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.

Pelicans

Here is the basic blocking in of the gulping pelican:












Later he gets
refined to this:

Birds Arrive

Now it is time to begin adding some of the wild life to this mural.




























Here you can see how I have blocked in the animals for this section in chalk first, to see how they should fit in overall.





Remember, you can make the pictures on this blog bigger to look at by clicking on them.

Elevator Lobby Mural

Time for another visit to the Beach, via mural!
Later, these two areas will have flying pelicans, some beach side vegetation, a turtle, maybe some dolphins in the water, that sort of thing.
If I am allowed to, I really want to paint out/disguise some of the elevator paraphenalia: the buttons, the emergency access panel, and the light switch!




Elevators are interesting to work with. They lend themselves to a dramatic depiction of "Entering". Perhaps it's because they open for you; they don't seem as static as regular doors. Another technicality with painting elevators is the different edges have to match up, and the inside of the door has to be thought of. IE the parts, edges mainly, you see as you step OUT of the elevator. The ''Rude Mechanicals''. Almost literally.

This elevator lobby also has a side door.
The door will have the edge of a dock along the bottom, and a pelican sitting on a post stretching or looking up, or something. It will disguise the door handle.
Check back soon to see how this beach mural evolves!

Silver Mirror

I painted this mirror frame last week, but didn't get very good photos of it during the process, so let's just cut to the chase, and show the final touch: applying the silver leaf.
The background on the frame is painted in shades of metallic silver, and the leaves and flowers , being non metallic, stand out sharply. It is a nice effect.














Silver leaf in very, very thin sheets is applied to a sticky surface, sometimes I use the traditional terracotta ground, which seems to add to the depth and brilliance of the leaf.
After it has set a while, the excess leaf is gently brushed away, with a soft brush. Too much brushing or too harsh a brush can scratch the silver, even right through.

I used many coats of solvent based varnish to give all the silver

an amber tint, and it makes the whole piece look aged and mysterious.

Delightful.

Cloud Treatment

Here is a good example of "Cloud Treatment" meaning that the clouds are a subtle effect, delicate and applied as a background, rather than a mural. They are less specific than one usually finds in my murals.

This technique provides for a soft airy accent wall, less demanding

than a full mural. Art can be hung on such a wall.

This wall makes you feel airborne.