mural

When the Size of a Painting and the Size of a Wall don't Match Up

Sometimes it happens...A person falls in love with a painting they see in an exhibit. They take down the dimensions at the gallery, then go home and measure their wall, and they come to the conclusion that it doesn't quite fit.  In some cases the wall is expansive and the painting is just not quite large enough to engage the space. And in some cases the painting is too big or not the right proportions.  In the past year I have had two clients who originally saw one of my paintings in the gallery, but then asked me to do a similar piece for them, custom designed for a particular location in their home. I love to do this as it allows me to get to know them, and see the environment where the painting will go. It also gives me the opportunity to make the painting more personal.

I painted Oliver's Dream last fall after visiting the client in Hobe Sound, Florida over the summer. They live very near the ocean but do not have a view, so she asked that the painting open the space with a view of the water, and she also wanted to bring some of their tropical surroundings into the room. I used a palette that related to the interior while introducing some new colors such as the vibrant clementine wall.  I  painted a tile floor and worked with multiple point perspective with the eye level on the eye level of someone standing in the room to give depth and a feeling that one could walk right into the painting. I also incorporated some architectural elements from the room, such as the large Palladian windows, and symmetry.

My client asked that their adorable King Charles spaniel named Oliver be the main character in the painting, so he sits rather royally in the arm chair on the left, making eye contact with the viewer.  He loves to chase salamanders so there are salamanders of various colors hidden in the flora of the fabrics as well as on the glass table top and in the flowering vines. The client had especially liked my mermaid paintings so we placed a mermaid sitting on the windowsill, playing the flute for Oliver and the various seabirds. There is also a painting within the painting of her grandchildren, and the couple dancing below the palm trees by the water represents her three happily married sons.

A Room with a View, and a Family

I recently finished this portrait for a family. It is 44" x 64" oil on linen. The family lives on a lake and they asked that the landscape out the window  be painted in winter so that the lake would be visible through the trees. The room was yellow, so a relationship between the warm interior tones and the violet and blues in the winter landscape happened naturally. Various other elements note things from their personal and professional lives. The boy is an accomplished musician so I gave special attention to his beautiful hands and long fingers- in the painting he is playing Chinese Checkers, but in the painting within the painting, on the right- he is playing the piano. The painting now hangs in the same room that it depicts, so even at night when the sky is dark, they can still enjoy the view.

Summer Mural Installation





The mural I have been working on all summer was installed on Tuesday. I spent yesterday, touching up the seams and adding a few things. The installer, Stefan Alexander did a beautiful job putting it up. It is not an easy task handling all that canvas in a small space and hanging it without a crease or a wrinkle. I painted the hinges in the little door in the wall to disguise it. And I painted the doorknob, adding a few ladybugs. I also added some vines and olive branches wound into the shape of an infinity sign, among the doves above the window. And I put a big rabbit right in the foreground. He will be a guardian to Nicole when she plays in her room. Here are some details:







Summer Mural

This summer I am working on a mural for a private home in Washington DC. The subject of the mural is a tree house, a mystical garden and portraits of the clients' three children.(and their dog Sophie) It is a great project and challenging in certain ways. There is a window and radiator in the wall which I am working into the composition. Changes are being made along the way to accommodate the interests of the children. Today I added a mare and her foal in the field behind the tree house. The progression of the images in this post are the thumb nail sketch above, then the color gouache study below and the third image is the mural about half way finished. The mural is painted in Golden Matte Fluid acrylics on primed flame retardant muslin.


Carmen Mural Complete


The Carmen mural is nearly finished. I just have to re-grid it and mark it for installation. The lower section is the image on the left and the top part is on the right. Once it is installed, the total dimensions will be 11 feet high by 5 feet wide. I am pleased with the color saturation and the density of the figures within the composition. I am looking forward to seeing the two pieces together on the wall. The figure on the upper right, on the balcony, is a quotation from Manet. In general I was looking a lot at the figure groupings of Piero della Francesco, especially in the parade of matadors. The two female figures on the right, the "cigarette workers" are as intimidating as they are in the opera! Two of my favorite figures are the little boy on the right and the boy peeking out between the two matadors. Sometimes while I was working, he would catch my eye and wink. I am sure he will do the same for the people he will be living with!

Opera Mural #3 Carmen



I have started the third of my Opera Murals for my wonderful clients on Capitol Hill. This one is based on the opera Carmen, and will be about six feet wide by eleven feet tall. Like the others it will disguise a secret elevator door. There will be a tiny doorknob which when pulled will open the mural to reveal-an elevator! The bottom image is the drawing on canvas of the lower part of the mural. It is charcoal, on fire retardant muslin that has been primed with tinted gesso. The main figures of Carmen and Don Jose will end up just about at the viewer's eye level when the mural is installed. In the foreground are the women from the cigarette factory as well as little street urchins and some matadors in fancy hats. In the middle ground is Don Jose's rival on a white horse. (I can't wait to paint that!) and in the distance is the bull fighting arena with a bullfight going on. The image on the top is the upper part of the mural, also drawn in charcoal on canvas. This is the balcony above the arena. It is populated by soldiers and ladies in hats holding fans. I am about to start with the color, so please check back to see the progress.