This pair of tables were painted with crisp Hydrangeas on a soft focus background. The tables can be placed with either one on the left and the flowers still join up, so no, I have not included a duplicate photo. Look close and you see the two ways to line up the tables. The bases of the tables are painted in blues and greens and a hint of deep peach. You may have noticed the bee, but can you find the lady bug?
This little table is about 12″ square and 3 feet tall. It is painted in Trompe L’oeil style to look like someone has left behind evidence of walking the dog. Looking down on the top of the table you see the leash that was ‘dropped’ there along with a few pretty stones which the walker collected. The leash was painted to resemble the actual leash owned by the client. One of the stones on the table top is a piece of soapstone, another is river polished marble. On the lower shelf is the old tennis ball the dog was playing with, along with a maple leaf. I used the original red surface and only embellished it with objects. Just a little surprise; ants crawling up the side! Have you noticed I try to have some sort of critter somewhere in everything I paint? Sometimes you will find a lady bug or dragon fly beside my signature, which in this case is inside the drawer.
The request for this vintage tray (provided by the client) was for “lots and lots of scallop shells”. I tried to paint them as if they were randomly scattered on the tray to avoid making the piece look like a summer camp project of glued-down shells. I included a star fish as well as a variety of sizes and kinds of shells, all facing many directions. I had an actual shell or critter model for every item I painted. One of my models was an enormous orange shell. If you look at my Scallop Shell Lazy Susan you will see the inside of this same shell which is actually purple and white! The tray has a glass insert that protects all my painted shells. I did not change the nice mahogany finish of the rim or the background surface, I merely touched up a couple bad spots and sealed the entire piece. I also painted the handles metallic gold.
This mural began with two brand new plain closet doors! It is painted in Trompe L’oeil style to look like a real bank of lockers just jam packed with sporting equipment. I had a ball doing these doors (pun intended!!) The client and I collected all sorts of sports paraphernalia to use as models. We added in anything we could think of! Who’d ever have thought painting smelly old sneakers could be such a great idea? Did all of you UConn fans notice the ‘old’ Husky sticker peeling off? Even the masking tape names and the door handles are painted on. I have included a photo of one of the doors ajar, just to help you understand the illusion. To open the closet however, one pulls on real combination locks and a real golf ball which were added after the doors were hung. I am particularly proud and fond of this project.
