Tom Parlon is a well known man in Ireland, having been involved in politics, serving as a TD for the Laois-Offaly constituency and a Minister of State at the Department of Finance. He recently retired from his last position as the president of the Construction Industry Federation of Ireland. It is the staff here that commissioned me to create a painting of him as a retirement gift. It was given to him during a retirement celebration at the Construction House in Dublin on the 29th June 2023.
The staff wanted to give him something different and special he and his family could keep in their home. They contacted me for a quote and decided to order a portrait painting on canvas. The size of the painting is 50 x 50 cm. I used acrylics on stretched canvas.
The clients were pleased with the painting and emailed me their thoughts upon receiving the portrait:
Hi Ivana!
Gillian and the staff at CIF on commissioning the painting of Tom
Many thanks for such a great painting of Tom, he was absolutely thrilled with it and had no idea about it until presented with it at his retirement reception on Thursday night with many invited guests from the construction industry, a couple of Government ministries, state agency representatives, colleagues and CIF members. The event was a great success and your painting was greatly admired and some people asked me what artist painted it. Many people also took photos of it with Tom holding it up to display it.
So you can take a bow and be assured it went down a treat with everyone, especially Tom and some of his family who were also there.
Many thanks for all your help and efficiency and I would only be too delighted to recommend you to anyone who may wish to have a painting by you. Wishing you continued success and thank you again… All the best
I had one photograph to work from for the main reference, but a few more to give me an idea of different expressions. The square format worked really well to create a contemporary portrait of Tom. The staff were very happy with the finished painting and so was Tom and his family when he received it.
Hi Ivana!
Gillian giving me feedback after the retirement party
The painting arrived safely and it looks absolutely great. I know Tom will be delighted with it too. He has absolutely no idea that it has been done so it will be a great surprise for him. There is a retirement reception for him next Thursday evening 29th at which staff, Trustees, Honorary Officers, National Executive Council as well as a host of outside stakeholders and Government people will be in attendance so I have no doubt your work will be greatly admired.
I will drop you an email next Friday to let you know how it all went and his delight at the painting.
Many thanks for all your help and efficient work. It was a pleasure to deal with you and if we need anymore painting done I will be in touch not to mention that I would highly recommend you as an artist. All the best, Gillian
The clients asked me to organise a frame for the painting too. I ordered a box frame which the canvas could sit in with a shadow gap all around. The frame was a very simple limed wood and the texture worked really well with the texture of the canvas.
I took some photographs of the finished painting and then after I framed it, together with some progress photos of me painting it. I find my hand in the photo gives a good idea of the size of the canvas.
