Raving about the Ravens

Recently I was asked to paint some murals for a library renovation being funded by the Ravens Foundation for Charles Carroll Barrister Elementary in Pigtown, Downtown Baltimore. I was thrilled! I was able to paint four areas, all on canvas, and help create a warm and inviting environment for the students of CCB to read and learn. Special thanks to Nancy Pascale and Warren Wunder for having faith in me to accomplish this project in such a short amount of time. And special thanks to Mary Landavere for helping paint all those stadium seats! Oh, and I can't forget Shelly Wilkins and Larry Stroup for their work hanging the murals.

Never Say Never

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Yeah, well...so I said I'm done with painting cabinetry. Its tedious, difficult, smelly, sweaty, and dirty. BUT after figuring out the nuances of my new system I think I'm ready to go again.  I decided to try out a new sprayer and use lacquer after hosting the Faux Team's class at my studio. You can read about that here.

I hit a few hiccups along the way. The first was getting to know my new sprayer. With a little help from a friend I was able to get up and running. Then I didn't realize HOW MUCH paint you had to use just to get the hose primed! Then something went "fishy" with the paint on the doors. Turns out there was a certain cleaning product that was used on them and it repelled the paint. Mind you I had SCRUBBED these doors well with TSP and wiped them clean then sanded and wiped clean AGAIN but the problem persisted. The only solution was to keep layering thin coats of paint and sanding back between each coat followed by a wipe down each time with Xylol.

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After the doors and drawers were completed it was time to tackle the kitchen itself. It took about two days to fully mask everything off. My intern's back was out so I was on my own. But once that was finished the spraying was cake. Not as many issues on the boxes so thankfully this portion went much more smoothly.

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Re-installation took about a half day and the results are stunning. I will never use anything else on cabinetry. The feel and durability of lacquer far outweighs the extra time and effort of setting up and spraying it, as well as the smell. It looks so professional.

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So....the clients have asked me back to do some other areas of their home. Never say Never!

Adventures in Portrait Painting

Taking classes to continue my personal artistic growth is something I always love doing but finding the time (and money) is difficult. Last month I took the third class offered in William Cochran's Trompe L'oeil Mastery Program- Portraiture. Each time I take a class with William I find that take away something that doesn't present itself until later. The immediate return is usually that I suck and I should hang up my brushes. However, after a few weeks the information absorbed at the time somehow begins to come together. Our first day was revisiting color theory. Elementary as it may seem, there are hundreds of pigments and we each chose a palette to work from. My colors were Hansa Yellow Opaque, Phthalo Blue Green Shade, and Pyrrole Red Dark. Adjusting for the intensity of the pigments, we each created a value scale moving through each color as well as across the wheel through neutral grey. Once complete, we began the portrait workshop in earnest.

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We worked from a live model as well as a photograph. This was extremely difficult. Ideally the model would be present the entire time, but that isn't practical. We began with setting up the backdrop and her attire, changing things based on how they reflected against her skin and hair. Once we settled on the look we shot a series of photos. This whole process took an entire day. The photography process could be a class in and of itself because there is so much to understand like lenses, lighting, distance, etc.

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The difficulty in this class was having to move from the photograph to the model when she was present. In the photograph the values and temperatures were completely different. In real life these things were much clearer and more vibrant if you really studied her. In starting out I did my usual thing of blending tiny brush strokes and by the end of the first day it had no dimension. Up close, yes, but when you stepped back everything collapsed. So I began round two and finally hit my stride. I stood back at arms length with a long handled paint brush and contemplated each stroke of color. This also made it easier to paint with the type of paints we were using; Golden's Heavy Bodied Acrylics. I'm used to using Golden's Proceed line of mural paints which have a much longer open time and are less opaque, thus requiring a different method of application- multiple translucent layers.

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Painting skin is a whole different ballgame than painting other surfaces. There is a luminosity and depth that is hard to achieve. The tricky part is capturing the subtle temperatures of the values; warm darks, clear and vibrant midtones, cool lights. And this can all change depending on the lighting. I spent more time looking and studying than I did putting paint on the canvas. I hope with practice I'll be able to identify these types of things more efficiently.

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I am usually a fast painter and I think that I should have stopped while I was ahead but having about a day and a half left I continued to tinker with it. Which is fine because no one is paying me for this! I switched over to Golden's Open Acrylics which are similar to the Proceeds but have a heavier body like their regular line. This allowed me to blend a bit more and smooth out some values. But stepping back again, things began to fall flat. I wasn't worried as much this time because I felt I had gotten what I wanted from the exercise.

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My dear friend Jeanne stayed with me during the week and we had amazing philosophical discussions about art and life. Jeanne and I met while working for William on his project, The Dreaming, in Downtown Frederick, MD in 2006.  She came up a few summers ago to help with the Extreme Makeover Project I was involved in. Jeanne is a free spirit, full of energy, extremely talented, and I wish she lived closer.

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On Saturday after the class, Jeanne and I headed down to DC to visit the National Portrait Gallery. Its a shame that I live so close to such amazing museums and I've never been to this one. We spent the day there, seeing as much as we could. With new eyes, I was able to really study the brush strokes and color. Some of my most favorite are below.

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Aaaaaaannnnnnd..........done.

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BSO Decorator Show House 2015

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I'm so excited to finally share the work I did for Paula Henry of Simply Put Interior's Dining Room at this year's BSO Decorator Show House! The house was located in the Guilford neighborhood of Baltimore City.

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Paula and I wanted to do something unexpected and so we decided on a unique watercolor design. I painted the design by hand and with the help of Jeff Salava of Archival Arts and Matt Richardson of Indigo Ink, brought the design to life. The colors were inspired by a fabric as well as the beautiful sideboard. Paula wanted a fresh and bright look to bring this room into the 21st century. The room before:

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I am excited about this new avenue and hope to offer bespoke wallcoverings in the near future! Here are some more photos. Let me know what you think in the comments!!

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The Faux Team Class Recap

We had a BLAST this past weekend at the studio! Henri Menendez and Chris Burke, aka the "Faux Team" hit it hard with their expertise on cabinet refinishing and faux finishing work. We learned about how to apply professional finishes to cabinetry and furniture and Firenze Plasters. A lot of knowledge was shared and students came all the way from Upstate New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina....and TAIWAN!! Thanks to everyone for making it out, I hope you enjoyed Ellicott City and can't wait to come back! To find out about upcoming classes, be sure to sign up for our newsletter!

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faux team group class