Black and White Furniture

A classy look for any room, any decor, and any piece of furniture is black and white.  

Not only does the black hide the flaws of a well loved piece, it is striking and lends itself to the fun and flow of the white lines and shapes.  

Set a drawer off with a crystal knob and you are left with a piece you will love. 

So, go scrounge up that old piece of furniture you have, buy my book Mural Magic for painting prep and tips, and create this great look on your own!  Or contact me and I can help you out!

Closet Butterflies

Look at this great closet arrangement!  I love the built in dresser between the two doors.  This client moved into a house where she wanted to incorporate the colors and designs of her daughters' bedding with the existing window treatment.  She painted the room green and wanted to embellish the plain white closet doors.  

 Here is the bedding. Fun butterflies that will grow with the girls. Lots of greens, blues, and pink!

Here is the window treatment. More subtle blues, purples and yellows (The green wall looks brighter here than it really is).

So I used the color palette from each fabric to create some fun butterflies.

 And I personalized the room by adding the girls' names.

 Now, the room has a better blended design and the white closet doors are not as stark.  At my suggestion, the homeowner is now considering adding color to each dresser drawer.  Such a simple design to make the room look great! 

Picasso School Mural

This summer, I had the opportunity to paint a wall mural at Madeira Middle School that was inspired by Pablo Picasso's famous painting entitled Three Musicians.

Picasso was in the height of his Cubistic period and illustrated three figures using distorted shapes and flat blocks of color.  The painting shows a clown playing the clarinet, a harlequin playing the guitar and a singing monk. 

My version includes references to the school, as I added a globe, book, paper and pencil, and Madeira graphics.  Here is a quick video showing the mural come to life!

I had a great time paying homage to Picasso while adding artistic inspiration to the walls of a school.  Look for more masterpieces to be added each summer!  Here is the mural I painted last year.... Van Gogh!

Classic Pooh

 As an artist, it's always fun to paint a new theme or unique item for the first time.  I had this chance when I was invited to a baby shower where the nursery theme was Classic Pooh.  Because the mother-to-be was also a tennis pro, I knew I could put a fun "spin" on her hand painted gift from me.

I painted her a frame with Pooh & and Piglet playing tennis.  It was a "hit!"

 I also found unfinished nesting capsules and painting each one to be a sweet Classic Pooh character.  Although not a toy, these will look great on a shelf in her nursery.

The last one was a pot of "hunny!"

 And here are some shots of a Classic Pooh nursery I painted awhile back.

  So, consider Classic Pooh as a room theme for your little one.  It's so cute!

Tiger's Stadium Mural

We recently took a quick trip to Indy to visit friends from college and maybe squeeze in a wall mural.

 Their middle child is my godson, so I was the obvious choice to paint the stadium mural they had always wanted.  They are from Michigan originally, so they wanted to capture their loyalty to the Detroit Tigers.  

 

 Because my time there was limited, we came up with this design, sort of an abbreviated version of Comerica Park and the Detroit skyline.  

 The homeowners had the walls already painted green, which was very helpful in laying down the field.  

The most fun came in the details of the scoreboard, although I didn't see the need to paint in the billboard ads.  Next time we visit, I'll have to add a few more details. I was speed painting!

 So, stadium murals are a great way to decorate a finished basement or boy's room and there are many ways to add personalized touches.  Keep this great theme in mind for your next room update!

 We also went to a WNBA game, pretty cool!  Those gals were huge and so strong! 

Thanks for visiting!  Come back soon!

Star Wars Legos Pop Art

A customer of mine had a great idea to spruce up her son's room.  She wanted to combine her love for contemporary art with her son's passion for Legos-notably Star Wars Legos.  

She wanted the flexibility to hang four paintings either in a large square over his bed or in a row, gallery style, along his side wall.  With Andy Warhol on the brain, I came up with these canvas paintings.  

They are 24" x 24" and depict Darth Vader, 

a Storm Trooper, 

Luke Skywalker, 

 and Captain Rex.  The bold colors and shapes will look striking against his tan walls.  So, if you're unsure about committing to a wall mural, think about what can be created on canvas!

 

Here is a painting my daughter did in art class last year, also with the pop art feel.  Totally fun and they make great inspiration pieces!