Strapwork.... with Adrian Card

 (Adrian Card photo)

I just finished a wonderful class with Adrian Card held at the studio of Lynne Rutter in San Francisco. The panel was a strapwork design done in traditional colors with a fabulously rich black background.

(Lynne Rutter photo)

We started our day with a "training wheels" panel , practicing brushstrokes, highlights and shading. Adrian also demonstrated how to paint luminescent jewels.

(Lynne Rutter photo)

We traced our design and began to layer in base color, shadows and highlights, mimicking shiny brass for our strapwork framing. Everything was done in oil paint and with only one round brush...as it would have been in the 16th century.

You can see from this detail of Adrian Card's panel, the design is rich with ornamentation,-draped swags, jewels, urns, birds and other  elements adorn the strapwork framing.

You may remember this panel that Adrian did a few years earlier that I included in an earlier post on strapwork.

These are my panels as class ended...I will finish them soon. Thanks go to Adrian Card for his teaching style and Lynne Rutter for the comfortable and creative environment of her studio!

Museums in San Francisco....

What do you do when you travel?... I like to tour museums and recently, had the opportunity to tour the deYoung (Girl with a Pearl Earring) and Legion of Honor (Royal Treasures from the Louvre) in San Francisco with local artist Lynne Rutter.

After visiting the deYoung, Lynne suggested  lunch at the Beach Chalet. Located at the end of the Golden Gate park, we had a fabulous view of the ocean on a sunny day. The murals inside the restaurant are frescoes from  the WPA program.

...and the magnolia wood staircase going up to the dining room, is embedded with  sinuous sea creatures  carved by Michael Von Meyer.

The Legion of Honor was new to me and quickly became one of my favorite museums in North America. The Bowles collection of 18th century English and French porcelain houses an array of urns, plates, teapots and other decorative pieces produced by Meissen, S`evres , Chantilly and maiolica.

The Legion of Honor is a museum that attracts the decorative artist featuring ornate paneled rooms..

scagliola, marquetry and other decorative techniques. The building itself is an example of beautiful architecture... What a perfect day!

Thank you Lynne for being my tour guide and making my trip to San Francisco inspiring!

Setting the stage.....

Well, who doesn't want a grotto backdrop when getting married? When in San Francisco recently, I was able to drop in on artist Lynne Rutter at her studio.

She was in the middle of hosting a workshop for a visiting Italian artist but was gracious enough to let me sneak in and visit!

There are many examples of Lynne's work scattered around the studio, but the main attraction is the large backdrop made for her recent wedding!

Lynne is an artist specializing in decorative painting, hand painted architectural ornament and mural work. She executed this larger than life baroque grotto -setting the stage,literally, for her new life...

Speaking of setting the stage, Dirk Dirksen knew all about that! This is the famous San Franciscan alley he lived in.While wandering near Chinatown, I came across this intriguing building.

The small garage at the end of the alley did not look this way when Dirk was here.

Someone has done an excellent job of trompe l'oeil and it is quite convincing from the street...

It now appears to have carved architectural swag ornament and a marble cabochon.

Even the garage door and outer gates have been treated as verdigris  copper with rivets! How would someone describe the backdrop to your life? I think mine would have to involve Venice and the grand canal....!