What to Expect When You Commission a Resin Piece

When you commission a resin piece from me, the process runs in four stages: a short written brief, a conversation about size, colour and budget, the making itself in my London studio, and delivery. Most commissions take four to six weeks from approved brief to finished work, and I reply to every enquiry within 48 hours.

Mixing the first pour of a comission, camera rolling. Some pieces get filmed for the studio archive.

You do not need to arrive with a finished idea

The most common worry I hear is some version of I do not really know what I want. That is fine. It is actually the normal starting point. Most people come to me with a feeling rather than a design: a room that needs calm, a memory they want to hold onto, a gift that has to mean something.

Your job in the brief is simply to tell me what you are hoping the piece will do. The wall it will hang on, the room it lives in, the colours already around it, the occasion if there is one. Photographs of the space help enormously. My background is in architecture and interior design, so I read a room quickly; proportion, light and the materials nearby tell me most of what I need to know before we ever discuss the artwork itself.

What I do not need is technical knowledge. You will never be asked to choose a pour method or a pigment brand. That part is mine.

A commissioned tray in teal and gold, shells set beneath the surface. This one began as a feeling, not a design.

The resin commission process, step by step

One, the brief. You fill in the short form on my custom art page. Name, what you have in mind, rough size, timeline and a budget range. None of it is binding; it just gives our first conversation a shape.

Two, the conversation. I come back to you within 48 hours and we settle the real decisions together: final dimensions, the palette, the level of texture and movement, and any materials being set into the piece. For memorial and keepsake commissions this is also where we talk through what you are entrusting to me, gently and without hurry.

Three, the making. Resin is poured in layers, and each layer cures for around 24 hours before the next can go down. A large piece may carry five or six layers, which is why the work cannot be rushed. I send progress photographs at the stages where the piece is genuinely showing itself, rather than a stream of updates that mean little.

Four, delivery. Your piece is finished, inspected in daylight, fitted with hanging hardware where needed, and packed by hand. It arrives ready to go on the wall.

Three panels poured as one piece, blush and amethyst with gold veining.

How long a commission takes, honestly

Four to six weeks is typical from the moment we agree the brief. Smaller pieces can be quicker; large multi layer works or pieces with preserved objects can take longer, because the objects must be sealed and tested before they ever meet the main pour. I would rather quote you six weeks and deliver in five than the reverse.

If you are commissioning for a date that matters, a wedding, an anniversary, a housewarming, tell me at the brief stage. I plan the studio calendar around fixed dates and will be honest if one cannot be met. A meaningful gift delivered late stops being meaningful, so I treat deadlines as part of the design.

Veins of the Deep, 60 by 90 centimetres. A piece this size takes its full run of weeks.

What a commission costs, and what decides it

Three things drive the price of a custom piece: size, complexity, and what is being set inside it. A modest wall piece sits at the lower end of my range, large statement works and memorial pieces with preserved objects sit at the upper end, and most commissions land somewhere in the middle. Current starting prices for each commission type are listed on my custom art page, so you can place yourself in the range before you ever send the form.

Worth knowing: the budget line on the enquiry form is there to help, not to catch you out. If your budget and your idea do not quite meet, I will say so plainly and suggest where the design can flex, usually in size before anything else. Nobody has ever been judged for a number.

Gold leaf and crystal detail. Materials like these sit in the complexity line of a quote.

Setting memories into resin

Some of the commissions I think about long after they leave the studio are the keepsake pieces. Wedding flowers, festival wristbands, a grandmother's brooch, concert tickets. People often apologise when they ask, as if the request is too sentimental to take seriously. It is the opposite. These are slow, careful commissions, and the conversation around them is slower and more careful too.

If you are considering a memorial piece, the only thing I ask at the start is that you tell me the story behind the objects. It changes how I design, and it changes how I handle what you send me.

Fifty festival wristbands, thirty years of memories, sealed.

Questions people ask

Can I change my mind once the work has started? Up to the point of the first pour, yes, freely. Resin is permanent once it cures, so changes after pouring begins usually mean starting a layer again, which can affect timeline and cost. This is why I spend real time on the brief stage; decisions made there are decisions we will not need to undo.

What if I do not like the finished piece? It has not happened yet, and the process is built to prevent it. You approve the palette and design direction before I pour, and you see progress photographs along the way. Handmade resin always carries natural variation, which I explain up front, so the finished work holds no surprises, only detail.

Do you ship commissions outside the UK? Yes. I have sent work across Europe, to the United States and further, and every piece is packed by hand for the journey. International shipping is quoted as part of the commission so there are no costs appearing later. Transit typically adds one to two weeks depending on destination.

Can you match colours to my room exactly? Closely, yes. Send photographs of the room in daylight, and paint names or fabric swatches if you have them. I test the palette in resin before the main pour, because pigment behaves differently in resin than on a wall. What I will not promise is a perfect match to a screen image, since screens lie about colour.

What can be set inside a resin piece? Dried flowers, fabric, wristbands, tickets, photographs, jewellery, sand, shells and most small objects that can be fully sealed. Fresh flowers must be professionally dried first. If you are unsure whether something can be preserved, ask before sending it; the honest answer is usually yes, with preparation.

Do I pay everything up front? No. A deposit secures your place in the studio calendar and covers materials, with the balance due when the piece is finished and approved by you from photographs. Exact terms are confirmed in writing before any work begins, so you always know where you stand.

A commission is a conversation more than a transaction, and the easiest way to start one is to tell me what you have in mind. If you are ready, or even just curious whether your idea would work, the short form on my custom art page is the place to begin, and I will come back to you within 48 hours.