Styled Shoot in Portland

I packed my art things, and hopped in the car with my friend Wendy, and headed to Portland, Oregon.

Earlier that month (October) I met with a local wedding planner Katelynn (with Daisy and Sun Events in Oregon) and we discussed business and wedding vendor things, as one does with fellow wedding vendors. Later, I found out she was doing a styled shoot in Portland in like 1 week. A styled shoot is an event for wedding vendors to get together and network, as well as show what we offer.

STOP, what? This is the opportunity i was looking for for months now! What a perfect place to get some live wedding painting practice and meet local vendors in Oregon. I quickly go into panic mode and thought, “Can I get myself (my art supplies etc.) together in such short notice?” And after discussing it with my trusted partner, and my brain, I decided, “Heck dude, why not?!”

So that brings me to packing up all my art supplies that goes into a Live Wedding Painting, and bringing a friend, to carpool with on the three hour drive from Bend.

I stayed in Vancouver, WA (15 minutes from Portland) and in the morning, grabbed some coffee, and headed to The Castaway wedding venue in downtown Portland. (Only my second time going to Portland in my life, btw). Arriving early so I could set up, I surveyed the scene, trying to decide what I should pick for the background. (Side note: normally I choose the background before, with the couple, but not this time…I wasted 30 minutes trying to decide LOL). In the end, I chose a popular scene with the iconic red downtown building in the background.

There weren’t very many people here at this point, so I was very relaxed as I started painting the background in. As more people came, and the model couple, the painting started to take shape, and people seem to love to watch the process.

I snapped a photo of the couple about 4 hours into the painting time, and finished it up in a total of 5.5 hours. If that sounds fast, well yes it felt fast to me too! I was happy with what I was able to accomplish!