Using Pinterest as an Artist's Tool...

What's all this "Pinterest" stuff about? Why would anyone want to view endless scrolls of random photos, you ask?  As an artist, it is one of the most useful and innovative tools out there!

Pinterest attracts creative, "right-brain" people.  It is a mecca for artists to connect with other  artists and creative people in general,  to share like minded ideas and tastes.

I am not the only one thinking about Pinterest right now...Jackie Jordan director with color marketing  with Sherwin Williams just did a blog on it!  She discusses the four phases of obsession with Pinterest and she is pretty accurate!

When you first start an account on Pinterest, all the photos you see are a jumbled hodge-podge under the Pinterest grouping of "everything".  As you see a photo that interests you, you can pin it to your account and start boards with topics that interest you.(color, murals, trompe l'oeil, etc) You should credit the owner or photographer of each photo in the description, give credit where credit is due.  This is a place to visually organize your ideas into categories where they can be viewed with one click of a mouse.  You will begin to see a pattern as you pin more things that you are drawn to. You will more easily find other people with similar interests and then, you have the choice to see "everything" or "following" which are the photos pinned by the like minded people you follow.

You can create boards (think virtual bulletin boards) to show a client when working on an upcoming project. I recently finished a large ceiling involving a trellis design and have another one coming up for walls, so naturally, I have a board entitled Treillage that clients can view and visualize what will be in their home. People enjoy seeing a succession of photos  that they can pick and choose certain aspects from to define their style for the upcoming project.

These are photos of my Pinterest page and some of my boards. I work out ideas for projects through pinning countless photos on a project board and see many other artists doing the same thing. When you see someone pin twenty pictures of a certain bird, details of their feathers, etc, you know they are working on something that will have a bird in the composition.

All of the photos on this post are from my boards on Pinterest. You can also use the search box and find a dizzying amount of photos on a particular subject and add more pins to your boards. You can also pin things from the internet as well as any file or personal photo you have.  The more you pin and the more people you follow, the more inspiration you will find daily, even hourly, while browsing on Pinterest.  I urge you to visit their site and stir your imagination even more with like minded people from around the world!

Singerie and Treillage....What's not to love?

Have you ever wondered what the process is behind a decorative art project? I thought I would document a larger project from start to finish to share what a decorative artist really does.

Meetings are done with the client, pouring over photos, pinterest files, books and personal photos to capture the feel for the project. On this project, painting could not be done on site, so canvas was bought, cut, primed on both sides and prepped for the design.

This was to be an outdoor ceiling of a "folly".  The client wanted lattice with some historical elements of monkeys, fruit, vines and  flowers. Here, miles of blue tape are used to gride the bands of border design.

Once the tape is pulled, the rows make more sense. The sky is now blocked in and the trellis design can be painted in.

Things are coming together for the trellis edging....now, on to the large panels.

Taping and sky was done the same as the banding. The ceiling of the folly is made up of seven angled panels butted together .I had to figure out this jigsaw on the ground , in reverse and make all the lines in the trellis match from panel to panel....ahem...

Vines, flowers, shading and highlights were added...all done in a workshop in the dead of winter with me wearing three layers of clothes...common practice for a decorative artist!

Add one capuchin monkey, a few more flowers and some fruit, and it's time to go to the job site!

Hatch-back, SUV vehicle is a must! Panels were delivered and installed by a carpenter. Crown molding, trim and one chandelier later, and it was time for me to add the final details!

The folly is part of a garden maze of other wonderful architectural design. This was the first time for me to see the panels installed.

The seams matched! Color and sky gave the illusion desired! Time to add some details.

The monkey and two birds were added with more vines and the border pasted on to frame the design.

Fill in the seams, one more coat of sealant, and it is on to the next project.....

....and I get to paint again!