Today's Fabric

Slightly different colourway today.

More earth toned, less red and pink.

Fabric Yardage

Back in the studio again, and it's time to start building up an inventory of fabric and ceramics. I won't be working on ceramics until later October, probably, but I can get going on some fabric.
I am all out, almost!
I will spend the next week or so making several pieces of fabric, about 7 feet long, in a variety of colours; whatever I feel like.
"Bus man's holiday"

Remember, click on the images to see them bigger!!!

Cloud Room

Back in the spring, I painted the wall of this house with very light wispy clouds while it was being comlpetely remodeled. Click on the key words, at the end of this post, and you will be able to see those older posts describing the mirror and walls being created.
Here is the room, and the house, completed, and looking very serene!



These are pillows made from my painted fabric.

And here is the partially silver leafed mirror I painted in February.

Here a length of my fabric is being used as a curtain to close off the closet instead of a clunky door!

And last, but not least, one of my ceramic painted plates empolyed as a useful catch all by the front door!

Niche Mural

In the same house, I have been asked to paint a small mural in a hallway niche that also features 2 silver and mahogany sculptures of wading birds.

Here you can see the first 2 stages.

I remove the birds while I am painting!!!!

I want the background to be soft and not compete with the birds.
I also try to have lighter tones behind the darker wood part of the birds, and darker tones where the silver necks, head and feet are, so they don't get lost.















Just a little colour warms up the niche and gives it some contrast.




I cover the bottom part of the mural, which is completed, so that it doesn't get dripped on as I paint the top. I suppose I could have painted the top first, but its not always easy to be logical in these things. I wanted to get the stuff on the bottom really working before I made decisions about the top.

In the process of painting the tree, it looks like I rather covered up the sky with leaves....oops!

I removed the entire lower section of the tree- just like real tree trimming! Its much better now, allowing the ruddy sky to feature more prominently, and making more ''space'' for the birds to feature more strongly.

The point here, was not to produce a complete scenic view, like a regular painting, but to paint it only up to the point where it seemed there was ''something missing''. The "something" is the two birds, which, when added later, complete the picture.

This realization made a huge difference. Its much more effective now.

Its a stage setting. Not a stand-alone piece.

Send in the birds!

Remember- click on the pictures to make them bigger!

Painted Nightstands

I have been asked to paint 2 nightstands to match a carved screen that painted about 2 years ago.













Here's the art work, showing three variations




Its a little nerve racking, painting in this bed room. The carpet, bedspread, are all very vulnerable to getting paint spilled on them. I move very carefully the whole time I am here, and cover everything obsessively with plastic sheeting.



Pretty soon, I am not so worried about spilling all my paints all over the place, and am lost in the work.
Guests are coming at the end of the week, and the work needs to be all done , including varnish and my materials all cleared away, so the guests can relax and have a good time.
I daubed the mirror with some colour and some gold to have it match the rest of the room more.

Second Batch Of Pillow Fabric

Here is the set up for more pillow fabric. These pillows are all little compositions with in a square, or triangle, or rectangle, as the case may be. I have to know exactly where to paint. (Sometimes I make pillows out of yardage: fabric painted with an all over pattern. Then I just cut out the shapes I want after the fabric is done.)
I lay out all the framework in chalk, using set square and straight edge to make sure everything is even and corners are square.



After the fabric is dry, I heat set it in a very hot dryer for a half an hour or so.

Later today, or tomorrow, I will give it all a quick finishing wash, and hang it out side to dry.
Then I will cut the pillow shapes out from the fabric, and match fronts up with backs. And deliver to the client!

Total Eye Candy

I love these colours!
Today's work was exhausting and exhilarating.
I find it very hard to stop when I paint fabric. It is a very ''immediate'' medium for expression of pure colour, and the actual painting process moves very quickly; short drying times, etc. Its easy to work to a state of real tiredness, by the end of the day.



I can't wait to start another batch tomorrow!

The 2 fields of cheques are the back panels for the two more elaborate squares you see here.

There are also 4 rectangle fronts, and two triangular pillow fronts.

Tomorow I will begin the fabric for the back of these six.

Fabric For Pillows

The painted desk in the background looks on as I get my fabric ready for the next project. After having so much time lavished on the it, I hope it doesn't feel sad and abandoned. Maybe its happy to be done, and left alone for a while!











I have decided that this green is the best colour for the
general background for this project.













Here are the sketches for what I have planned. Lots of COLOUR.
This will be fun.

Desk Completed!

Interestingly, the client chose July 4th as the date to paint on the letter on the desk, just to have a date on it. Without any specific effort to do so, I actually, really did finish it yesterday, July 4th. it wouldn't have mattered whether I did or didn't, but its rather nice that the date there is the same date I made the decision that, yes, its all done.
You can see the work table now has fabric on it, all ready to begin painting for my next project... fabric for pillows.



























Here is one side of the desk I neglected to include as it got painted. Lilacs, bees, and a frog.

Here is the desk and chair outside, getting ready to go home with the client. It all looks so beautiful in the outdoors.

Remember to click on the pictures to see them bigger!

Desk Chair

The final touch for the desk project is the chair.
The addition of gold leaf on the frame and some in the slats on the back to create light for the little cameos that appear on each slat, ensures that stylistically, the desk and chair are clearly a set.

Desk Nears Completion

Although many days have elapsed since my last post, plenty has been going on , including a sudden, complete, computer hard drive melt down last weekend. That was fun.

Luckily I had not too long ago backed up about 16 gb of photos, Pamdesign website data, and other things, so there wasn't too much to worry about loosing. However, all of the photos of the elevator lobby (see blog entries for May) were at risk! Fortunately, we were able to transfer all the data from the old computer onto a new one. Nevertheless, whole thing was very traumatising.

My advice? Gentle readers: Back up your files. All the time.

Back to work......

Here you can see the planned for trompe l'oeil touches: cup, letter and pen....

.

Did I mention there is a chair, too?