Shipping nightmare freebie
 

Until recently, I

What a beautiful head, Heidi--and what a terrible shame it was destroyed! I guess we never think it'll happen until it does. At least you have these excellent photos to remember it by, and to help you in your claim. I love the rich textures you were able to achieve and the personality that makes it seem so lifelike.

OH HEIDI! that is just awful. At least he was a good sport. I hope you don't have any issues with the insurance claim.

The above posted is wonderful!

Getting a custom piece to replace the damaged figure is probably the best thing that ever happened to that man!

Thanks for your replies Alexandra, Mary, and Chris -
Alexandra, not to worry - the piece above wasn't destroyed - that's the custom replacement piece I'm sending him. He did keep the original figure and glued it all back together. Sent me a photo of it and it looks like heck! He should definitely toss it.
The portrait is of his mom's favorite australian sports figure and he is thrilled to be getting an original to give to her. Such a thoughtful son.

I think it was very honorable of you to create a portrait for him...he's quite lucky, maybe he will continue to be a patron for years to come.

For what it's worth, I always use FedEx...it's been awhile, but they have made deliveries for me to Australia without incident. They have a special "White Glove" service especially for art and the like.

Joy Thomas
www.portraitartist.com/thomas

Faith semi-restored
 

Thanks Joy, FedX is probably the safest bet. I did go ahead and try Global Express this time, however. Not only did it show up safe and sound, but in record time (5 days) which was 2 days AHEAD of scheduled delivery.
Valuable lesson learned to never ship ground when going overseas.
Oh, you were also right about the repeat business. He would like to have a bust made of his dad later in the year when I can schedule it in. Would be nice to be able to take a trip to Australia and get my own resource images for it! Ah well....