More Pictures From Restaurant Project

Here are images of the completed wall painting .

Its really cheerful and smart looking...and it looks very nice at night. The lighting in this are is great to show off the saturated colours...its very inviting.

There is one more phase in this project: This metal screen is going to be covered with my painted fabric.

(Some of the solid walls,door and window reveals, and the trellis you can see partially painted, will also be finished up, later this week, by the house painter.)

So keep checking in to see the fabric being painted, and how it all looks together!

Restaurant Painting Project

Here is some fun! Look at these great colours!
This is a back patio type ''room'', in a very nice local restaurant, in Sarasota. The smart Mid Century Modern feel and colour of the exisiting decor elsewhere in the building was the starting point for this look.




This wonderful vermillion exterior wall was already painted: and some inspiration for the new colour scheme.

This wall is still in progress:
more tomorrow!!!



Here is the same wall before I painted it, with the design drawn in chalk.










Here is how the room was before I started; certainly rather restrained, most would agree.

Kitchen Backsplash Continued

Here is an interesting interlude. This is the final section of the back splash yet to be fired!
It will go behind the stove.
This is what under glaze painted ceramic looks like while I am painting...The colours are sort of recognizable, but they are mainly shades of grey and pastel...the ceramic painter has to always keep in mind the colours as they will be when fired! Yikes! Its a knack...I have learned to just plain remember, and I also rely on fired sample tiles I have made that show actual little blobs of the colours, and I have printed stuff from the paint manufacturers- some are more accurate than others...I try to be very accurate! Sometimes its hard not to get fooled by whats in front of your eyes...its easy to forget for a moment that the work isn't going to be all soft and pastel. Some big metaphors for the enigma of human existence there.

Then of course, the firing not only brings up the real colours, it softens and blends them, and can even move them around a little. That's almost the best part: the Chaos. The kiln is a big player here.

Tile Backsplash Project

In the midst of all the mug and teapot and plate painting
for the Christmas shopping period, I have also been working on this kitchen tile backsplash project.
In these first pictures you can see my ideas on paper, and some of the supporting materials for the project: kitchen design elevation plans, fabric and cabinet finish samples, etc.
The cabinets are a lovely light lime green colour...and one of the fabrics features alligators, flamingos, lizards, etc, all of which the clients were delighted to see featured in my tile artwork.















Here are some of the finnished tiles. The will run all around the countertops, on the 3 walls of the kitchen, in segments. Some of the areas are only 3 or 4 tiles long, some are much longer; and although most of the tiles are 6''x6'', the section under a window will be made of 4, 1/4'' tiles.

Bedroom Waves

Soon THESE walls will be transformed into blue waves too...!

After a thorough installation of lots of plastic sheeting everywhere, and always moving very carefully, I can more or less relax and get into working with the larger scale for a flowing sense of these waves....the effect is pretty cool!

The groovy mirror reflects the light from my flash onto the walls like light dancing in the water!

Waves

The final touch with the fishes along the top of the reef is now complete....it was an awkward space to paint in!

There are some very cute little fishies here! Click on the images to see them bigger.




I used the white trim paint to blend right into the sand along the bottom. Its a good effect, adding a lot of depth.


The remaining walls of the bathroom are going to have just stylised waves....and a few little bait fish swimming around, the idea being, that that's the open water, as opposed to the busy reef.





Through the bathroom door, you can see the work I have begun in the bedroom hall right outside.....

Lots More Fish

Standing in this room, you can practically hear the underwater sounds as you look at all these fish milling around!




























Here are some pictures of my work space...



...its a little cramped, but one soon gets used to how one has to move around, being careful to avoid bumping things, or stepping on the plastic the wrong way.

Getting the lights in the right place is sometimes the hardest part, in small areas like this....either they are shining right in your face blinding you (and cooking you!) or your own shadow falls right on the work...it can be very frustrating, and also a big relief when they are finally right.