Home Sanctuary

Aspen Painting Under Way

This is what happens when your family leaves and you don't have any walls big enough for your canvas and you start moving furniture around.

I took over the living room.

I moved a love seat and took stuff off the walls to make room for the 40" square canvas. Since I'm a messy painter, I stapled plastic to the wall to protect it. We'll see if it's adequate protection.

The hardest part of any art project is getting started. Fortunately, I've got some small-scale paintings that I did prior to the Big Dude and that helps. To get myself moving, I start throwing paint at the canvas - you might call it an "underpainting," a guide to tell me how the painting should go. I tell myself I can paint over it if its horrible.

 

This is kind of the skeleton. I pencilled in the foreground aspens and filled them in with white, then scrubbed some yellow into the branches so I can see where the leaves will go. The trees look a little anemic, don't they? I may end up fattening them up but I won't know if I should until I get the leaves filled in better.

I hate leaving a painting alone once I start it. I fuss and fuss and fuss. But last night I was tired and was afraid I'd get careless and do something I'd regret, so I forced myself to sit on the couch and watch a movie...all the while it taunted me to "just do one little thing."

I ignored it, mostly. Today I will keep working on it - don't be surprised if the next photos look nothing like these first ones.

Rachel

Company Girl Coffee 4.8

One of my favorite tools for transfering designs from paper to a wall is my projector. I have an old "opaque" projector that I use frequently when I need to get something quickly and perfectly onto a wall.

It is perfect for things like this, which I did last week (a rival Plano Wildcat Paw - with apologies to my Midlothian Panthers, but hey...gotta eat):

And yesterday, I worked on some stage props with a friend from church. We took 4x8 sheets of pink foam insulation ($9.00 each at Home Depot), painted them white and then added silhouettes. We transfered the patterns onto the panels using the trusty projector.

An overhead projector would work well for this kind of thing, too. When I need to make a highly detailed transfer, I borrow a fancy schmancy projector that hooks up to a computer.

Now that you know this little trick, maybe there is a project you've been wanting to do but were hesitant to try. I think of my projector as a tool, not a "cheat," just like a calculator helps you add numbers faster than a pencil and paper can. Try it!!

I hope ya'll have had a good week. As usual, it has gone by far too fast! Link up for Company Girl Coffee below - or feel free to chat away in the comment section.

Love, Rachel

PS NO SMALL THING TODAY! Enjoy your weekend!

 

Venetian Plaster Art Piece!

Girls, we finally finished installing the huge art piece yesterday!  Have a look at our project:

Here is the magnificent "W" hotel and luxury residences in downtown Dallas.

I won't bore you with photos of the hours and hours and hours of taping, applying the plaster, sanding, burnishing, buffing, applying stencils, buffing, waxing, buffing and waxing, then packaging and transporting to get to this:

Going Up! Thankfully we had a hydraulic lift to use!

Each of the 45 square panels was given a word in different language, stenciled in plaster, depicting a character trait of a Well Lived Life.  Latin phrases were overlaid.  My favorite one is translated: "Through difficulty, sweetness."  I believe this phrase (above) says, "If you can read this, you're overeducated."  No kidding, we had a little fun.

The chocolate brown plaster took almost two weeks to perfect, but Tom nailed the color to match Sherwin Williams "Black Bean."

The final look.  The completed piece is 20 feet high by 10 feet wide.  Each panel was given a beautiful label on the back, with the word and its translation, signed and numbered.

I must give my husband Tom complete credit for the work that went into this piece.  I did very little of the actual artwork, outside of the original concept, researching and laying out stencils and otherwise being the helper-girl.  He hand-made each one and created something really spectacular. You would not believe his tenacity to make this piece so incredible.

Our client is thrilled with the result, and we are so honored to have this piece finished in such a beautiful location.  It really has been a work of the heart.

And now, for some rest!!

Show and Tell: Sepia Tuscan Mural

Here are some photos of the finished mural in the gorgeous house I told you about. It got a little chilly that last day, but I wore work boots and skivvies under the jeans, so I survived. I used four paint colors, plus the wall color to create the tone-on-tone look. I purposefully did not add much detail to the mural so that it would look like a soft backdrop to the furnishings and lighting that will no doubt be spectacular. I'll list the colors I used below.

 

 

The wall color is Benjamin Moore 314-4 Spiced Vinegar. It is a neutral that looks really nice in different lighting. I used it as my base, and mixed it in with my other colors as needed. I basically made a palette of graduating colors: Sherwin Williams 6119 Antique White (BM 314-4 Spiced Vinegar) Sherwin Williams 6123 Baguette (love this color) Sherwin Williams 6124 Cardboard Sherwin Williams 6146 Umber By mixing each color with it's lighter and darker neighbor, you can come up with about 9 values of color. I mostly mixed as I went, except for when I needed to cover a large area with a mixed shade (like the cloud base). Then I mixed the two colors in a mixing tub to get enough to cover. I used Purdy brushes (2 1/2 and 3 inch) for most of it, with an angled 2 1/2 inch brush for the clouds and trees. An angled 1/2 inch Purdy brush is good for dabbing in trees and shrubs. So are "chip" brushes.

For the smaller details, I used artist brushes. The other useful artist tool is your finger (I personally use my ring finger) to smudge and soften. It's readily available at the end of your arm, for free.

For resource material, I used photos from magazines and books of Tuscan scenery. I kept the pages open in front of me as I worked, often taping them to the wall so I could easily see what I wanted. I would love to see this house when it is completely finished and furnished! I am very honored to have my artwork featured so prominently in this fabulous home. Feel free to email me if you have any questions or comments! I'm happy to share.