Commission disaster - what do I do?

[Kimberly Dow]

Lisa,

My first thought after reading this is that you shouldn't have let them see it before it was complete to your satisfaction. Perhaps you were going to kick up the colors or make other changes to the composition before it was finished. I let my clients see work in progress if they stop in and it's right there, but I do not invite it if I can help it. Their inexperience with how a painting develops can lead to them wanting changes or thinking it's not what they wanted.

If it's gone and they have made up their mind that they do not want it, then brush it off. It was a small difficult one anyway. Or, you can try it again, making changes, then show them and see if they are interested.