Hello Sunshine

painting commissions - part two

Here's the assignment....beautiful Florida living room, beautiful fabrics for inspiration, big empty wall, lovely client needing abstract artwork to complete room decor. So, having made the trip to view her room and taking measurements for the artwork (decisions, decisions)  it's off to the art supply store for stretcher bars, canvas and paint.

Then, I'm  into the painting studio to get started. First the stretcher bars are joined for each panel and the canvases stretched.  These paintings are gallery wrapped which requires no frame around the outside.  The sides of the canvas will be painted to flow visually right into the painting.  Now, some juicy paint mixtures are concocted (this is one of my favorite parts, I love to match paint colors with fabrics). Then I get started with the real job....a great background that flows from one panel right into the next one and then the abstract design.

 

They're looking good.  Seems I've mixed plenty of paint to really go around...there's paint on my vinyl gloves, elbows and somehow some on my knees.  Now, I'll let the paintings dry and tomorrow I'll give it a last overview to see if it needs any final touches.

After being coated with an archival sealant, the panels are ready to be installed in their new home.

Voila!  Thanks for keeping me company.  Marcy

painting commissions - part one

Painting commissions provide special  challenges and can be lots of fun.  Working with new fabrics, color palettes and the client's vision often requires thinking outside of the box. My current assignment is twofold - making an interesting but plain storm door insert into a vintage looking piece for a guest bedroom and painting an abstract triptych for a beautiful Florida style living room.

The storm door insert is plain white so the first thing is to mask off the glass and paint it antique white.

Then it is antiqued with a rag that has been dipped in a mixture of the same antique white paint tinted with some burnt umber paint. When dry, sanding down to the wood on the edges and around the knobs and keyhole area imitates years of wear.

Now for the fun part - decorating it.  My client has given me fabric samples to use and has requested that the end effect be charming but not cutesy. I decide on making the neat little window opening the focal point and paint a stylized sun, little sunbursts, some diamond shapes, curlicues and green paint on  the hinges.

Clear glass beads stuck on with hot glue give the knobs a little bling.  An antique key and a tassle are the finishing touch.  Ta da....!

 

 

 

And at last, it's installed in the very pretty, welcoming guest room.

DECK THE HALLS

The wonderful opportunity to be part of the holiday decorating team for a very unique home was recently mine. The Glenridge at Palmer Ranch, a resort-style retirement living community featuring architectural traditions of the renowned Addison Mizner, is a grand abode that more than 370 members call home.

I have enjoyed teaching a watermedia painting class at The Glenridge for the last several months. The class is in recess now for the holidays and so instead of brushes and paints I took gloves, wire cutters, and a hot glue gun to work some holiday magic there.

Enhancing an already stunning grand staircase with garlands, swags and lights, and planning the decorations for a fifteen foot tree was an exciting challenge. Decor for the tree seemed to call for an acknowledgment of the dramatic freestanding circular aquarium standing majestically by the the stairs.

I found some really neat shell embellished fish ornaments while shopping in Tallahassee.  They gave just the "rhythm" needed to pick-up on the giant fish tank (it is cared for by Mote Marine who sends someone several times a week to feed its  colorful and fascinating tropical inhabitants).

 

The aquarium is the focal point of the lounge and the adjacent grand player piano  sets a happy holiday tone (excuse the pun) with just the flip of a switch.  I designed a "classical" arrangement for the piano top and placed it on some spectacular organza material, highlighting it with battery operated candles that are programmable.  They automatically come on at 2 P.M. and turn off at 10 P.M. How neat is that!

The Glenridge has a full theatre in house.  A festival of trees greets theatre goers as they enter the lobby.  The trees and decorations, many contributed by residents, showcase different themes including Santa, snowmen, Victoriana, and poinsettias. A vintage train chugs around the trees and an antique radio gives a nostalgic touch to the scene.

Other areas given a holiday touch included the living room mantle and sofa table, tables in various foyers, and the reading table in the library (my favorite room). Even a resident bromeliad sparkles with the addition of a few glittery spikes.  

The resident services room, conveniently set up work spaces with computers, has a special resident mouse to keep things festive.Well, I am in my home studio completing a painting project for a client which I will show you tomorrow.  Then, finally, the Chapman abode will get some decorations!  Joy! Marcy

Message in a Bottle

Reading a recent issue (#97) of Romantic Country magazine (a beautiful publication whose editor, Fifi O'Neill, I've written about in several recent posts), I was inspired by the table favors pictured on the last page.  Always recycling, the idea of using recycled bottles and bits and bobs of previous craft and sewing projects rang my bell.

Needing table decorations for the Christmas luncheon my college sorority alumnae chapter has annually, I thought this looked like a sweet place favor that would add just the right spark of holiday fun.  Thus, I began collecting bottles( 30 of them were required) and all the findings to make them stunning. 

 

 

Many days later, the collection was coming along.  Many of the labels and designs I found online.  I pasted them on with gel medium and then coated them with more gel medium that had been mixed with a little burnt umber acrylic paint  to give a vintage look. The ribbons and strings of pearls were secured with hot glue.  I found some vintage keys in the garage when we moved into the house and they were fun additions tied on with a ribbon. There was a lot of clipping, scanning, enlarging, reducing, removing wires from earrings and pins with wire cutters.  In other words, I made a large mess on my design table with nearly all my tools of the trade amassed.

Next I printed out  30 copies of my sorority's sweetheart song on plain paper.  After downloading Chinese cookie fortunes and sorting through them for just the right ones, I glued one to the back side of each song sheet and then rolled them up and sealed them with a gold sticker.

 

 

 

I enjoyed them for a little while on my foyer table arranged along with a few pieces of mercury glass I have been collecting. 

Then it was off to the luncheon. We sang the sweetheart song and looked at our fortunes.  What a nice note "Message in a Bottle" added to our celebration.

For the centerpiece, poinsettias wrapped in lime green tissue paper tied with red curling ribbon added some punch.  I saw this idea in a garden shop in Tallahassee used with red amaryllis.  Berry wreaths and  ropes of beads surrounded the flowers for a final touch.

 Stay tuned for more holiday decorating.  Tis' the season!  Marcy