Every core memory has an address.
The Belonging Process turns yours - the childhood home, the wedding venue, the cafe from the trip you still talk about - into a one of a kind paper illustration.
Made entirely by hand, with real layers, real texture, and real shadow …
so the place you love has a permanent spot in your home.
Does this sound familiar?
There's a place you never stop telling stories about. Maybe it's the house where every holiday happened, or the exact spot where you got engaged, or a cafe from a trip you bring up at every dinner party.
You've thought about commissioning something, a piece that actually looks like the place, instead of another framed photo.
Then the doubts start.
Is this going to be some long, confusing process?
Is it going to cost more than it's worth?
What if you spend the money and what comes back looks cheap, or worse … like your seven year old made it?
So you close the tab and file it under someday.
Someday … when there's an occasion.
Someday … when it makes more sense.
The house sells, but the porch doesn't have to.
IMAGINE IF …
Close enough to the way the real one did that someone visits and stops in front of it. They ask about the color of the door and the shape of the windows.
You tell them everything ... all about the place and what it meant to you.
Every single day you walk past it and get a little hit of that feeling. The place you love most is part of your ordinary Tuesday now.
Loving the place is the whole reason.
Most people wait for an occasion to commission art. A milestone, a round number anniversary, a big life moment. Occasions are a lovely reason. They're also not required.
Making these has taught me one thing over and over: "I love that place and I want it on my wall" is always reason enough. The occasion just hands you the permission you never needed.
A photo can't do this job, either. A photo is flat ... one angle forever ... and it never quite gets the porch light right, or the color the door actually was, the one only your family remembers.
I grew up in between things. Parents, homes, cities, a few different versions of what "normal" looked like. It made me a bit of a chameleon. But it also means I understand, more than most people, what it feels like to belong somewhere.
One of the earliest pieces I ever made was the little Paris cafe from our honeymoon, a surprise for my husband, so the corner where we spent an afternoon people watching could live on our wall. That's what The Belonging Process is built for.
Your place, and the chapter of your life it holds, celebrated in something created entirely by hand.
How The Belonging Process Works
You send me the place. I ask questions until I understand what actually mattered there. Then I build it by hand, one layer at a time, until your place is ready to hang on your wall.
You reach out and tell me about the place.
We talk feasibility, pricing, and timeline, so nothing is a surprise.
A 50% deposit reserves your spot on the calendar.
I sketch your place and plan the color palette. You give feedback so we can align on all of the details.
I build out the full design. Once you approve it, the remaining 50% is due, before paper creation begins.
I build your artwork entirely by hand: cutting, texturing, and assembling it one layer at a time.
Your artwork ships. 7 to 10 weeks, start to finish!
Your place, made by hand
A one of a kind paper illustration of your place, sketched, cut, textured, and assembled by hand (no two are ever the same).
Two sizes to choose from: 8x10 or 16x20.
A piece of art built from your actual reference photos, not a stock image or a template.
Feedback built into the process, so nothing about the final artwork surprises you.
The first home I illustrated this way was a row house in Richmond's Fan district. It was going on the market as part of settling an estate, and the family wanted more than photos before it sold. In his words: "It would be a sentimental thing for them."
Another client reached out about the home where she spent thirteen years of her life, a chapter she wanted to honor for good. In her words: "13 years should be memorialized."
One commission ended with the client texting me through tears (the good kind). Every piece takes about 40 hours of hand work, hundreds of small pieces cut, textured, and assembled one at a time.
WHO IT’S FOR …
You grew up in a house that still shows up in your best stories.
You have a spot where you got engaged, or said "I do," that deserves more than a photo.
You still think about a trip that changed something in you forever.
You want to give a gift that says "I was paying attention," not one more gift card in an envelope.
WHO IT’S NOT FOR …
Anyone who needs it in under 7 weeks. This is handmade, not printed on demand.
Anyone who wants something mass produced, or identical to what someone else already has.
Commissions start at $825.
Standard sizes: 8×10 and 16×20. Larger sizes available, priced per project.
A 50% deposit reserves your spot on the calendar.
The remaining 50% is due when you approve the digital design, before paper creation begins.
Rush/priority booking available for a 25% surcharge.
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7-10 weeks from your deposit to your artwork landing on your doorstep.
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Yes, for a 25% surcharge added to your deposit. It jumps you to the front of the queue and compresses the sketch and design turnaround, though the paper stage itself still needs its full 4 to 5 weeks (paper doesn't rush).
In exchange, I'll need your feedback within 48 hours at each step instead of the standard week.
Rush has to be locked in at booking, so let me know upfront if you need it.
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I get it - life happens. If you cancel before I start sketching, your deposit is refunded in full.
Once work is underway, a portion of your deposit covers the time already spent, and the full breakdown is laid out in your project agreement before you book.
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You give feedback before I build the full piece. You see it and shape it along the way, not just at the end.
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Whatever you have. Even a blurry phone photo is enough to start.
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Yes. Just make sure you can get reference photos without giving it away!
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Every layer, every color, every bit of texture. Sketched digitally, cut piece by piece, assembled like a tiny puzzle.
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This has never been about landmarks. Most of my commissions are ordinary family homes. The only requirement is that the place matters to you.
Ready to start?
Tell me about your place below, and I'll follow up with feasibility, pricing, and timeline. I'd love to hear the story.