I enjoy the challenge of being asked to paint anything and everything – and my recent project with an interior designer was no exception!
Kristen DiBella from Blue Door Designs called me in a pinch. She was doing a photo shoot in 2 days and she needed a prop quickly! The shoot was for the Red Sox and Airbnb promoting a sleepover at Fenway Park, and she needed a 2 foot square pillow of the “Green Monster Seats” sign for the set. The actual sign is painted on old brick and has a great, uneven texture to it that she wanted to capture. She explored online resources and even looked into having it printed, but there were no options to capture the look she wanted on such short notice – until she called me!
Using fabric that Kristen got to me and a picture of the sign as a guide, I shifted things around to start on her painting right away. I decided not to gesso the fabric (gesso is a clay-based paint that preps the surface for painting)- which created a challenge with the paint soaking into (instead of sitting on top of) the fabric, but it also kept the fabric from being too stiff since it was being made into a pillow.
I was able to turn the painting around and get it off to a seamstress (Jen) who also jumped in to get the pillow done on time. The exchange was like a baton hand-off in a relay race as Jen ran off to get her “leg” of the process done. The end result was exactly what Kristen was looking for thanks to a clear vision and some fun team effort!
Below are pictures of the painting, the pillow and the photo-shoot set.
Enjoy!
Jason
The painting
The pillow
The set