum.

Standing in a hallway, he sees a short brown-haired woman with tanned complexion matching Lecia's public image. Behind her round-rimmed glasses, she seems to be staring at a painting of some artist's representation of Stonehenge. Slipping behind to take a closer look, he raises one eyebrow as he sees strange carvings on the stones, multiple types of animals sitting atop them, and people standing around looking bored instead of paying attention.

Not to get distracted by the strange art, he clears his throat.

"Excuse me, are you Ms. Bowden?"

Lecia flinches before turning to face the artist. Recovering herself, she nods slightly and smiles while removing her glasses.

"Ah, you must be...Daniel?"

"That's correct."

"Well, thank you so much for taking your time out of your busy day to come here," Lecia begins, shaking his hand before turning back towards the painting of the stone circle. "I don't know what I expected from a modern art museum, but this is amazing! I also saw this museum hosts one of your artworks — the one of the stars with the backdrop of trees and hills?"

"That's also correct," Daniel confirms with a smile, "...this is one of the museums that bought my piece for display and it helped to get my name out there."

"They chose well. I actually first heard about you when I was at the Journey Museum in South Dakota. I was impressed with the concept art they commissioned from you showing the Black Hills for their geology exhibit."

Daniel blinks, surprised someone would take note of an artist's drawing that's not even the main feature. He recalls the museum wanted just a landscape drawing to supplement how they believed the area to be millions of years ago. So, using sketch references that geologists created, he just had to make a drawing that brought an imagined land area to life while considering what's known about the terrain.

Considering she's a former archeologist, perhaps it's not surprising she was visiting such a museum. Speaking of which...

"I'm guessing you did some work around the Black Hills when you were an archeologist?"

Lecia chuckles a little and waves her hand. "No, not at all. I was simply visiting a year ago past my archeology days. Still, even though I don't work on the field anymore, my fondness for history beneath our rocks still holds."

She decides to get on with business. "Since I don't want to waste your time, let me tell you of my request. As a reminder of my days working in Europe, I'd like to have a painting of Stonehenge."

Daniel furrows his eyebrows and reexamines the painting she's looking at. "There are countless paintings of the famous circle, though. Why would you want to add another?"

Lecia grins. "Most paintings show Stonehenge in a realistic fashion, but I'm looking at something more...mystical; although, admittedly less chaotic than the one you see here."

"I would have thought an archeologist would want something that depicts the Stonehenge realistically?"

The former archeologist hums, leaning forward. "Is that what you think? Isn't mystery the thing that draws people to the circle every year? So many people over the centuries used it for different purposes, and yet, its original purpose and why it was built remain unclear. For that reason, I want you to build your vision of a complete Stonehenge in the past. I'm fond of how you draw your skies and the stars, so it would be great if you could incorporate that into the background."

Although Daniel doesn't understand why this wealthy individual wants such artwork, he can't deny that it sounds interesting. "Is that all?"

"Just one requirement: I'd like it to have a fire somewhere with a green hue."

"G-green fire? Like in the center of the circle for some kind of ritual?"

Lecia suppresses a smile. "Looks like your mind is already envisioning it, but I'll leave the placement of such fire to you."

That's odd, but Daniel hardly uses lighter green in his artworks, so he isn't against the idea of experimenting. Honestly though, he never expected a well-known archeologist to have such an imagination, given her interest in uncovering truth.

"Why green though?" he can't help but ask.

Just before Lecia can answer, her phone rings. With a annoyed sigh, she pulls it up and accepts the call. She remains silent for a while, only listening, then slowly widens her eyes.

"Wait, you mean...Alright, I'm on my way."

Ending the call, she answers the artist vaguely. "Let's just say the green fire is a whim and I think it'll look pretty under a night sky, don't you think?"

The artist can't disagree, although it feels like it's more than just a whim. However, he's doesn't question it further seeing how the lady has an urgent business. He gives his answer to the request. "Alright, I'll agree to this job."

Lecia claps her hands. "Great! My secretary will contact you and hammer out a written contract. As soon as that's signed, you can expect the down payment and the rest after completion. Knowing your works, I trust you'll know when you're satisfied with the artwork."

The artist lift his lips appreciatively, then follows through to shake her hand once more. "Thank you for the opportunity, Ms. Bowden."

"No, thank you!" she says with eyes happily closed, "Now if you excuse me."

Daniel remains still for a moment after she passes and stares at the Stonehenge drawing more. For some reason, he recalls a bit of folklore he learned in school.

'Wasn't Merlin, the wizard from King Arthur, said to have built the monument?'

Going based on that, the green fire is something he can imagine coming from a wizard. Still, Lecia hasn't mentioned using that folklore as an influence. Either way, he's excited at the prospect of creating a more magical piece than he's used to.

'Ah!'

Daniel quickly shakes his head of such excitement, nearly forgetting that he has something much bigger than his work in his apartment. 'I better get back to Anne. Hopefully all is good over there.'