Real Gold Leaf and Real Rust make a Fireplace Special

I recently finished a job at a restaurant in Bellingham, MA where they had me doing specialty finishes to a space they are renovating as they prepare to re-open.

The room has an upscale rustic feel to it, so we finished the walls with Roman plaster – which gives a subtle texture to the walls, making them look and feel (!) beautiful.  Below is a detail shot of one of the walls.

In the center of the room is this fantastic stone fireplace – but the semicircle detail over the top was a lackluster gray concrete.  The restaurant owner wanted this to pop and feel special – so we had fun using different materials to make this happen!

After prepping the surface, I painted it with an iron paint (literally, paint that has iron in it!), which gives a matte black look to the surface.  The next step was to apply real 22-carat gold leaf, giving it just a little bling!  The final touch to bring the look in line with the rustic room was applying a rust activator to the iron paint – creating these streaks of rust.

It was a blast using real gold and real rust – and the client loved the result.

Enjoy!

Jason

Accent Murals for a Pop of Interest

While my murals often can be very detailed and/or take up entire walls (or even rooms) – sometimes my mural work can be used just as an accent!  A few recent projects – all working with the same designer – were exactly this type of accent mural used to give rooms a “pop” of interest.

The first example is in a nook that is set up as an arts and crafts table for the client’s children.  In a space that is largely done in black and white, touches of yellow (including the lucite chairs) were part of the inspiration for this mural.  To give the space interest and drama, while also adding a sense of fun (and of course a tie-in to the arts and crafts table!), the designer came up with the idea of making the wall look like the edge of a paint can – with a dramatic yellow dripping from the top of the wall. Working with the designer’s team, we plotted out just the right amount of “drip” to get the look just right!

Below is a shot of the final result:

The second example in in a room that is being used as a play space for the client’s children – so the goal was to do something bold and fun.  This room is immediately to the right as you enter the front door, so the designer also wanted to create something that would go with the clean, modern look of the rest of the house.  We settled on these sharp stripes that get framed by the doorway into the playroom and use colors that pop, but still complement the rest of the home’s décor:

The last example is in a large, open entertainment space in the basement.  Again going for a fun but sophisticated look, the designer wanted a wide, curving shape made up of multiple stripes in grays and teals to go with the carpet and furniture in the room. To add intertest and accentuate the hand-done feel, we wanted to see the brush strokes and create a gradation of saturated to light from the top to the bottom of the stripe.  The result was just the right look the client was going for!:

Enjoy!

Jason

Reinventing a Space with Decorative Plaster

It was last December when I first met my client Michele and her designer Sara.  We were meeting to look at the large great room in Michele’s beautiful new home with the goal of reinventing the space.  The first order of business was figuring out what to do with the walls – which is where I came in, together with my business partner Joan.  The finish that Michele inherited was very heavily textured, with sharp peaks of plaster scattered throughout the space.  Over the texture was a faux finish of a dark brown and an even darker brown glaze.  Adding to the challenge, this same finish continued into the kitchen and 2 small hallways. The overall effect was very dark, heavy and dated looking.  Below are some before pictures that help paint the picture of where we were starting:

Fireplace wall before

TV wall before

Small hallway before/ close up of texture

As we collaborated with Sara and Michele on possible solutions, they shared that their goal was a French chateau look that would work with the arched windows and doorframes, as well as other details in and outside of the house.  They did not want simple flat walls painted a single color, but they did want something cleaner, brighter and less overbearing.

To accomplish all of these goals, we suggested roman plaster.  We explained that we could scrape the walls to knock down the most extreme areas of texture, but use the plaster to hep even out the rest.  Roman plaster itself has a texture, but it is a subtle effect that gives some interest and motion to the walls without overwhelming the space.  Roman plaster is also finished with wax that can be burnished for nice variations in shine that accentuates the motion of the plaster and would fit perfectly with the French chateau look!

Michele and Sara were excited about the idea – so we were on to doing samples.  In doing the samples, one of our main points of focus was getting the color right.  We knew we wanted something lighter and brighter than the brown, and we needed something that would go well with taupe wallpaper in an adjacent space, the terracotta kitchen floor and the cream-colored cabinets.  To accomplish these objectives, we mixed different combinations of the standard plaster colors to look at in the space.  With sample boards in hand, we met again at Michele’s to look at the finish and our proposed colors.  This finish was a hit, and one of our colors was a perfect fit – so we were on to ordering materials and planning the job!

Once on-site and set up with scaffolding and ladders, we were on to scraping down the walls and priming them with a specialty product that helps insure a good bond for the plaster.  With these steps done, we then applied a base coat plaster – which is a grainy, almost concrete-like substance that helps level the texture of the walls and creates an ideal surface for the final plaster to adhere.

Then we were on the plaster and finally getting to see what the end result would be!  Once the paster dried, we sealed and burnished it with the wax to protect the finish and give it the final look.

The end result is beautiful!  Michele and Sara were both thrilled – as were Joan and I !  The room is now brighter and cleaner with a great color and the motion and texture of the plaster add the ideal level of interest and richness to the large space.

Below are some of the “after” shots showing this new finish…

Enjoy!

Jason

Fireplace wall after

TV wall after

Close-up of final texture

Look Up! Adding That Wow Factor with Decorative Ceilings

Working with interior designers, I have seen many fantastic ideas for making a space come alive – and a recent condo renovation in Brookline is no exception! 

Using a subdued palette of grays, taupe and white throughout, the designer was looking to add a bit of “jewelry” and decided to look up for her inspiration… to the ceilings!  In the master bedroom and dining room, she decided to add a bit of pop and sparkle to the ceilings that would make the rooms feel more elegant, interesting and special.

That was where we came in! Starting in the bedroom tray ceiling, we wanted something that felt upscale and added some sparkle while also feeling soft and hand-done.The designer and homeowner were thrilled with our solution – which was a linen-look finish painted with metallic pearl paint. To accomplish this look, we started with a taupe-painted base and did a special application in 2 directions of the metallic pearl glaze. Below are pictures of this:

The bedroom ceiling

Bedroom ceiling close-up/detail

But we weren’t done yet!  In addition to the master bedroom, there was another tray ceiling in the dining room that needed our attention.   For this room, the goal was a finish that was a bit more formal, but still had a hand-done feel to it – which we accomplished with imitation silver leaf.  Since leaf is actual metal (in super-thin square sheets), it creates a “real” metal look that can’t be replicated with paint.  Gluing the sheets also creates subtle variations in the metal and how it reflects – creating a surprising warmth and interest which adds just the right amount attention-grabbing soft glow.  Here are some shots of this treatment:

Looking up at the silver leaf ceiling

Capturing the “glow” of the leaf ceiling

Leaf ceiling detail

In the end, the designer and homeowner were thrilled with the results, and we were thrilled to be part of adding that last special touch in our client’s new home.

 Enjoy!

Jason

Adding Seaside Character with Faux-Painted Driftwood beams.

When I am creating faux finishes, I sometimes am charged with making something decorative and beautiful – but sometimes I am charged with adding character with something that looks realistic.  My recent client near the ocean in Quincy fell into this second category – as they wanted simple white-painted beams in their sunroom transformed into character-filled salt air-bleached old wood beams.

This was music to my ears! I love incorporating my fine-art realism into my decorative painting projects, and replicating something like old wood is just a fun challenge. 

My first step was to meet with my clients to look at the space and the colors around it.  We talked about the colors of the walls, the colors of the fan blades and the colors of the cabinets in their adjacent kitchen to come up with a scheme for the beams.  We wanted them to have a grayed, driftwood quality to them – but we also needed a little warmth to keep the wood feeling realistic and also tie into the colors of the fan and the cabinets.

My next step was to create 4 different sample boards, using different color combinations to review together with my clients – each just subtle variations of gray driftwood and warmer barn-wood tones.  After meeting, we had a clear choice for the space – so I was on to painting the beams!

After creating the wood grain, I was on to my favorite part - creating knot holes, subtle cracks and stains and old nail holes to really make the beams look authentic.  While I was there, a carpenter who was working at the house saw what I was doing and thought I was applying a treatment to the wood – believing that they were old wood beams all along!

Most importantly, my client is thrilled with their newly old-looking beams!!

Below are pictures of this job - enjoy!

Jason

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Commissioned Art for a Gift that will give Goosebumps!

One of my favorite things about commissioned painting projects is that I get to play a role in a special moment in my client’s life.  This was definitely the case with a recent project for my client Nick who was looking to commemorate an amazing trip and honor a family friend.

Nick was spending time with his friend Matt, who on a whim encouraged Nick to join him on a trip to visit his Uncle Ken in Montana.  Nick had never been to Montana, so he decided to join Matt’s adventure – following a portion of Lewis and Clark’s journey down the Missouri river.  The trip included more Matt’s extended family and friends – none of whom Nick had met previously, but all of whom he became close with on this trip! 

Two of the most memorable parts of this excursion for Nick were a particular stop along the river known as 'Eagle Creek' and Uncle Ken - a true 'Cowboy'.  The stop was a campsite across the Missouri river from the White Cliffs – captured beautifully at sunset by Nick with his camera.  Uncle Ken - or 'Cowboy Ken' as he is sometimes referred, is a sixth generation Montana native who knew the area like the back of his hand and ended up serving as their defacto guide. 

As he gets older, however, Ken is less capable of taking this trip – and as it turns out, this particular outing with Nick was one of Ken's last journey down the Missouri.

To commemorate his trip and honor Ken, Nick wanted to have his photo turned into an unforgettable gift – which is when he reached out to me to create an 18” x30” painting he will be giving to Ken and his family as a Christmas present

I loved doing this project – largely due to my own love of canoeing and camping, but also because I loved Nick’s photo (below).

Nick’s photo

In turning this into a painting, I wanted to keep the mood and the lighting of the sunset – but I also wanted to lighten it up significantly to highlight the cliffs and prevent the painting from being too heavy and gloomy.  Another change I made was to add a bit more of the river, since that was so integral to the trip.

We are waiting on the painting to arrive in Montana to learn of Uncle Ken’s reaction – but Nick was thrilled with the painting! His reaction was one of my favorites – as he said it gave him “goosebumps”…. Mission accomplished!

Below is the final painting — Enjoy!

Jason

The final 18”x30” painting

Faux Painting for Restaurant Ambiance

The goal of each decorative painting job can be a little different.  Sometimes I am using faux finishes to make something subtle, other times bold. Sometimes I am making a beautiful finish, other times the objective is to make a statement.  In the case of a recent job at a pizzeria bar in Attleboro, I was definitely shooting for the “bold” and “statement” side of things!

When doing a specialty paint finish for restaurants, I find that it is similar to painting a set for a play or movie.  The look needs to set a stage, so to speak, for the mood of the restaurant.  For this restaurant, the owner wanted an “old world” look for the bar that would be consistent with his recent renovations on the exterior – so working with a designer and a fellow decorative painter, we came up with a finish that resembles aged, cracked plaster.

The restaurant owner was on board – so we were on to creating the finish!  As is often the case with faux finishes, the key to creating depth is layering different colors and different materials.  Starting with four different darker, warm colors we created the under layer that has a mottled look.  Then, to make the plaster look more authentic, we used a plaster-based paint that we applied with trowels, strategically leaving “cracks” to expose the base layer.  The other plus to this approach that you can’t see in the photos is a texture that adds to the authenticity of the

The end result gave the owner the look he was going for – and won a big thumbs up from the bar tenders and wait staff as well!

Enjoy!

Jason

Commissioned Paintings on Saws

And now for something completely different… commissioned paintings on saws!

My client Nancy had 3 large saw blades (6’ long, 4’ long and 3’ long) and wanted to have them painted with “special memories” to be used as decorations in their NH home.   Nancy’s father owned a wilderness canoe camp for boys in the early 70’s, and this was the perfect subject to make these pieces something the entire family would cherish.

Using old brochures as inspiration, Nancy came up with the general themes she wanted on each saw.  The old pictures in the brochures gave me some visuals to work with, but putting them together in such long, narrow formats took some creativity – although it also helps that I am an avid canoeist and camper!

As always, I started by doing scale sketches of each saw design for Nancy to review.  I was careful to use period-correct aluminum canoes, as well as other little touches like the styles of life preservers, paddles, tents and even hair styles.  With some collaboration and tweaks, we had approved designs ready for me to paint!  Below are the sketches:

Sketch for 6’ saw

Sketch for 4’ saw

Sketch for 3’ saw

First, I prepped the saws with a self-etching primer to make sure no rust would come back and pop up through my paint.  Then I was on to transferring my drawings to the saws and stating to paint!  When painting, I wanted to make sure the colors went together as if they are a series, but were still different enough to be appropriate for different settings and different times of day.  I also focused on using color to help create some depth to counter the flattening effect of the long, narrow shape.

Nancy was thrilled with the end result and can’t to get them on the wall and share them with her family!  Here are the final saws:

Enjoy!

6 foot saw

4 foot saw

3 foot saw

The entire collection!

Faux Wood Painted Stairs

Is it real or is it faux painted wood?  That is the question my recent client ended up asking!!

I was called in to a home in Brookline to make the edges of stairs transform from a worn white paint that didn’t match the steps to a realistic faux wood grain that needed to look just like the heart pine of the stair treads.   Because you see the second level of the steps at eye level when climbing the first level, I knew that it would need to be an excellent match for this client to be happy!

My first step was to visit the house to look at the stairs with my paint swatch book and camera.  I needed to get good notes on the paint colors I would need to buy as well as some pictures to reference as I planned for the project.  When you look closely at wood, you can see that there are actually many different colors that make up the overall look – so I ended up buying 3 colors of latex paint, plus I brought my fine-art acrylic paints to mix additional hues to blend in.

When on site, the first step was to paint all of the stair edges with the “base” color – which is what looks like the background color behind or underneath all the grain.  In this case, the background color was a gold – which you can see on the second step in this before shot.  With this complete, the second step was to “grain” the dominant secondary color.   To do this, I used one of the latex paints I brought, mixed with glaze, and dragged with the best tool to make the grain look. 

BEFORE #1 — the lower one (painted gold) is after my “step one”

Once this was complete on all of the stairs, I was on to the best part – which was treating each stair edge like it’s own little painting.  Using my additional latex paint and many colors I mixed with my acrylics, I then painted grain, light areas and dark areas to match each individual step. To add to the realism, I also painted in wear and worn-in dirt in areas that had wear and worn-in dirt on the treads Below are some pictures showing the “before” and “after”.

AFTER #1

BEFORE #2

AFTER #2

BEFORE #3

AFTER #3

AFTER close-up

As a fun detail, I also painted in the mitered corner on each step for an added touch of realism!

After close-up of “mitered” corners

When it was done, the client lifted his glasses, brought his face right up to the stairs and said “WOW!… I can’t tell it’s not wood!

 Enjoy!

Jason

Office Space Mural

One of my favorite things to do is design murals, but it can also be fun to work with someone else’s design!  The latter was the case recently, where I painted a 10 foot by 38 foot mural in an office space in Somerville using the design of one of the employees.

Yekaterina Kozlova from tech company SmartBear recently reached out, hoping it would be possible to realize her vision of turning her design into this large mural. The graphic, geometric design and combination of subtle grays with bold colors worked perfectly with the rest of the office space

The original design

With the design in hand, my job was to make it come to life on the very large wall!

 The biggest challenge was hand-painting shapes that were digitally created, but after a few days of some very steady-handed painting, I was able to accomplish Yekaterina’s goal.  It was fun hearing the overwhelmingly positive reactions from the SmartBear while I was painting the mural, but the most rewarding part was hearing the feedback from the designer herself. When it was done, Yekaterina shared that never imagined it would look as good as it did!

Below are some pictures of the final result — Enjoy!

-Jason

The full mural

Close-up of the left half

Close-up of the right half

Ombre, ombre, ombre!

Painting an “ombre” finish means blending colors from the top of the wall to the bottom – usually a dark to light or light to dark of the same color family.  Together with another decorative painter, we did ombre finishes in orange for a company that was renovating a large office space about a year ago.

Fast forward to today, and that same company is renovating another large office space – and this time they decided to go with more ombre walls in more colors (including orange)!

We ombre’d literally thousands of square feet in orange, yellow and blue.  The orange was on two large adjacent walls, plus small accent walls.  The yellow and blue were two large “blocks” of 4 walls each – including a hallway and closets.

To accomplish this look, we started with 9 different shades of each color, painting the walls in jagged stripes of each shade.  With a couple of coats of these jagged stripes done, I then went back and did a wet blend between each of the 2 colors, creating a fade at each step.

 The site is still under construction, but below are some pictures of our completed ombre walls…

Enjoy!

The first step in ombre’ing the walls — before the blend!

The final ombre’d/blended wall!

Walking around the yellow “block”

The biggest wall of the blue block

The orange block

Plus small orange accent walls!

Decorative Concrete!

Of the titles I use to describe what I do, “decorative painter” is one that covers the bases of most of my services – except a recent project I worked on using decorative concrete!

The goal was to give character and interest to columns and soffits in a newly added patio and covered porch at a well-established pizzeria.  The overall look of the restaurant has an upscale, but rustic and old world feel to it – and the plain concrete of these columns and soffits needed a treatment that would make them fit this look.

Rather than simply painting these surfaces, we decided that using decorative concrete would create a more authentic look, adding layers of colors and texture that customers can feel as well as see.  For the colors, we decided to use a gray that would connect to the painted exterior walls of the restaurant, as well as terracotta and light beige tones to tie in with the patio floor.

By building and blending layers of the different colored concrete, the end effect makes the surfaces feel more substantial, aged and authentic – exactly what the owner was looking for!

Below are a few pictures showing the end result.

Enjoy!

Jason

Showing close-up of one of the columns (before the inside/back soffit was complete)

In-progress photo showing the texture of the concrete

Restoration with Specialty Painting

Often, the creativity I get to apply is in coming up with the design for a mural, decorative pattern, or specialty finish.  Sometimes, though, the creativity required is in figuring out how to replicate or restore an existing finish – which was the case with two recent projects!

The first example is a garage door that looks like it had a faded finish on mahogany wood.  In reality, the garage door was metal - and the convincing wood-look was created by a photograph of wood that was printed on the metal!  Unfortunately, continuous sun exposure and the elements had faded the printing – in some places all the way to white – creating patchy faded spots all across the door.  The “before” picture is below:

The garage door before restoration

My challenge in this case was how to restore the faded areas without covering over the wood-look that surrounded the light and white areas!  My solution needed some transparency, but also enough opacity to fully cover the white and almost-white spots.  The specifics of my fix will have to remain in my bag of secret-sauce tricks, but with a little bit of experience with similar situations (although none exactly like this one!) and some experimentation, I found a combination of stain, acrylic paint and urethane that did the trick.  When the homeowner stepped out to see the final result, she said “it looks exactly like it did when they installed it brand-new!”

During restoration

The final result!

The second example is a decorative lime plaster finish in the entry, stairway and upstairs hall of an historic home in Newton.  Since the finish dated back to the 1920’s, it became stained over the years.  Most of the staining appeared to be from nicotine from previous owners, but there was also a good amount of regular wear-and-tear stains from hands near railings, switches, doorways, etc.  Below is one “before” picture”:

The stairwell before restoration (note discoloration at top of wall and near railing)

The big challenge on this job was to somehow cover the stains (they would not wash off!) while maintaining the color subtle variations in the finish as well as a unique glitter/sparkle that was in the plaster!   For this project, I teamed up with another decorative painter – and through a little bit of experimentation, we found a solution using a specialty paint that we watered down, a wax – and a secret ingredient to maintain the sparkle!  The end result hit the nail on the head, covering the stains while still capturing some of the color variation and glitter of the original walls!  As an added bonus, our new finish was sealed – meaning the walls will not stain like they did previously!!

The stairwell after!

Front entryway after

Enjoy!

Jason

Murals of Marble Medallions and Plaster Scrolls

Typically, my projects are either murals or decorative painting jobs – but on this recent project, I was able to use both my mural painting skills and my decorative painting experience!

I got the chance to work with interior designer Shawn Strok, who was working with the homeowner to tie in a makeover of their living room with their existing décor, while also elevating the new space for an extra bit of wow factor.  One of Shawn’s main points of focus was the beautiful bank of windows you can see in this before photo:

The room before we got started

Shawn had the idea to incorporate murals of medallions between the upper and lower windows, and we brainstormed to integrate some of the patterns and colors from a marble inlay in the entrance to the home (see below).

To cap off the top of the overall composition of windows, drapes and murals, Shawn also wanted to do scrolls on either side of the top, half-circle window. The scrolls create balance for the window treatments while also coordinating with scrolls in wrought iron spindles on a staircase in the room.

As always, I did a concept painting upfront to show all of this, and once that was approved – we were on the final project!  Below is a shot of my concept for the medallion (including faux marbling):

Concept painting for medallion

 Before I could get started, the room was wallpapered and the trim was painted – giving me a nice clean slate!  My first step was to layout and paint the medallions, creating faux plaster and faux marble looks to add interest and pop.  Below is a shot of all 3 of them, plus a close-up of one to show the detail:

Close-up of medallion mural

Then I was on to the scrolls one either side of the half-circle mural.  Here is a close-up shot of one of the scrolls:

The icing on the cake was the drapes and cornice.  Here is a final shot of the wall with all steps complete!

Enjoy,

Jason

Commissioned Portrait to Celebrate a Big Milestone

Often, my clients have me do commissioned paintings as a gift, which means I get to share in a small way in some fun milestones!

This was the case with a recent portrait I did of a married couple who is celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary.  Their daughter, Catherine, originally planned on organizing a fun gathering to celebrate her parent’s big day, but unfortunately the pandemic eliminated that option.  Determined to still find a way to commemorate the day in a special, Catherine got the idea of having a portrait painted – which is when she reached out to me!

The first step was to find an image that would make a good subject for a painting.  For a photo to fit this bill, it should be a good picture of the people – but also recall an important or fun memory.  Fortunately, Catherine had a picture that was a perfect fit!  She sent along this photo below, which was taken while her parents were away at a particularly meaningful vacation:

With this as a start point, I then worked on edits to the composition to elevate the image from a snapshot to something worthy of a keepsake.  First, I zoomed in on her parents to get a better representation of their faces.  Then, I suggested I replace the support beam behind her father with a tree to make it less of a distraction and more just a part of the beautiful background.  Finally, I made minor tweaks to the colors of their clothing to make sure the clothes don’t pull too much attention away from the rest of the image.

 Below is the final result.  Catherine was thrilled!  Her first words when I delivered the painting were “that is completely them!!”

Enjoy!

Faux Whitewashed Brick Wall

My recent client Nancy had just moved into a beautiful new condo with a water view in East Boston – but she wanted something different to offset the “new white box” feel of the space… which is where I came in!

To keep with the light airiness of the rooms but still add interest, Nancy had the vision of painting one wall in her guest room to look like a whitewashed faux brick wall.  After looking at the wall together and considering the furniture in the room, we decided on a color scheme and I was off to the first step in the process.

Before jumping right to the final project, I start with a concept board to make sure I am accomplishing the look my client is going for.  In this case, Nancy and I had settled on the colors, but discussed both an option where the bricks were close to white as well as an option where the bricks were a little darker (as if the original bricks were dark and showing through the whitewash).  Below is the sample board I showed to Nancy.

Nancy liked all of them, but decided to stick with lightest option that also included shadows under the bricks (option “2b”).

With the selection made – I was on the final faux whitewashed brick wall!  I started by painting the wall the “mortar” color and then added speckles of a darker color to approximate the texture of the concrete.  With this done, I was on the painting the base color of the bricks – which was just a couple of shades lighter that the mortar color.  Similar to the first step, I also added random speckles of a slightly darker color for texture.  To really make the bricks look natural, but still subtle and pretty – I then brushed in touches of a lighter color on each brick.

The final touch was using a glaze of the darker color I originally used for texture in the mortar to create the shadow under the brick.  To create this effect, I needed to hand-paint the shadow under each individual brick!

Nancy was thrilled wit the result and is now enjoying the newest touch of character in her beautiful new home!

Enjoy!

The full wall

Close-up view

The final room with furniture!

Custom Commissioned Painting

My recent commissioned painting for a couple in Medway ended up being the proverbial stone to kill 2 birds!

The first “bird” was a blank wall with a utility panel in my client’s newly renovated ground-level basement space.  The space was beautifully done, and the wall with the utility panel was immediately at the entrance – so it was important to my clients to make this space more of a centerpiece than an eyesore!

The second “bird” was an opportunity for a Father’s Day gift!  The wife of the couple had a photo of herself at their Florida home that she knew her husband loved – so the painting fit the bill perfectly as a special gift!

 Below is the picture I worked from and the final painting.

The original photo

The final painting! I needed to change the cropping and add to the sides to make the final composition fit the wider canvas size (30” wide by 40” tall).

Enjoy!

Jason

Unique, Custom Finish of Painted Furniture

So much of what I do is about making things unique, custom and one-off.  For walls, there are plenty of beautiful colors of paint or patterns of wallpaper that can be used to make a space look great – but since anyone can buy the same paint or wallpaper, none of them can make a space truly unique. 

The same is true of furniture.  Creating a specialty paint finish can take a piece from common to custom – from blending into the woodwork to a centerpiece of a room.

My recent client Nikki was in the process of completely re-doing her kitchen – and she wanted to transform her table to go with her new look, but also be something special…. Which is when she called me!

The table Nikki had was a high-quality piece that was in good shape, but the brown finish on the large round (6’ diameter) piece wasn’t working with the look of the space.  To address this, Nikki wanted a distressed finish using colors that would work with her new kitchen.  After talking about options, we settled on a look that would use a blue as the under-color and a gray as the top color.  This way, when the gray is distressed, it reveals the blue underneath.  This looks great, but also references historical pieces that were painted different colors over the years – colors that are then revealed as the most recent paint wears off to reveal the older colors underneath.

Nikki loved the idea – so I was off to working on the table.

As is always the case, the first step was to prep the table by thoroughly cleaning it and then sanding it (to make sure the paint adheres).  After cleaning, I primed the table and then painted the blue that I mixed to get just the right color.  When the blue was dry, I sanded it to keep the finish smooth (which also starts the distressing process).  The primer I used was a slightly lighter color of gray than the final top color – so that any primer that showed in the final finish would add to the depth of the piece.

The original finish. After cleaning, the sanding begins

After sanding, the table was painted with a gray primer, sanded, painted with the blue undercoat and sanded again

With this layer smooth and cleaned off, I was on to the gray. When painting furniture, I am careful to keep the application as consistent as possible to create a hand-applied look that still looks clean and professional.

When the gray was complete – I moved to the fun part; the distressing process.  When doing this, I am always careful to be very deliberate and light-handed.  You can always distress more, but once you go too far it is hard to fix!  I also focus on areas that would wear from use so the end result looks authentic.  As I did this process, I shared pictures with Nikki to make sure I was accomplishing the look she was going for.

Once the distressing was complete – it was on to the finishing clear-coat!  When doing finishes like this, I use chalk paint because it responds well to sanding and distressing.  However, chalk paint also needs to be sealed – so I use a water-based polyurethane to get a hard, durable finish that won’t yellow (oil-based poly’s yellow very quickly).  Sanding between coats to insure good adhesion, I applied 3 coats of a matte-finish poly, and then I rubbed the final coat with a fine steel wool to give it a mellow, burnished look.

Here is the finished result!

Enjoy,

Jason

Art Nouveau Mural in Newton, MA

I love the challenge of bending my style to create murals for all kinds of spaces – which was definitely the case with this dining room mural in Newton!

My client Cathie was re-doing her dining room and wanted to do something different and dynamic with the wall treatments.  Collaborating with Cathie and her interior designers at Briar Design, we settled on letting the art nouveau details of the house (which was built around time art nouveau was flourishing) influence the design.  Cathie also likes chinoiserie designs, so that also played a role in our choices.

 Below are some shots of the room before we started (note the elaborate iron gate!)

We started by thinking about colors, and to keep with our theme and Cathie’s preferences, we landed on teals and blues.  Cathie also asked to incorporate gold (which was a perfect addition!).  For the subject matter, we decided to incorporate water birds as a nod to chinoiserie.

 With this direction in hand, I started to sketch out ideas and bounce them off of Anne and Jessica at Briar Design.  After some collaboration, we landed on using egrets, lily pads and lotus flowers.  I started my design concept with the organic, curling shapes in the iron gate and built off that.  Here is my first concept drawing that we presented to Cathie:

Cathie loved the idea (!), so my next step was to take a section of this sketch and show Cathie what our final color selections would look like:

Cathie was happy with the final concept – so I was ALMOST on to the final mural.  Before I could do that, I had to design the other walls in the room.  Using measurements I took of the space, I did scale renditions for all of the walls:

With this step done, NOW I was on to the final mural!  It was a blast to watch this mural unfold, and truly a pleasure to work with Cathie and her husband. Anne and her team are still working on next steps for the rest of the design (including sconces in the holes on one of the walls, new chandelier, etc) – but here are final pictures of the art nouveau walls!

Wall 1

Walls 1 and 2

Wall 2

Walls 2 and 3

Wall 3

Wall 4

And back around to the first wall with the corner of wall 4

Enjoy!

Jason

A Mural to Set the Mood at Local Tea House in Millis, MA

When I work with clients who want a mural painted, a couple of the common goals are to make their space special when people visit and memorable after they leave.  This was definitely the case with my most recent mural project for a tea house and café that is opening soon!

When my client Ed was planning the space for his up-coming Nirvana Tea House & Café in Millis, MA – he wanted it to have a little of the magic he experienced while visiting tea fields in Asia.  To accomplish this in a way that people would be sure to enjoy and remember, he asked me to make a centerpiece in his café with a 6’x13’ mural of a tea field!

When I met with Ed in the space, our first order of business was to figure out the mood and colors that would be the best fit for the mural.  For the mood, Ed wanted to capture the spiritual and inclusive nature of his motto “Inviting the world to tea”.  For the colors, Ed  already had a fantastic fabric from Bhutan picked out for the cushions on his seats, so we used that as our guide for colors in the rest of the café – and in turn the mural. 

To create a quiet, contemplative mood and to capture some of the beautiful jewel tones of purple, orange and yellow in the fabric, I decided to focus on a scene at sunset.  This set me on my way to finding images I could use as inspiration, which I shared with Ed to come up with a look that fit his vision.

Once I was confident I knew what Ed wanted, I moved on to my “concept painting” stage – where I do a scale painting of the mural design I am proposing with the actual paints I would use for the final project.  Below is an image of this concept painting:

8” x 18” concept painting

We met again in the space to look at this concept together and Ed loved it! With my design approved, I was on to painting the final mural.  Below are various stages of the process – starting with the blank wall:

The blank wall pre-mural

After 3 days of drawing and painting

Action shot on day 4

Action shot on day 5

Action shot on day 6

Day 7

Day 8

The foreground close-up of the tea plants took over 3 days to paint!

Done painting! I came back to do a protective clear-coat

Foreground detail

And here is the final result after Ed had the ceiling painted to match the darker purple trim in the café:

As another fun note on this project, Ed also had me create the logo for Nirvana!  Our main objectives with the logo were to make something that would capture the sprit of Ed’s tag line “Inviting the world to tea” and would also be identifiable and memorable.  After some brainstorming around different approaches, below is the final logo that will soon adorn Nirvana Tea House & Café!:

Enjoy!

Jason