PAINTING ARTWORK ON A HUGE CANVAS TO COVER A HEADBOARD

PAINTING ARTWORK ON A HUGE CANVAS TO COVER A HEADBOARD

This is a link to a past project that I thought some of my friends might be interested to see.

My client showed me a photograph and asked me to paint something similar on a huge canvas.

She wanted to cover her headboard with it.

She and her handyman stapled this huge canvas onto a large piece of plywood.

This canvas cloth was very inexpensive.  I think you could paint just about anything on it for a headboard or wall hanging.  You could paint castles, ABC's, handprints, a panda bear, ANYTHING!! and it would be so cute or cool.  Big squares or big triangles and stars.  Stripes.

To read more about it, here is a link to 

THE ORIGINAL POST

PAINTING FAUX "ANTIQUE COPPER" ON VERONICA'S DINING ROOM CEILING & TWO NICHES

PAINTING FAUX "ANTIQUE COPPER" ON VERONICA'S DINING ROOM CEILING & TWO NICHES

My client asked me to paint her dining room ceiling.

Her home was the perfect style for my "antique copper" special finish.

I showed her a sample and she loved it.  There were two niches in the entry next to her dining room and she asked me to paint the same finish in those, too.

When you walk in the front door you see the niches and dining room together.
 They look really nice.

Imagine what you are seeing is a metallic copper shining back at you through the antiquing.  I always have trouble taking pictures of the metallic paints.  Either they shine too much or not at all.  She found this wonderful santos "The King" and it fit perfectly in the space.  

She said that she will be adding more art above Him.

This is her 14' high dining room ceiling.  I used my 8' ladder, but it was still lots of work.  I painted the antique copper as the base coat and used a dark blacky brown to antique over it.  I painted on the brown and wiped it off with a rag.  The texture on her ceiling was just perfect for antiquing the ceiling.  At the base of her chandelier I did some smudging, added metallic gold and some red.  It looks like the copper might have aged and has a natural patina.

Her husband really liked it and said it looked like a ceiling in Vegas.

There's sweet Veronica dusting her chandelier. 

She said she and her decorator are going to add more crystals.  It will really sparkle!

Oh my goodness!!!  

This is their tiny little kitten that her son got for Christmas.  I bet he doesn't even weigh a pound and they named him BORIS.  He's a fluffy gray and white long haired kitty.  He was sooo tiny.  One day while I was working, they couldn't find him.  They looked and looked for at least 30 minutes panicking.  thinking he might have gotten out the front door.  There happened to be a tiny tear underneath this upholstered chair and Boris had climbed up in it and was taking a nap. 

Here are the two niches in Veronica's entry.  Because of all of the light coming in her front doors, the "antique copper" looked beautiful with the subtle metallic sheen (which you can't see in these two pictures).  Oh, and last week they added a granite shelf inside each niche.  

I didn't catch the light in this picture either to make the metallic paint shine but trust me, it is really beautiful.

These pictures are "before" the special finish.

Veronica's home is where I recently painted the black distressed kitchen island and here is a link to that post VERONICA'S KITHCEN ISLAND & WINE CABINET .

I might be going back in March and will get to see everything put back together.  I'm sure it will be amazing and I'll share it with you.  (Veronica said I could.)

Thank you Veronica!  

I loved working with you in your beautiful home.

Original post was 1/25/15.

PAINTING A 1930'S TELEPHONE TABLE TO A FRENCH COUNTRY CREAMY CRACKLED DISTRESSED FINISH

PAINTING A 1930'S TELEPHONE TABLE TO A FRENCH COUNTRY CREAMY CRACKLED DISTRESSED FINISH

Recently I painted kitchen cabinets to a french country crackled distressed finish.

The colors were so creamy and soft.  

I wanted to paint a piece of furniture with similar colors and technique.

A while back I found this 1930's telephone table and decided it would be perfect!

In case you weren't around back then, that open space was for a telephone book.  The phone sat on top of the table and had a permanent wire coming from the wall.

  You couldn't move the phone around the house like you can today.

I stenciled the top with a soft glaze and painted parts of the legs in the same glaze.

When I found this table, the handle was missing.  In my studio stash I found this knob with a backplate and it was just the perfect size to cover the original holes. 

 I drilled a new hole in the middle for the new knob.

It would have been nice to have the original handle, but really like this one.

I am very happy with the way this antique table looks now.

Original post on October 22, 2016.

HAND PAINTING ART ON RUSTY OLD CEILING TINS

     Ruth found these rusty old ceiling tins and asked me to paint something on them.  The design on the tins was so beautiful and I could see an urn with flowers.  Ruth had just built her country home and gave me the colors she was using in her master bedroom.  She wanted to hang these above her bed.  I love working with ceiling tins.  I have some that are so rusty, the rust has eaten holes in them.  But, they're still very beautiful!

To paint these, I didn't prime them.  I just painted a flat off white wall paint right over the rust, hoping that some of it might bleed back through.  

Only a little bit did and  it added to the aged look.  

She was very happy.  Me, too!

Original Post 

June 15, 2012

PAINTING FLOWERS ON AN OLD DRESSER TO MATCH A DECORATIVE MIRROR

PAINTING FLOWERS ON AN OLD DRESSER TO MATCH A DECORATIVE MIRROR

 I LOVE the way Patti decorates!!  This is one of her bathrooms...

She found this metal mirror and it was already beautifully painted.

Then, she found this old dresser and it was white and distressed.  She brought the dresser and the mirror to me and asked me to paint the dresser to match the mirror.

It was a bit of a challenge and fun to try to match the mirror.  I loved the flower colors and the aqua background color together.

I embossed the corners of these dresser doors with a scrollie design and then painted them and other tiny trim a metallic gold.  She had the dresser installed and then added the granite top, sink and faucet.

See why I love the way Patti decorates!!

Original Post 11/1/12

PAINTING A TROMPE L'OEIL WINDOW & PAINTING STONES TUTORIAL

PAINTNG A TROMPE L'OEIL WINDOW & PAINTING STONES TUTORIAL

My client had just moved into her new home.  She had a huge, oddly shaped niche in her family room that I guess was for a large television.  But, she didn't want her television there.  She wanted it across the room and asked me if I could paint the niche to look like a window. Also, she wanted me to faux paint her walls in her big open family room and kitchen/breakfast room area.

I can't find my pictures of "before".  

She wanted me to paint her walls a Tuscan gold color and I ragged a tea stain glaze over that color. It was subtle, but a very nice look. 

My camera flash made everything look brighter and more colorful than it actually was.

The niche was the color of the walls.  

I drew and painted the stones and then started on the sky mural.

I really love painting flowers and birds.

TUTORIAL

For the stones, I faux painted the walls the colors I wanted the stones to be.  Then, I used a level and drew the lines the size I wanted the stones to be.  I used a pencil for drawing the lines.  Then, with a small brush I painted squiggly lines on the pencil lines to define the mortar lines of the stones.  

I wanted the stones to look mossy and aged.

This is the way it looked from across the room. Not leaning, of course.  When I took these pictures, I didn't know I was going to have a blog and would need better pictures! 

My client was very happy with her new trompe l'oeil window.

As you walk in the front door it is in front of you across the room.

It looked like it really could be a window!

Original Post:  10/17/13

REPAIRING DAMAGED ORNATE PICTURE FRAMES

REPAIRING DAMAGED ORNATE PICTURE FRAMES

 My client asked me to repair these large (22"x26") picture frames. I repaired the chipped and broken areas with wood glue.  When that dried, I textured over those areas with venitian plaster.  It dries to a hard finish.  I keep a can of the plaster in my studio for all kinds of repairs.  Now, I will paint the frames and you'll never be able to tell they didn't come from the factory with this textured finish on them.  My client wanted me to paint these frames a very dark brown to match his decor.  You can paint your frames with metallic paint or any paint and any color you want.
Good as new!!
This is a repost previously published on 12/30/11.