Tag Archives: Trompe L’oeil

Commisioned Work, Murals

Sports Locker Mural on closet doors

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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.

Chair, Children's, Commisioned Work

Light house children’s chair

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This little child’s chair is painted as if it were a mural. The chair belonged to the client who gave me free reign to do whatever I wanted and this was the result.  The beach scene wraps around all surfaces of the chair.  The light house is a famous one, I am sure you recognize it.  The model for the hyper-realistic copper sand pail was a miniature pail that I stuck into rice to capture the look I wanted. The seagulls were taken from photos a friend took at the beach.  The sand castle which I painted on one of the sides was a particularly difficult challenge.

Featured Work, Small things

Scallops on a Faux Marble Lazy Susan

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This was one of the most challenging subjects requested of me by a client. Scallop sea shells!  I had no idea before doing research for this piece how varied Scallop shells were. A Special thank you to my seashell and starfish collecting friends for loaning me so many specimens as models!  I especially enjoyed painting the insides of the shells.   Particularly difficult were the grey toned shells from Cape Cod because the tops were dark while the deeper grooves were light colored. This made creating depth a real challenge.   I am so pleased with the way the star fish came out, as well as some of the other kinds of sea shells!  And the barnacles! They were great little details to paint.   Since the underside of the lazy Susan (supplied by the client) was as finely finished as the top, it is just as easy to use upside down, therefore I painted it a faux pink marble as an alternative.

Featured Work, Table

Green Marble table with Jade Beads

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This small side table is painted with a faux marble surface and trompe l’oeil jade beads that appear to have been casually dropped there. The necklace looks ready to scoop up and put on, doesn’t it?  The key is in the shadows!  The table has graceful legs with carved knees which I gilded gold. I included a photo here of the faux marble surface before I painted the beads.  This now charming table was a rescue from a tag sale and it looked unsalvageable when I took it home.  It had been painted with such thick black paint that the drips could almost be peeled off! I stripped it and sanded it. The broken trim on one side had been ridiculous attached with a hot glue gun! Needless to say I removed it, cleaned it up, molded a little missing length and reattached it so well that even I am not sure which side I fixed!