The Journey of a Paintbrush....

The internet has made the world so much smaller...and accessible when it comes to shopping!

As an avid member (and moderator) on Faux Forum, I saw a post where someone had found a listing on ebay (UK) for some vintage paintbrushes. (Thanks Roy of the UK) 

These were not just any brushes, but hogs hair softener brushes (3 inch) made in 1946 and were sitting in a military warehouse in England! Hogs hair brushes are a bit coarse by nature and not as popular as a badger hair softener.

 I owned a few badger softeners, but no hogs hair, so I jumped on line and bought one( there were a few dozen in that warehouse) Opening the package was an experience in itself!

These brushes were made when quality was the norm, the handles were wooden, turned on a lathe with a nice grip, and the packaging was almost over the top!

The brushes were still sealed from the manufacturer and stamped with the date packed. Layers of waxed paper, thick corrugated paper and other cardboard cradled the brush as if it was an artifact.

The box certainly was musty, but the brush was in excellent condition!

Even the handle had an identification tag tied with twine..sigh...such care given to an humble hogs hair brush.

So, after waiting , forgotten in a surplus warehouse, 66 years later and  thousands of miles , a simple hogs hair brush is now working full time! I am learning its nuances and promise to care for it for the next generation of decorative artists...they just don't make hogs hair like they used to! 

Art Walk...

This weekend, I participated in a downtown art walk....

The weather was perfect and I was lucky enough to be located in an old bank building in front of the escalators...

I saw lots of friends, made new ones and talked nonstop for four hours! 

The old bank lobby still has the beautiful marble walls I remembered from childhood. The building has been closed for years and has just reopened to be renovated.

I went early enough to go upstairs(no electricity) to the main banking area. The art deco ornament still circles the lobby walls , only the gilded columns show the most wear and tear due to the lack of a controlled environment.

This was the most elegant building I knew as a child. The gilded columns, art deco frieze,  marble walls and escalator were my first introduction to architectural beauty. You can still see the pattern of the leaf on the columns, now slightly derelict. 

Patination and aging have always interested me and seeing the natural light still illuminating the now oxidizing leaf, made it even more beautiful to me. I can't wait to see the restoration of this, almost forgotten art deco structure complete!

Painting a Dragon....

I have a client that contacted me to paint a dragon.....he was a three piece rusty metal dragon meant for a yard decoration...

I was instructed to paint him a chinese red but to keep him old and deteriorated...oh, and add some gold leaf!

Standing up the pieces to dry, he looked a little like a loch ness monster. I had to paint both sides as he would be viewed from all angles...

..and, as any respectable dragon, he was to live perched atop a pagoda..in a garden...keeping guard over the grounds.

Not a bad environment for an old Chinese dragon!

Wisteria...

When you walk into a Wisteria store or browse one of their catalogs, you find a mix of familiar with an unexpected twist.

I was in the Dallas store recently and was not disappointed!

Wisteria is one of the few stores left that takes the time to create a unique experience each time you visit.

I love the elephant! This was their holiday showroom.

...and reinterpreted now for spring!

Their vignettes always draw you in...look at those walls!

I love the aged book pages! Do you get inspired when you visit your favorite stores? Add Wisteria to your list for creativity and eclectic finds for your environment!

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!

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!