Peacocks and Periwinkle

Guess what I finished!  Remember the post awhile back, "There are peacocks in this bramble patch"?  This was about the nearly finished bathroom that I decided to add a little more detail to, and ended up on yet another "hike through the brambles"(that's where I skip the road less traveled, and head off through the underbrush).  Well, after spending about forty hours of my "free time" standing in front of the mirror, which I haven't done since highschool, my eyebrows are still wildish, but I think the wall looks mighty fine.

Hand sculpted plaster squash blossom scrolls, with hummingbirds, this time in a slightly Art Nouveau style.

Okay, of course, no it isn't really finished. Nothing in my house is ever finished. It just gets to an interesting stopping point. Last night I finished sculpting (I'm pretty sure) the scroll work around the mirror and peacock sconces.



Perfectly nice periwinkle painted bathroom, with custom vanity, topped in faux marble counter.



Hand sculpting this takes about an hour to an hour and a half per running foot, including the time it takes to plan, prep, sculpt, scrape off not-quite-right bits, and resculpt them.  I plan the general layout and style in advance, but the detail is created as I go.

 Although it is perfectly fine to leave this natural, I might eventually give it an antique glaze, or just maybe I might silver leaf it. Not the paint, but the real metal leaf, which is it's own trip off through the brambles, which is why I'm not going to start it now.  I really like the way this looks as is, and I have other things I want to do in this bathroom, like figure out something interesting for the ceiling, maybe paper, maybe stenciled plaster, and then there's the window that needs a curtain, but what about stained glass, and the shower curtain needs at least three layers of fabric and trim, not to mention the tub surround which needs me to decide on the tile, and I never did paint the shelves Dad installed on his last visit, and...

A good adventure is never really finished!

Do you think I should add a blossom down here for this hummer?

If you like the hummingbirds, but not such fancy vine work, check out the plaster page of my website, http://www.theartofthehome.com/ornamental-plaster.html.  There is a version there with very light, more naturalistic vines.  While you're on the website, wander around through the pages to see what else I do.

If you are trying something like this yourself, scroll back to a post last summer titled "where feng shui meets Santa..." for some basic product info and directions.  If you still have questions, feel free to email me, and I'll try to answer them.  dawnmariedelara@gmail.com.