Bugs And Stuff...

Here is a view of my work table!!!

I use the table as a palette. Also, the side of my left hand.....

I tip the furniture over to paint the sides. (Below)

It makes it so much easier!!!

This side will feature Lilacs, and some more animals, no doubt!

More Critters....

Here you can see some more little animals adorning the front drawers of the desk....a couple of more rats, some bugs, some more birds.....this section is now just about complete..
I chose to allow the drawers to be independent of the surrounding furniture, IE:, they both show little cameos of action, separated from the main body of the desk....the latter will feature insects in the bottom corners, (see catepillar)... In this way I can show the insects large scale and make it clear that the birds on the drawers are in the FOREGROUND, and the rats looking up are in the background, in a little clearing. The Fuchsias blooming on both drawers unite the two pictures... It seems like a terrific effect!

More Wildlife Comes To Desk...

The delicate work here really lends itself to a lot of detail images for this blog....it may be hard to understand the context, but soon I will have more overview photos of the desk, as it nears completion.




Here I have added these little ''mice type creatures'', per request of the client.....I am very fond of small mammals, ( including, and especially rats) and it always gives me great pleasure to include them in my artwork.... mice are nice. REMEMBER! By clicking on the images, you can see them really large!

Garden Grows all over Desk!

Garden Desk

This desk is beginning to really evolve....the feeling is fresh and romantic, with the sense that there is a lot of light filtering through the leaves and onto the flowers.....a magic moment in the garden...



The birds are poised, curiously observing the letter writing activity on the desk, just as the writer has stepped away for a moment....

More Progress on Desk

Its early days on this desk still, but I am going to work on completing areas of flowers while at the same time leaving areas less filled in where I plan to put birds, bugs etc.

The circle you see drawn in chalk is

where I will paint a steaming cup of trompe l'oeil coffee.














I do love the way the gold leaf contrasts with the flat painted flowers. If you have seen the silver leafed mirror frame painted with leaves and roses on this blog from earlier in May, you can see the same effect.
It lends a very romantic and ''old world'' feel.

Painted Desk

This is a charming vintage wooden desk that is getting a make over so that it will depict a magical woodland scene, framing a letter (to be painted as a trompe l oeil) that has just been written , and left on the desk. Small animals, birds and bugs will approach from the surrounding flowers to see what the letter is all about.....





I have used gold leaf around the letter to give it an aura of importance, contrast, making it clearly visible. The insides of the smaller top drawers are gold leafed too. This brings a lot of light into the drawer, and makes a nice addition to the gold leaf on the surface part.

Mural Completed

I am very happy with the final result, the style change was a great moment, and the resulting mural has a lot of depth and movement in it. It's much more interesting that the flatter effect I had begun with....

The final touch is a simple swirl/wave design in the molding of the door frames.

It adds a nice touch of delicacy to separate the blues of the mural from the blue of the wall finish.

Lobby Doors

These are wooden doors that open onto the elevator lobby from the main part of the condo.
They set the scene.

Stylistic Changes

This mural just wasn't looking enough like the sketches I had made. I needed to make it much looser and more stylized.
After a little thought and a new mind set, I changed the look of this mural considerably. The elements stay the same, but the way the paint is applied is way different!


The mural becomes more playful, very gestural and full of movement.