Nickolai Gurgeiff - Making of a Custom Box

Here are the steps involved in ordering a custom box, you can see some of the mail exchange and watch step by step as the box evolves.

03/31/01 Customer's request
I have 3 of your mermaid Lacquer Boxes in my mermaid collection. I would like to commission a larger piece; I am thinking of an underwater fantasy scene, maybe Atlantis theme or similar, on a slightly convex elliptical substrate about 14" X 20" in size. I envision somewhere between 10 to 15 mermaids in various poses/situations. Also, I would like to e-mail you reference pictures of what I would want the mermaids to look like. Would you be interested, and approximately how much would it cost?
Answer
For a rough estimate without seeing the pics yet, I can tell you between 2000 - 3000. The box on the page took three years to paint. (she repainted it three times) So figure about one year from start to finish, figure about $500 to start and the payments along the way, you get progress pics at each step.
04/07/01 Customer sends pictures
Architect drawing of box (in this case a wall hanging)
Customer OK's the wall hanging
06/27/01 Rough drawing of the border and image
06/30/01 Customer ok's the drawing, makes deposit and work begins
07/20/01 Making of the Frame
Painting

Read more about Victoria Shevchenko here