All posts by Sue Banks

Chair

Delphinium Chair with Hand Caned Seat

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Larger than life lavender Delphiniums grace the backrest of this vintage chair. The flowers are hand painted in acrylic paint in a hyper-realistic style with a touch of   soft focus.  I really like the effect and I hope you do too.   The chair itself is done in soothing blues, purples and greens.  The darkest color is very deep purple.  On the back side I painted a Silver Studded Blue butterfly.   I also hand caned the seat.  It turns out this sturdy chair might be pretty old as I found that the caning holes were clearly hand drilled. They were irregular in size, placement, and spacing, making this quite a challenge for a first time caner! I have included an image of the rescue chair as it first came to me! Look what a little paint and love did to it!    If you are interested in possibly purchasing something similar to this piece please Send me an email or leave a comment.

Chair

Chair Painted With Ribbons and Dried Roses

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I chose a palette of grays and browns for this surprisingly colorful chair. The ‘natural’ wood grain on the legs and back supports is faux work as the chair was painted cream when I found it. The seat is painted to look like someone casually set down two dried long stem roses with trailing ribbon. Hopefully the ribbon looks like you should brush it aside before you sit down! The next three pictures zoom in on more detail.Can you tell that these flowers are not moist and fresh, but crisp and carefully preserved? The shadows are very important to the illusion of being real. the swallowtail. He’s painted with the same limited palette as the seat decoration. 

This chair is for sale @ $150 plus shipping and handling.  If you are interested in possibly purchasing of this piece or  you want to know more about this piece  Send me an email or leave a comment.

Commisioned Work, Slate

Peach Roses on Slate with Brick Wall

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Lush peachy pink colored roses in all stages of blooming are painted in acrylics as they climb a brick wall on a 19″ X 12″ piece of old roofing slate.   Some roses are heavy with petals glistening in the sun, others are barely opened buds or drying rose hips. The background bricks were inspired by the dark stains imbedded in the old slate.  My signature insect here is a pale Malachite butterfly.

Do you want to know more about this piece? Send me an email or leave a comment.

Cabinet, Commisioned Work

Ocean Chest

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This cabinet is painted with an ocean scene which wraps continuously around all three sides . After receiving this commission I visited a cousin’s beach house and saw their entrance to the beach. I knew immediately that this was the perfect scene for this cabinet. The left side has a Sandpiper bird.  The right side is simple with just the sky, sand dunes and a few rocks piled in the sand.   Notice how the knobs are painted as part of the scene too.

Do you want to know more about this piece? Send me an email or leave a comment.