Talk about trying something new!

When not working on my own house lately, I've had the chance to do some fun projects for actual profit.  This dining room recently went from typical beige Midwestern to colorful Contemporary Country, with the help of designer Amy Kos.  The client actually chose the wall treatment, painted to look like panels of rusting barn siding, embellished with real screws, and her husband chose the wine bottle chandelier.  There is a reclaimed barn wood table on the way, and a childhood toy box bench and wooden barn will take their place alongside a buffet and corner curios from Ballard Designs.  What a fresh spin on American country style!  I'll post pictures of the finished project in a few weeks, along with a link to Amy.

Click to view, click again to enlarge

I was back on the job this morning, putting a quick crackled black-rub finish on their simple oak mantle...just a small detail to give context to the black firebox, and a more rustic finish to better compliment the organic nature of the stone.  That's fancy for "A little less builder oak, please."

Hope you have a great Memorial Weekend.  Check in next week for photos of "How I Started my Summer Vacation"...yeah, that's as in "What I'm painting next, here at home".  Throw a brat on the grill for me!

Details, details, details

Now that the big stuff is done in the kitchen, it's time to focus in on the smaller details.  Today I had my Third Thursday Art Group here, and after they took in the ceiling, walls, cabinets and floor-that faux tile floor really does fool the eye-they started asking about the bits on the counter.  Uh-huh, here we go through the brambles again...

Why buy spices in jars when you can buy 'em cheaper in bags, then spend a jillion hours creating custom containers from recycled olive jars (martinis anyone?), Pebeo ceramic paint (their glass paint is too sheer), and polymer clay? 

Why buy canisters from Target when you can top lidless yard sale finds with vintage china plates, to which you epoxy handles styled from recycled cabinet pulls and more polymer clay? 

And why leave a perfectly cute candlestick lamp alone, if you can give it a funky paint job and a paper clay rabbit head? 

Why hang out in the pub or in front of the telly when you can go to your playroom and make cool stuff that all your friends envy?

To all my friends who say they have no time to do those fun little projects they always talk about but never get around to, I issue a challenge:  Turn off the t.v. for a month, invite your friends to come over for art dates, instead of meeting for drinks or coffee, and see how much more satisfied you feel at the end of those four and a half weeks.  Divinity is in the details, and the details happen in the minutes we choose to use fully.  Have a perfectly divine weekend, whatever you choose to do!

Tea in the garden, anyone?

I meant to do something unique, but I didn't quite envision this, when I started out.  If you want to see my  kitchen in it's former yellow plastic glory, scroll down to the previous entry.  If you want to look at anything closer, click on the picture, then click again for a close-up.

She's painted from floor to ceiling, or is that ceiling to floor?  The "copper" ceiling is actually paintable wallpaper, first coated in metallic copper paint, then in gold glaze, to look better against the pink walls.  One hint, should you want to try this:  cut the paper into about three foot lengths along the natural divides, as it is very heavy, and will pull itself down before the glue dries.  Once painted, the cuts never show.

Yes, you can paint vinyl flooring.  The secret is very good primer and very good clear coats...and a lot of hours if you plan to do all the shading you see here!

The counter tops are painted in a faux marble, and the backsplash is troweled plaster with a piped on twig trellis, reminiscent of majolica pottery.  Usually I prefer to leave piped plaster white, but this time, I tinted it, as it seemed to help coordinate the backsplash and counter colors.  Dimensional plaster really is one of my very favorite things to do!

Every bunny needs an escape route!

Usually this is where I write the menu for the week, but with all this painting, I haven't been cooking much!

There are still some details to attend to...valances over the windows, paint on some of the furniture pieces that sit against the other walls, and maybe bringing the 1940's stove back up from the basement, where it was plumbed in for a summer kitchen when the "new" stove was installed.  For now, I think I'm ready for that cup of tea...or maybe just a wee nip of sherry? 

Whew!

Done with the kitchen.  Okay, not quite.  I've a few details and styling (that's fancy for put the stuff back on the counters) to do before I take proper pictures on Sunday, after which I'll put three coats of poly on the floor, after which there are a few dozen other things I could still do, but probably won't.  Somebody stop me, please!  So, here's where it started, bright and airy, but not at all my style, even when it was in fashion:

Before:  vinyl wallpaper patterned with butter churns and spinning wheels, yellow plastic counters and backsplash, and vinyl flooring in a color that British designer Lawrence Llewellyn-Bowen once referred to as "there's a reason we flush"...'70's Country Americana at it's, um, finest?

Almost there...

For those of you checking on the kitchen progress tonight, the paint work is almost done.  I've of course thought of amazing details to add to the "stone tile" floor, so I'll be painting through the night.  If you're awake, send some good vibes my way, and check in around 9:00 tomorrow morning.

Belle's Birds

Click on photo to enlarge, click again to view details.

Alright, this should be the last tease before the whole kitchen is unveiled.  Here's one of the upper cabinets, graced by the neighbor's apple tree, and one of the resident mourning doves.  I love painting animals I haven't painted before.  I check out every book from the library across the street with pictures of the subject (It's a tiny library, so it's not like I'm stressing the 100 book limit), and really research the details.  This dove was a little fluffed up, compared to the sleeker poses of the others, but it made it more interesting to paint, being able to see more individual feathers.  Amazing how many details and shades of color there are on a plain gray bird!  Yup, another trip through the brambles, and don't even get me started on the endless possibilities for apple varieties.

Someone asked about "Belle's" Kitchen, and I realize it's been about a year and a half since I introduced Belle Amie, whose name is French for Beautiful Friend.  Belle is a 1906 post-Victorian eclectic with hints of neoclassical influences in th...huh?  Sorry.  Belle is a big white quirky confection of a house, built by Friend J. Whitlock, in the very heart of downtown Belle Plaine.  She has a huge front porch, a back parlor that makes a perfect art studio, a brilliant pink stained glass window in the entry, and three mismatched fanlight windows in her huge attic.  She's asymmetrical, quirky, beautiful and charming to the core...like all my best girlfriends!

She's also far from finished, in the decorating sense of things, and as she's supposed to be a showcase for my work, I'm pushing hard not to be another one of those about whom people say "Oh, you know, it's like the shoemaker whose kids go barefoot..." (Does anybody say that anymore?  Do kids even know that there used to be shoemakers, before there were sweatshops in third world countries???  Oops, wrong blog.)  Anyway, tune in next Friday morning for what I sincerely, wholeheartedly, please Dear God let it be true, hope will be the unveiling of the finished kitchen, painted fully, floor to ceiling.

Belle's Kitchen: the saga continues

I have this poem by Robert Frost on my studio wall.  I'm sure you know it..."Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference."  On different days, I give it different endings, like "and I stood frozen, unable to choose", or "and I turned around and went back home, 'cause who wants to go into the woods anyway"...and various other endings, depending on just how late I'm working, and just how grumpy I am at myself for never taking the easy way.  I think I have finally hit on the version that honors my truest nature:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I went hiking off through the brambles.

My kitchen illustrates this perfectly.  I meant to do something interesting on the cabinets, something a little different than you might expect, but I did not intend to spend weeks of early mornings and nights after work, painting a full color, fully detailed mural...with brambles.  Last week, I showed you the cabinet to the left of the stove (rabbit conveniently located near the stew pot, heh-heh-heh!), so this week I bring you the sink cabinet.  You want to find the compost bucket in my kitchen?  It's behind the rhubarb, of course!

click on photo to enlarge, click again to zoom on details.

Comparing apples to pomegranates

Sometimes people think they can't afford my services, without ever asking my pricing.  For almost any effect you wish to achieve, there are multiple ways to do so, and the dollars are in the details.  I can paint an 8'x8' mural in a day, or I can paint it in a week...just depends on what you like, and how much detail you want to pay for.  Here's an example:

The artwork on my business card is a photo from a full-surround mural I painted in a baby girl's nursery that was to later become the mother's home office.  Animals like this are about $60 each in a mural project.

This artwork is from a mural painted across cabinet doors.  Animals painted with this level of detail are about $360 each in a mural project.  This section of cabinets took nearly as long as the entire room done in the simpler style! 

By the way, if you like this newest bit of art, check back next week to see if there's another installment in the long drawn-out saga of "Belle's Kitchen"...

Even superheroes need a place to sleep

One of my favorite clients, Kemerie, called me last year to tell me they had moved to a bigger house, and although she had visions of a classic and tasteful little boy's room for her son Graham, her husband had bought Graham removable stick-on decals of his all-time favorite guy, Spidey.  Not at all what Mama had in mind, but I assured her we could work with it.

Though definitely "all boy", with a love of cars, policemen,  firemen, and superheroes,  Graham is one of those little boys who speaks in long sentences, wears khakis and polo shirts, and will probably own a briefcase before he graduates middle school...if he doesn't already!  I wanted to give him a room that would be a backdrop for the interests he has now, and would be likely to work through his teens as well. 

To create the Minneapolis skyline, I drew and masked off the buildings, then brought the ceiling color down onto the wall "behind" them, fading it into a light version of  the wall color, so the contrast wasn't too stark.  No need to repaint the whole room; no need to worry about the custom work clashing with anything Graham might want to hang on the walls.  With Arts and Crafts style furnishings, this room is classic enough for a grown-up, but rugged and neutral enough to look perfect filled with all the colorful toys Graham and his pal Peter Parker love to play with. 

This is a great use for all the new vinyl wall graphics.  I don't paint licensed characters, as they are copyrighted, and now you can buy them cheaper in vinyl than any artist can paint them anyway, plus, they are removable.  With any theme room, from Pooh to Harry Potter to Spiderman, you'll get more longevity, and possibly a less cluttered look, if you paint the room as a place for the favorite character to live, rather than with images of the character.  This also creates a backdrop for your child's imagination to go beyond the limits of someone else's character.

You splash my back, and I'll splash yours!

Well, I had thought that by now I would be posting pictures of my own kitchen, but the backsplash is holding me up.  Nothing going badly, just my usual way of starting with one idea, and with no real restriction on how much time I can spend, being continually sidetracked with thoughts of  "Hey, what if I try this...or this...or maybe..."  So, my backsplash next week...I think. 

For now, here's one I painted in a kitchen up toward St. Cloud.  Yup, painted.  There is no tile in these photos.  The marble countertops are real, the red tile...paint!  Now, this is fairly time consuming, so not a huge amount cheaper than real tile, but since the homeowners knew they were thinking of selling, they wanted something potential buyers wouldn't be put off by, if red tile isn't their thing.  Five minutes with a sanding block, and they can roll right over it.

The house, by the way, just went on the market.  It's just a short bit from the Annandale exit, tucked back in the trees.  I'm remembering four bedrooms, two fireplaces, attached garage and seperate storage buildings, as well as a dog run, nice landscaping...and some really cool paint in a few rooms!  email me if you want more details, and I'll forward you to the homeowners.

Wanna get plastered?

When just paint just isn't enough, plaster adds texture and dimension to your walls.  Whether it's a trowled plaster wainscoating, perhaps with fossil leaf stamps, or a hand sculpted frieze of hummingbirds on a soffit, there's a plaster technique appropriate to every style of decor.

Sculpted Plaster Stove Hood

faux copper stenciled plaster stove hood

Hand sculpted plaster arch details above, and with added sheetrock dimension, below.

Stenciled plaster wall texture, with gilded hand sculpted border, above, and finally, if you just can't commit to permanent dimension, the  trompe l'oeil (fancy for "fool the eye") sample below only looks dimensional.  Takes just as long to get the shading right as to sculpt it for real, but easier to change, should you ever want to!

As long as we're talking about church art...

Awhile back, I mentioned another artist George Bilak, and invited you to click a link to his site.  Now that I've gotten my hands on a few pictures of his work, I would like to extend that invitation again.  These photos are of his work at St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church in Cambridge, MA.

 If you want to see how it all started, before shipping from Serbia, click www.carvingart.com/A0..htm, and if you want to see the cheeky brat's website, click on http://www.carvingart.com/.  All kidding aside, this guy is a serious, and seriously great artist.  His work is collected by people all over the world, and he is available for commissions.  If you love his carving, but aren't wanting a religious piece, he will do some non-religious projects.

Art For Your Spiritual Home

Every home is a spiritual home, or should be, but it seems since January all my work has been for churches.  Yup, more churches!  First, it was lettering the Ten Commandments to look as though they are carved in 5' tablets of stone, at Hope Presbyterisan in Richfield (sorry, camera was traveling elsewhere when I finished that one, so no photo).  Then it was painting two new statues for St. Francis Xavier in Taylor's Falls, on which I tested my patience with a new-to-me paint, Flasche vinyl acrylics.  Beautiful matte finish, but they dry so fast that blending large areas is nearly impossible.  Anyone reading this who has experience with these, I'd love to know what your thoughts are.

My last project was a triptych screen (built by TC Fogarty) and statue restoration for St. John/ Assumption, a little old Catholic church that sits on the hill above town.  The angels and St. Joseph got fingers and noses resculpted and cracks filled, before having their original paint refreshed.  St. John (who seems to be showing up a lot in my life lately...hmm) had to be stripped and completely repainted, as he had been stored too long in the bell tower, and his paint was too far gone to salvage. 

If you belong to a church that is storing it's statues, including the Christmas Nativity figures, please be sure they are in the most climate-controlled place possible.  It's not so much the heat and freezing, it's the humidity!  At the very least, be sure they are on pallets, so that air can circulate under them.  Most of these old plaster statues wick up moisture through their bases, and it eventually results in loosening the paint from inside, as it looks for a place to escape.  If your church is ready to refurbish it's statues, please have them contact me. 

I'm dreaming of a...

View out the back door...poor old lilacs!


There are those who think this is perfect napping weather!


View out the front door. This pile is 125 feet long!

Merry Christmas! I hope your house is filled with warmth, sweet scents, and lots of family and friends. If you are here in the Midwest, you may be sitting alone in your dining room, staring at the mountains of goodies meant for a houseful of guests, and wondering if there's room in the freezer to hold it all until Sunday. I don't know if we've broken records yet, but this is the snowiest Christmas I've seen in Minnesota these past twelve years.

I awoke to the beep-beep-beep of the snowplow backing up(repeatedly), grumbled for about two seconds, and then realized some poor soul was out there on Christmas morning plowing yet more snow, while I lay tucked in and toasty. My gratitude to all of you who work this Holiday! It let up briefly this morning and I got some shots of the wonderland outside my doors.

I had almost decided to drive up to Minneapolis this afternoon, but it started snowing again, with flakes that would have hurt when they hit, had they been any bigger. Seriously, it was practically dropping snowballs by mid-morning! I've decided to stay put and enjoy the muffled quiet of a snowbound day, instead.

So, if you don't have your dear ones crowded around and underfoot, remember you always have them in your heart, where it really matters. You are all in my heart. Stay warm, and travel safe, if you must go out!

Happy Thanksgiving

This week I am very grateful for the friends I've made here in Belle Plaine. I spent the last few days helping Melissa Schwartz paint her double living room. Nothing special, beyond a color so like fudgecicles that it makes you want to lick the walls, but I appreciate that she keeps me in mind this time of year, when decorating jobs are scarcer, as people get ready for the holidays. I especially appreciate the extra cash, as my van had a little fire under the hood this weekend, and is now down at John's Mobil...please, Kenny, tell me it isn't fried.

Last year, Melissa had me paint her daughter Janie's room to look as though she sleeps in the tack room of a horse stable, with her desperately wished-for horse, Snicker, looking in. I don't have any illusions that Janie likes this as much as she would like the real thing, but I do know that using visual symbols to help manifest a thing is quite powerful, so "hang onto the dream, Sweetheart!"

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Say whatever you want

This week I spent much of my time prepping for Nest Feathers November Edition, nestfeathersboutique.blogspot.com, so didn't do a lot of wall work. One project I did complete was for Carol Buszmann, here in Belle Plaine. They have a beautiful home overlooking the river, with a vaulted ceiling in the living room. Carol has had words stencilled on the high walls before, and has purchased vinyl rub-on lettering for another spot in her home, but this needed something custom.

As you can see, it takes up the whole wall, and the lettering and scroll work are stylized to mimic the bull rushes and river grasses visible from the window opposite. These are details you can't get with stencils or vinyl. There is also a warmth to hand-lettering that can't be matched.

Words are powerful things, and if there is a phrase that resonates with you, consider giving it a prominent place on a wall in your home. It doesn't have to be lettered this large. However, going big means you never have to try to figure out what kind of art to display in these sometimes awkward spots, and there's nothing to have to climb up and dust! Very practical, and you know I'm all about practicality!

Paint Like an Egyptian?

Sometimes, the simplest things take the longest. Rita's bath was one of those projects. She wanted something "simple, but different", so after a few experiments, we decided on a papyrus finish like that in her artwork, complete with the jagged edge. Overall, it looked good, but the edge looked unfinished, instead of interesting. We decided a more even fade to white might be better, so I feathered it out. Better, but still needing something.

I spent some time at the library and online, researching Egyptian art, and came up with the lotus blossom. It symbolizes the sun, rebirth, and new beginnings, and is feminine in nature. I used colors from her framed art, being sure to incorporate some of the deep rose, to emphasize the femininity and match the wall color in the adjoining room. The bands are painted gold to coordinate with the fixtures in the room, the gold in the papyrus finish, and even Rita's favorite toenail polish. The style is kept simple, so it won't compete with the art that hangs over it.

I don't get rich when jobs take extra time like this, but I don't mind doing it. I promise at the outset that the job isn't finished until the client is delighted, and I mean it. It's no fun for me to drive away wondering if I got it right, worrying that I somehow missed the mark. I can't promise to always finish as early as I estimate (which is why I usually won't say "yes" to painting your dining room three days before Thanksgiving), but I do promise to never leave you with less than you were expecting, for the price you expected to pay.