Sister’s Boyfriend lost the $3K painting I gifted her. What boundaries should I put in place moving forward?
I painted a portrait of my sibling and I for their birthday. She had it for a little over a month before her boyfriend lost the $3K painting I gifted her during their move. I worked really hard on the painting. She asked if I could remake it, said she’d pay, and ghosted me a little after I explained that I can’t make it exactly as before + it would be $3K. We talked and she ghosted cause she felt shame and cried about losing the work to begin with. I don’t want money to get between our relationship, so I said I would try again if my schedule allows.
It makes me not want to give any artwork I create to my family. My family is weird about my art. I’m great at what I do, yet if I illustrate them it’s usually constant criticism about how I made them look or how much it costs. I felt deeply hurt that my work was lost while in their care. I looked up that art is often lost in transition and on the business end of things I can get insurance to support my work moving forward. What boundaries do you guys have for creating anything for family and friends?
At this point, I feel my loved ones aren’t worth the hassle of gifting or commissioning work unless we have a loving reciprocal relationship to begin with. Is that overreacting?