I first “met” Glendon Mellow online (I think via Twitter, where he is@flyingtrilobite) as I was working on projects for ScienceOnline2011. He graciously sent me a few of his new Moo business cards which had images of his artwork and a QR code on them (something we were including in many aspects of ScienceOnline2011). He also donated some prints of his work for some prizes during our event. After meeting Glendon at ScienceOnline2011 I knew I wanted to have an original piece of his artwork. If you know me, you know I love small, tiny things. So, I challenged commissioned him to make me a miniature oil painting on a piece of slate no bigger than 1.5-2″. That was the only criteria I gave him. I was excited to see what he would come up with. He did not disappoint.
One fine afternoon, a padded envelope winged its way into my mailbox from Toronto. I was so excited. But the fun was just beginning! The following pictures re-create the steps of my “unveiling” of the piece. I loved every detail of the presentation!
This is the small box that contained the commissioned piece. Glendon sketched his trademark Flying Trilobite on the top of the box (a treasure in itself!)
After I removed the lid, I saw the canvas roll with the instructions "Unroll Gently." I could hardly contain my excitement.
I carefully unrolled the canvas. Anticipation growing.
The piece revealed! What a delight to behold. I quickly picked it up to look at all the details and colours.
Here is a close-up. The photo doesn't really do justice to the beauty, texture, and colour. This is why you need to own real artwork!
This is a photo of the whole presentation (with a US quarter for scale). You can read the title of the piece written in the bottom of the little box. Perfect.
I haven’t decided how I am going to display the piece yet, but I have some ideas (if you have ideas, leave them in the comments).
Glendon has blogged about this commissioned piece on his own blog. Read his thoughts here.
NOTE: I took all of these photographs, but the work itself is © 2011 by Glendon Mellow. Please respect the artist and do not reproduce these images without his permission.
