Got Paint!

New Series of Smaller Works

2009-01-17T14:58:00.013-07:00

I have completed all of the following this month. They are much smaller than any of my previous works, 12" x12". They are based on my impression of Yellowstone NP, from the one time I have been there. We visited in April, I think. There were still several feet of snow on the ground all the lakes were completely frozen over, the sky was overcast overhead and totally clear on the horizon in every direction. The burned-over landscape from the '80s fires ,there seemed so strange with many of the fire damaged trees scraping at the gray sky. everything was back-lit. This definitely reinforced the connection in my mind between this land and the of the pictures in the National Geographic magazine articles detailing those fires.

Newly Completed Works.

2009-01-07T21:49:00.013-07:00

I have been able to spend a lot of time Painting in my studio over the last couple of months. Here are the works I completed in December.

'Totem' 36" X 60"

'Heirlooms' 36" X 48"

'Winter Sparrow' 46" X 80"

Fininshed Dallas Condo

2008-12-17T12:48:00.000-07:00

A few photos of the condo in Dallas after completion. The first photos are of the wall in the master bedroom, a polished plaster finish with a subtle water-ripple pattern embedded.

Some of my painting were purchased my this client and are hanging in his new condo.

Carp for Dallas Powder Bathroom

2008-12-16T17:52:00.002-07:00

In the powder bath of the previously mentioned Dallas condo we installed a polished plaster finish we embedded a carp with water pattern on the wall opposite the entrance.

This is the drawing for the embedded plaster

Working on getting the layout right.

The polished plaster with the embedded carp.

A detail of the embedded plaster. I always love the fine details of this finish. The walls are quite shinny, and with the dark background, very reflective.

Apartment Therapy

2008-12-04T12:51:00.009-07:00

I didn't get mentioned, but there is a great picture of one my paintings here. I think it looks quite handsome as it has been hung in this showroom in North Carolina. Heather is obviously really talented, and I hope we get to work together at some point in the future.

photo directly from the link above to Apartment Therapy article.

Another SeattleHomes Mention

2008-11-17T11:53:00.008-07:00

I just found this. Here a little image of one of my paintings at a new store in the Seattle area. You can't really see much of it, but it is this one blogged previously. It is 'Overexposed' 36'x 48'.

Dallas Condo

2008-11-16T23:48:00.007-07:00

original concept sketch

These are images of the early stages of a larger scale graphic on the bedroom walls of a condo we are finishing in Dallas. The condo is very modern in style with some really great art already hanging. It is furnished with a minimal aesthetic, but we finished all the walls in a slightly burnished plaster to soften what sometimes becomes a bit of a n institutional look, without cluttering it up. We are constructing this installation in the master bedroom of multiple plaster colors, with a subtle striae pattern. The plaster in applied around the masking then sanded back down to reveal the detail then polished to soft sheen. I have some images of some walls I previously installed in offices in San Francisco, if any one is interested. Again, I have some frustration that much of the details that make this finish so great have eluded all photography thus far. The absolute best part of this finish is its Tactile properties; unbelievably smooth. I selected the wall in this location to particularly take advantage of this. passage through the bedroom to the bath and dressing area will bring the resident or any guests close enough that they will find themselves with their hands on it frequently.

display walls

2008-11-12T11:15:00.007-07:00

We have been working on a couple of free standing walls for display at local carpet and rug retailer, Regency Roya l. They have a truly amazing space, and products. If you are at all interested in design or decor, next time you are in Salt Lake City, you have to stop by there for at least a few minutes. You will be amazed.

The first two images are of a side of these walls we are finishing with an inlaid plaster. The first image is the vinyl masking. I kind of wish I had gone a little larger scale. with the pattern, and I have redrawn this pattern since, making the pattern more open (more of the background between the pattern) and changing the curves and points to make it a bit more dynamic.

This second image shows the filled stencil being removed. the khaki inlay color isn't as green as it looks in the photo. There area few more stages that level out the surface, hopefully it will be done by the time I get back from Dallas and I can get some pictures of the finished product.

This this image is a side completely covered with copper leaf that we chemically aged to a bright patina.

This is the other side of the patinated copper leaf wall above. This side has the same copper leaf applied over an olive green plaster, in a large scale oak leaf graphic, and finished with a similar patina. I really like how the plaster amsorbs someof the blacked copper creating a slightly darkened shadow around the copper.

We have been working on a couple of free standing walls for display at local carpet and rug retailer.

Some Exciting News...well, Maybe.

2008-10-21T01:03:00.005-06:00

Looks like I will probably be involved in the remodel of a soon to be reoccupied (different resident) apartment in this building, here in Salt Lake City, UT. We have come up with what I think are some great ideas for this space, with a very generous budget, so I am quite excited. In working with this group in the past, however, often some of what I thought were the best ideas don't quite, "make it through committee," so to speak. Nothing is confirmed. I hope to know more by next Monday. I will let you know as soon as it is a sure thing, if they don't give me instructions otherwise, and I will post pictures as the project develops, if they let me take them.

Finished Holy Family Catholic Church

2008-10-15T10:15:00.006-06:00

All done, I still think the colors are a little strong.
This is a close up that shows the sheen. We put a little burnish on the plaster.
the last image shows the patterning of the two colors, though the camera on my phone didn't like the light level much.
I should be getting some images from one of my employees soon that show all this much better.

Holy Family Catholic Church

2008-10-10T13:13:00.004-06:00

Thursday, pretty much everything is moving forward. The polished yellow plaster is done. The dark red is just the paint for under the plaster the small area near the floor, behind the alter is the terracotta color all that red will be. That area is completed as well. Hopefully we will be all done today.

2008-10-09T20:04:00.002-06:00

Day 2 or is is 3, I don't know. I haven't really been sleeping. I'm trying to finish a painting for a contest before the cut-off on Friday- oh tomorrow I guess - well that isn't going to happen...On site the trim is painted in a bright gold and the polished yellow plaster on those skirt
type areas is prey much done too.

Holy Family Catholic Church

2008-10-07T15:21:00.006-06:00

This is a proposed job in Ogden. The trim is to be a painted gold metallic. The space between the trim and the shaded area is to be a bright yellow, two-tone plaster,fairly polished. The shaded are will not, in fact, be anything that would fall under anything what accurately be called by the "F" word above. The image above was sent to me. I did NOT write the caption. This shaded area is to be a darker rust and yellow two-tone plaster not as polished. I am hopping to update with progress photos as we go. In warning, the colors are significantly stronger than I recommended, but the client was sure that was what he wanted.

'Grove' 60" x 36" and 'Firs in Mist' 48"x60"

2008-10-07T14:00:00.007-06:00

Here is a continuation of my Pine tree series. I actually completed these last week but have been getting my most recent works photographed professionally prior to delivering them to any galleries. Shawn (Elton) Young helped me produce some promotional postcards. I will put in a later post. My plan is to produce postcards for each of my larger available pieces, and mail them to everyone on my mailing list. I hope this isn't going to feel like more "junk" mail to anyone. Any of you think that should be a concern to me? If any of you would like to be on this mailing list or if you know anyone who would like to be included, I would be happy to do so . There is contact link on my website, just give me the necessary information and I will be sure you (or they) are added. Oh that website has been just updated too if any of you are interested.

'Magpie in Aspen (blue-green)' 48" x 60"

2008-09-27T23:50:00.004-06:00

I actually finished this piece last week. I have set a goal to finish 3 paintings a week. I have found that when I am under pressure, I tend to have more success. This week however I was able to finish exactly ... zero, paintings. I have two quite close...

Encroachment 18" x 24"

2008-09-09T02:09:00.008-06:00

I am little embarrassed to even post on here again after so long. It has been a fairly normal summer for me; meaning, pretty much, total chaos. I finally finished another piece.

'Catalpa' 60"x48"

2008-06-25T09:15:00.004-06:00

I have always loved these overlooked trees. Rarely have a I ever seen this tree on the "right side of the tracks". Usually it is the tree that springs up in the poorest neighborhoods (some of which are becoming more desirable). I have seen it growing right up through the middle, and out the window of a row-house in southeast Washington, DC and in slag piles in Oakland, CA.
Unfortunately, I often see their naturally, characteristic conical crowns, truncated for overhead power lines. Their beautiful blooms, huge leaves, and the long bean pods (seen in the painting), have always drawn my attention.

The New "finished"

2008-06-23T13:26:00.003-06:00

So this is where they had us take the mural. I still think it looks good I just liked it better more simple and sleek. Leaving it the old "finished" also would have saved them several thousand dollars.

Bunk Room

2008-06-05T11:34:00.005-06:00

These are pictures of the "finished" bunk room mural. Except that the homeowners "like it so much" that they want to add a lot more detail. There was nothing the designer or I could say to convince them that it really is done. I think usually the lower the detail contrast, the better - for a residential mural. I think in a residence the exposure is protracted enough that for the discovery process to continue, you need to not be able to see all the details without really looking. In fact, some of the best murals become more of just a pattern and most viewers don't really notice them right away. Well they probably notice there is a mural but not really what the mural is of.

Vemont still.

2008-05-27T10:35:00.010-06:00

I will be sleeping in my own bed tonight (and for at least the next 2 nights! whoo-hoo!) here a few shots of the room after we got up the stars.

And some images of a bathroom there where we added some circles.

And a image of a typical Vermont residence. This is not the guest house we are staying in.

Vermont

2008-05-25T06:08:00.008-06:00

So I am here in Vermont again. I am hopping to get this Telescope silo finished up this time. There was a lot of repair since they had us do the plaster stripes prior to finishing the trim. In addition we are putting the same plaster on some removable panels on the ceilings of the connection area between the house and the silo. Then we are putting stars in random coin sized stars on the walls and ceilings. These are a few images prior to the gold stars. I think we will be done with the stars by tomorrow so I will put some final images up then. The colors in these images are really washed out, the fire-engine red isolating shaft will still look a little out of place till the gold stars are in. I think you can tell from the image it is a highly polished automotive finish.

Also included are images of the inside of the observatory up where (the telescope is) dome. I painted this on a previous trip. I hope these aren't too dark to see anything. It is a kind of random pattern of simplified celestial objects airbrushed in automotive metallics in about 12 different colors.

origianal layout

2008-05-20T19:33:00.007-06:00

So here is what the original layout looked like. As you can see it was pretty much completely planned out before I started to put paint on the wall. Not included is the background pattern nor the colors, though we did work those out on full scale samples as well. All together well over 3 weeks worth of prep, for a mural that took three days to paint, and was up for a little less than a month before being painted over (what they usually do to showcase houses when they are done with the showcase).

Additional Images

2008-05-20T06:29:00.009-06:00

These are for Molly, but I am going to pretend others are interested as well.

Interesting Internet Find

2008-05-17T17:20:00.004-06:00

I recently found some published photos of a mural I did as a promotion at a Showcase house in San Francisco. I have shown a couple of you already, and haven't posted it because of the interesting details in the attributions at the end of the photo set. But they are really good images and I really love how the mural turned out so the photo set is here. I don't really understand how this kind of thing usually works but thought i had worked out something specific with the designers. Obviously, I misunderstood. I would love to hear what you think of it, especially those who haven't seen any pictures of it before. i think it is one of my favorite kids rooms i have done so far. If anyone wants to see some additional snapshots without any furniture (just the mural) let me know and I can post some of those.

Mural

2008-05-15T21:15:00.012-06:00

Pictures of a kids' bunk-room I have been working on in Park City. It is kind of based on a mural I did a couple of years ago in North Carolina. The beds are made of tree trunks and the "ladders" are stumps of limbs. Emmaline came up to help one day.

The Last Two

2008-04-25T23:42:00.008-06:00

I was able to finish 2 last works before the opening:

Serenade 18" x 24"

The other is a little different than anything I have been doing. I quite liked the result. Its a couple of beautiful pine trees in Sugar House Park, that I have admired for years.

Stalwarts 36" x 48"

The opening seemed to go quite well. There were a lot of people there this time, that was fun.
It was great to see some old family and friends that I hadn't seen in a while. I found out some of them actually read this stuff periodically too. Maybe they will even start making some comment periodically too.
I think I sold a few pieces. Since the buyers get to try them out in their homes or where-ever for a little while, and bring them back if they don't feel they work as well as they thought, I am not counting anything as sold until I actually have the money for it.

One more

2008-04-16T12:08:00.004-06:00

One more completed piece for Friday. 'Insecure' 18" x 24".

one finished project

2008-04-15T11:32:00.005-06:00

I finished One of my many projects before the arrival of the little one. It has taken me too long to get these pictures up. I think the boy's bedroom is almost ready for paint so hopefully it will be done soon too.

Poster

2008-04-06T13:15:00.005-06:00

Here is the poster for my up coming show. It isn't what I would have produced for promotional material. I hope maybe more people come to the opening this time. Last time I think there were only about 6 people who came, who were not part of my family or personal friends. I don't this kind of a poster is going to convince many who hadn't already decided to come, that they should make time to do so. I am a little worried about the postcards now. I kind thought I should have made some of my own, I still plan on doing so anyway, I just wish I had already had some made.

Interesting Recognition

2008-04-04T00:05:00.002-06:00

The Seattle connection seems to be working well (the title is a link in case you missed it as I know I would have). I wish I could figure out a way to get similar things to happen here, and maybe a few other cities. Or maybe we should just move up there while everyone else is moving.

Tucker Horn H.

2008-04-02T14:20:00.005-06:00

So here is his mugshot. He was born at 10:14, April 1st. He is 6lbs 8oz. and 19.5". He has been very alert and responsive from even a few minutes after birth. He seems to have a very satisfied, quiet disposition. The "screaming baby" Oliver predicted has not yet arrived; hopefully it wont. He looks a lot like Savannah did, with a round head, the little eye fold, expressive lips, wide mouth, but much more of the curly, red hair she also was born with.

Little Tucker is Here!

2008-04-01T22:32:00.006-06:00

Our Day is Here!

2008-04-01T20:43:00.003-06:00

We are here at the hospital. 6cm and fully, never takes long at this point. Let you know all the details as soon as I have them. I know Charlotte can hardly wait to wake up tomarrow finally without the taste of bile in her mouth, and not be nauseous all day. You women amaze me...

'Autum Oaks' 60" x 48"

2008-04-01T02:44:00.003-06:00

I think this is my current favorite. I may actually get enough finished for this show after all.

'Sparrow' 36" x 48"

2008-03-31T09:09:00.005-06:00

Another finished piece. It isn't quite as mono-chromatic as it appears in the image. It has some little zipps of strong color.

Pictures from a few of the projects

2008-03-27T09:29:00.002-06:00

Kids' basement bathroom the walls (the part not tiled) and the ceiling still need plastered I think we are going to go with a yellow ("carlton cream" for those in the know).

The beginnings of the boy's room. The beds are up on top of the shelf in the foundation. Our shelf is about 4ft wide on one side (left) but only 3ft on the other side (right). I am installing some built-in shelving under the lip of the overhanging bed. Pretty much all the surfaces in this room are going to be trim, even the ceiling, since the beds are so close to it. It should help prevent all the scratches and other marks on the ceiling in the girls room. Charlotte already knows how the trim is much more durable, then walls. we are doing squares in on the walls and ceilings in this room like upstairs. this is what the upstairs squares look like.

other projects

2008-03-26T01:22:00.008-06:00

Still no Baby in my arms yet. I am trying to get a few things done before he arrives. Well, I don't think I will get any of them actually done by then, but they should all be fairly far along.
Most importantly I am trying to get Oliver's room in the basement finished before our newest addition needs to move into the nursery/guest room/library. Eventually he will be in this new room in the basement, too. That's the plan anyway.

We are finally about done with the downstairs bathroom. All we have left there is plastering and installing hardware. Oh, and hopefully the electrician will actually come back at some point...
I am still a long way from having enough finished pieces for the show that is fast approaching. In fact, I don't quite have half of the pieces I need. I do think some of what I am doing have some interesting things going on with them. I do have a couple more finished, I will post them as soon as I get some pictures taken.

The image at the top is the other little project I have going right now. I am expermenting with some embroidery on a sweater from DI, that we shrunk down. The image above is a little drawing of an altered wallpaper pattern. I thought maybe a poppy would be a good image for my first attempt, since I think the texture of poppy plants and flowers would make the, likely, somewhat crazy stitching of this first time not seem quite so odd- I hope anyway. My guess is, much like anything else, well chosen colors will carry it through, even if the stitches do get a little too crazy. The sweater is a warm tan, the leaves I will be doing in several barley green, olive shades and the blossom in slightly warm, very light, pink shades. If the results aren't too embarrassing I will try to put some pictures of the results on.

My Little Guy

2008-03-14T22:03:00.009-06:00

I am here at the hospital waiting to be sent home (tonight is not the night - we don't think). I just realized that pretty soon I will not be able to say things like "my little guy" and only be speaking of one person. I have really enjoyed his babyhood and he is still a lot of fun. I enjoyed the girls too, I worry sometimes that maybe I didn't enjoy them as babies as much as I could have... probably just that Ollie was a baby more recently so it is on my mind more. I do think I am enjoying my whole family more as I mature though. I can hardly wait to hold our newest addition in my arms...this excitement level on my part is not something I remember from previous pregnancies.

It seems like we have been anticipating this so long. I am sure it seems even longer to Charlotte. She has mentioned that it takes her a few years to forget how awful the whole pregnancy thing is for her, and this time she was willing to get right back into that condition with just a few week's lull right after some of her worst sickness just before losing the other baby. I know some of the emotional aspects of that were even harder. That whole situation hit me harder than I expected too. Maybe I am paying closer attention this time since this is "the last time we are doing this!" So I have been informed anyway.

Nice of her to say "we", but I think so far "this" has been a lot harder on some of us then others. About the hardest thing I have had to do so far- Thank so much everyone for all the help!- is take the kids to church by myself a few times. Usually, I have even had help getting them ready which would have been the hardest part, I am sure, if I was doing that myself every time. Amazingly Oliver has actually started staying on our bench all through Sacrament Meeting without having to be reminded not to go visiting. He has also been enjoying primary, though he does still mention missing nursery periodically. Usually he claims he just misses the "babies in there" and lists them. I think only one of those "babies" he is listing was ever "in there" at the same time he was. He always identifies all the other babies in interesting ways, usually by the sibling closest to his age. Though there is one little boy he identifies as the "funny looking guy". Unfortunately the first time I heard this was right after picking him up at his class in primary. Walking toward the family, Ollie yells out (that's how loud it sounded anyway) "that baby is funny looking " I tried to save it by saying something like, "He is a lot of fun, isn't he." I hope it didn't hurt their feelings.

Last week on his way to class Ollie decided to pull out another embarrassing moment for me. We were walking behind an older member of the ward and as we start to pass him he says, quite loud again," some people stink". I do find it interesting that the man knew immediately that Ollie was speaking of him...

Requested Video

2008-03-12T09:30:00.009-06:00

Mom ask me to put this video of the ward talent show on here. I was quite surprised Oliver was wiling to do this at all. Emmaline felt like she had practiced it soo much, but when we got there, Oliver "didn't know there was going to be all these people." He decided wasn't going up there anymore and Emmaline was really mad. Then Oliver heard some people laughing at one of the performances. He asked if "they will laugh at me?" At first I didn't understand how exciting that prospect was to him. As soon as I did, I assured him that people would probably find it funny (on a few different levels I am sure.) But, I told him, I didn't know if they would laugh because they wouldn't want to hurt his feelings. He just had me commit to at least my own laughter and he was ready to go on up. It is kinda funny to see how the laughter he gets through the performance makes him more confident as they go.

'Congregation'

2008-02-26T23:05:00.004-07:00

I finished one more, 73' x 41'. I think I am sending this one to NC, to a designer there. The photo here is a little darker then the painting actually is.

Progress?

2008-02-25T21:39:00.004-07:00

Attention! Again the following work is uncompleted. Just thought you might be interested in where I have gotten in a week (65 hours). I think it is getting close now. There will still a few more unifying layers but it is staring to come together. Anyone know what it is yet?

'Disturbed' 48' x 60'

2008-02-23T15:30:00.005-07:00

Another just completed piece. It is a bit different then any of my other finished pieces. It is more sparse, and looks even larger because of it. I have received kind of a mixed reaction from the limited audience that has viewed it so far. I know there has got to be someone (maybe many) out there who thinks all of this stuff is a complete waste of time and materials; periodically I do a little. No one has been willing to verbalize any such feelings yet. I think I actually would value that kind of perspective too, if articulated well enough I can actually understand it. If there was enough traffic here maybe someone would ... anyway if any of you know any really negative, articulate people send them this way please.

Underpainting

2008-02-19T13:49:00.010-07:00

ATTENTION! The following work is NOT finished. That is why it is scary. Actually, it isn’t nearly as scary in the photos as it is IRL. Weird, because usually I feel like the photos of my finished work don't look nearly as good as the real paintings. This is how most of my paintings get started. A lot of very active strokes in basic colors. Sometimes there are even circles or other seemingly arbitrary elements.

I am going to postpone the "subject matter" post for some later date. I have committed (unwisely maybe) to another show at Evergreen Gallery. The opening is April 18^th, I think they told me. I would love to see all of you there is you can make it. I could get you a invite if you make sure I have your address. If nothing else I would be able to send you a postcard with an image of a painting of mine. If you don't know if i have your address just go to my paintings website and use the "contact" button to send me an email.
Anyway, I have been trying to get a bunch of work finished for that. This effort is still not going as well as I have hoped. I know I am a little distracted, but usually I am able to work out more than I have this time. I am definitely trying some new things, including more color variation. The color has pretty much always been the most exciting aspect of paint- any of my art really. I think I do pretty well with color combinations for décor, but it is being quite frustrating in my paintings right now. When I first started paintings a couple of years ago, I was experiencing some similar feelings. At that time I just avoided it and figured I would get back to it. Maybe I still need to do that….

Got One

2008-02-12T22:47:00.004-07:00

I finally finished a piece yesterday. This is " Early Morning Pogonip" (48"x60") or something like that any actually know how to spell pogonip? I think I may already have it sold too.
Molly ask some questions about the subject matter of my paintings. I have been thinking about some of those for quite a while. Before I really started painting actually. I am not sure I know the answers but I will share some of what I have thought about them in an upcoming post.

Made by Charlotte

2008-02-12T07:47:00.000-07:00

Earlier I mentioned that sometimes I am able to get Charlotte to make something with the stuff I bring home from those stores in NYC. Today I came across these images of some dresses Charlotte made for the girls for Easter , with some fabric ribbons and buttons I brought home. I think Mom was there while I was choosing the fabric. I was pretty impressed with that store, but I hadn't yet found all the button and ribbon shops. I really like the way the dresses came out . I think Charlotte was a little worried . She hates trying to make stuff without a pattern. She got these pretty much exactly how I imagined them as I was acquiring the elements.

Recently

2008-02-11T01:52:00.000-07:00

So now that I am back, I am trying to rebuild some kind of client base for Iconography here in Utah. I do wish I was totally rebuilding somewhere I actually wanted to live. I think moving right now just is too inconvenient for obvious reason. Actually there always seems to be a reason. Maybe there is something i have to learn here that i couldn't learn elsewhere... any ideas? I am a little worried about that, but I think this is like the third or fourth time I have had to basically start over, and it seems to have worked out fine each time so far. I hope this time the effort will yield similar results. It will certainly be interesting with the limited schedule I guess I will have for the next few weeks. I hope it will be a few weeks anyway.

This past year I have been able to make time to paint much too infrequently. I find that this pattern makes it hard to maintain any of what I figure out with my paintings. I have spent a little over a week painting now, with pretty much nothing to show for it. It often it has taken about 2 weeks before I have been able to really expect to have the control I need to be able to expect many of my paintings to work . I have never been able to get all of them to work, but I certainly don’t remember it being this frustrating since I first started getting some things to work.

Shown here is my most recently finished piece. I like so many things about it, however it has some MAJOR surface integrity problems, so I could never in good conscience sell it. This problem resulted from a misstep with one of the technical issues I have worked out long ago but just forgot. I really don’t think I will be forgetting that one again. My paintings are kind of a mass of paint and paint-like products that I try to keep just at the edge of totally out of control. My hope is that this will keep a spontaneity and almost effortless look to them even after I have labored over them for a few weeks or much longer in some cases. I wish I had enough skill and audacity to be able to actually just throw stuff together and have something worthwhile come out at the other end, but that kind of painting experience has mostly escaped me so far. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that periodically my efforts at the edge of control will go over that line in a way that is just plain unsalvageable. Actually, given my level experience here it should actually be amazing that MOST of these efforts would be fruitless

Ribbon!

2008-01-31T22:17:00.000-07:00

Some of you may know that I really like ribbon (and fabrics, and buttons,and beads, and yarn). I don't really much like sewing, but sometimes I can talk Charlotte into making something with some of the stuff (listed above)that I feel compelled to accumulate. In NYC there are whole street selling such things. This is one of my favorites of these places. I thought some of you might enjoy see the photos too. I'll let you know if i actually do anything with this most recent haul.

Basically Done in NYC (for a while)

2008-01-25T13:19:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of some of the work we did there. I am aware that these photos are in no way professional or "good" they are not for my portfolio, but I figured there were probably a few people that have been wondering what could possibly be taking me so much time out there . Of course many of the "little" things we did (that take an enormous amount of time) don't show up in pictures at all. like color matching all the 139 light rings and many of the switch-plate covers. Actually many of the really big things don't really show up in the photos either.

The kitchen here is a good example the walls in this room got painted more than 8 times as the color was slightly changed (as either the home-owner, her designer, or the architect changed their minds. We were using metallic pants so each color needed 3 or more coats. The final color is a light blue/green/gray with a slight pearlescence. The "hood' shape over the island is finished in a kind of oxidized aluminum look to match the tile trims. It is a careful balance of several colors of spray-paints in specific brands. kind of dusted layers, and LOTS of rubbing with steel wool. you can kind of see the light rings there sanded down to their actual aluminum, and a little black heat paint.

Below is the Powder room the walls are a creamy marble and alternating light and dark shell covered tile, detail in horizontal strips on the ceiling we did and alternating cooper and silver leaf over a dark brown Venetian plaster. The metal leaf is gently, chemically aged.

This is the guest bathroom ceiling. The edging is in a eggshell crackle in a tan on a black ground. The ceiling is red lacquer with a polyurethaneclear-coat to give the large crackle over the whole ceiling. the star pattern is black lacquer with alternating silver leaf and copper leaf. The leaf is also aged here.

Another of the light rings.

This is the dome over the spiral staircase it is another aged silver leaf application. this one is about 4 layers with the dome aged after each layer. So there is about 4 subtly different levels of aging. As with any leafing, the real work is in prepping the surface. With a finish this shiny ANY kind of imperfection shows . We usually use a prepping process similar those for automotive finishes, including body filler skims and wet sanding to at least 600grit sand paper.

This is the wife's master bath the walls, floor, and the white part of the ceiling are white marble, with mother of pearl details. the inset of the ceiling (the part we finished) is a gold leaf, 18kt Moon gold I am not sure what is different about moon gold it is one of the common "colors" gold leaf comes in (along with lemon gold, rose gold, and of course white gold). It is much less yellow than most of the gold leaf almost a brownish tone to it, making it more neutral. It is also a bit more expensive than many of the other gold leafing options.

This is the Ceiling of the husband's master bathroom it is a painted pattern in three colors with additional patterning of thin translucent veils of a mica powder that is clear but reflects copper. it gets progressively stronger with each layer. The effect is quite similar to an iridescent silk.

These are more images of the Master bedroom finish I described in an early post or comment or something... I will find the location and put a link here (eventually). Under that plastic is the wall to wall hand-dyed silk carpeting. I wasn't able to actually get a picture of it before it got covered, for some reason it got cover amazingly fast... go figure...

This is the wife's master closet. The walls and ceilings are a yellow metallic in large squares, because it is almost (if not actually) impossible to get such large areas rolled out evenly with a metallic as they are always translucent or semi-opaque at best. In some of the squares, "randomly" distributed, there is a stencil of a pearl white, in several (like 12-20) coats. It starts to have a "puff print" like look to it .

Not shown at all are several things that just cant be photographed in any worthwhile way, like the ceiling in the girls room - blue with a pearl veil fading to opaque pearl, the master bedroom ceiling - the same yellow metallic as the wife's closet with no stenciling, the ceiling of the dining room where we color-matched the fabric covering the walls and added a few band of some other colors at the edge of the ceiling and on the wall above the back-lit crown-molding, the ceiling of the entryway- Aluminum leaf with a pearl veil, that is all but totally covered with the light in that recessed area.

A Much Sadder Photo of the Same Bear.

2008-01-25T09:57:00.000-07:00

I find this one much more interesting however.

Hidden Panda

2008-01-20T22:45:00.000-07:00

I saw this little guy in a trash pile on the street here in NYC. I couldn't resist sticking him in some nearby trees. I thought my little guy would enjoy this picture.

I Think I Am Getting Old

2008-01-17T21:52:00.000-07:00

In high school I actually wrote poetry on a regular basis. Almost hard for me to believe now. I tried to write a little something for Charlotte for our 12^th anniversary which just passed. It has been a frustrating and ultimately disappointing exercise. Someday I will have to try to find some of that old stuff I wrote back then. I wonder if any of it was as moving as I remember thinking it was at the time. I would guess probably not. From this recent failed attempt I am guessing it was more likely the result of the inward pointed idealism of youth, that made any of those lines seem special. This delusion seems to be totally gone now, at least where these poetic efforts are concerned (I still have some pretty far-fetched notions about the communicative value of some of my other efforts). Now I am just left with the realization that any talents I may have lie elsewhere.

This was, again one of too many anniversaries spent apart, and the second in a row where we didn’t get to see each other for at least a week before AND after the date. It seems like way too much of my life since meeting Charlotte, we have been many miles apart. I don't think I really remember how it feels not to have this longing for her as part of my daily existence. Maybe its always been there maybe even before I met her, I don't know. I have been trying to come up with a little something written (not really a poem, but a little poetic at least) to tell Charlotte in words how much she still means to me. How thankful I am to be a part of her life. I know she doesn’t actually need to have it said. She has got to be the most independent person I know. Even just thinking of her stirs some powerful emotions. Powerful enough I need act in some way.

I think the closest thing I have experienced that I think most people can relate to is when one of our beautiful children is being really cute, and I just have to nuzzle their neck- “get some sugar” as I think Charlotte’s Mamma always called it. I suppose that kind of urge isn’t all that uncommon as the pervasiveness of the phase “I want to just eat (them/her/him/it) up” seems to attest to. This kind of a thing seems to have a pretty logical outlet however – at least for me as described above.

The feeling I get from these thoughts of my Wife (that title still sounds a little like pretend to me I wonder if I will ever get used to it) is much more powerful and the yearning doesn’t seem to have a natural outlet. Of course marriage has its special shared moments. As beautiful as these are they seem to only make this yearning stronger. I haven’t been able to find an action that it seems to be directing. It’s like an emotional reaching. Like I want to actually have my mind touch hers, or hold hers, or be held by hers. I think maybe this is one of the many kind of feelings that are being descried but that totally inadequate and so often misapplied word; LOVE.

The most interesting part of these thoughts and the “feeling” that I have so often tried to describe to Charlotte has truly physical sensations associated with it. The rather stereotypical “shortness of breath” I am just so filled up there isn’t room for my lungs to fully expand. And my heart gets louder, and faster. I can feel every beat kind of warming my temples and to the front behind my eyes where there is a slight pressure. Like that is where my mind will make its escape for its rendezvous with hers. And the quickened heart beats pulse in my fingertips. There is also that feebleness right behind my knees like I need to pay close attention if I am going to be standing of walking , but is accompanied by an almost weightless feeling on my feet , like the pressure sensors all numbed in some way.

As I have been trying find some words that accurately portray this feeling it strikes me how clichéd so many of these descriptions are. I know there is no way she is going to understand how potent this continuing experience is for me with such apparent triviality. I suppose this is especially true with the amazing reality of your life together. I am not sure how I was able to maintain her interest. I met her way too early. Mostly because I stretched out my adolescence much too far into what should have been my young adulthood. I hope I am doing better now, but I know I have a lot to make up for. Somehow she was willing to give up on so much to tie herself to me. Even more amazing to me is that with my immaturely oriented and formulated goals, and my favorite inane distractions, I was somehow smart enough to maintain my pursuit of this girl. I know in a lot of ways it wasn’t very fair to her, but very soon after meeting her this intense sensation, I have so poorly explained, began to quietly blossom. Then as I got to know her and her family it became very clear to me that she going to be the best mother I possibly find for my children. Despite the ridiculous “plans” I was fantasizing about, I really always wanted, and thought I would have, children. How could I not do everything I could make sure that I gave them the best mother they could have after finding her. Unfortunately I has proved more difficult to make sure I am also giving them the best father I can. I am improving, I know, but there is just so much I want to change. Our kids are truly amazing and she has spent her whole life acquiring all the tools she would need to match her fierce commitment to help them reach the greatness in each of them.

I am so thankful for the many “little” thing she does constantly to make each of our lives so much better. I wish I had the words to help her to feel as truly special and valued as she is to me and many other people as well.

A Long Answer to a Simple Question

2008-01-15T23:10:00.000-07:00

This post is a continuation of an answer to a little question in a comment on another blog I read. Obscure enough? The question is, kind of, about paint so I couldn’t resist. If you follow the link above and read the comments it will make a little more sense – not so much why I am writing this as what I am writing. It is currently still in progress

Whites are hard to get right. I have gotten lucky a few times (usually by steering to one of my – or a designer’s “old favorites”, But more often it takes some on-site adjustment. The size of the sample is of course important, and I have a few designers I work with who are sure the only sample worthwhile when you are getting close is the entire room. I have painted the same room 4 times in a day and over longer periods of time (though in the same project) I have repainted a room many more times than that. Obviously this can become a bit expensive, but there are some people out there to whom it is much more important that is “RIGHT”. Often this kind of eye and hand color adjustment process eliminates the ability for large area touchup, repair of damage, or freshening the surface with the same color since there is no “formula”. Usually with patience and a few notes, a very close match can be obtained, but for large areas (basically anything more than a room) it makes a bit more sense to buy several quarts that are close to the goal. Usually I use different color decks from competing brands for more slight color variations A “competitor match” as the paint stores call it usually isn’t exact but here one of the crucial things is getting a FORMULA. And once you get it KEEP it! And it is pretty important you know what store (brand) the formula is from, and the base the formula is supposed to go into.

O the stories I could tell you of trying to finish a job when they had to finally fire their painter part way through the job! Often themselves actually. I am not sure how I got the reputation for being the one to call in such circumstances. Often I wish I didn’t have that reputation but nothing will make you appreciate the importance of truly good finishing (or a good contractor) then a recent bad one. Just ask someone who has had either and I am sure they would love to tell you all about it. Or maybe that is like people always asking a doctor to take “a quick look at _____”. Anyway white paints have very small amounts of colored pigments added. Significantly smaller amounts than even pastels, so any variation can actually show. There is always a little variation even with everything done correctly even from one gallon to another mixed at the same time . It is important to mix together all the paint for a project ( or at least each room) before starting to paint anything. Be sure to buy a little more than you are going to need and it will actually save you money and time.

It sounds like this project is just one room, and I believe it is safe to assume that you probably are not inclined to embrace the minutiae that consumes my life, so choosing the color from a color deck where you are buying the paint should work just great. Quickly I guess the guidelines I would give here are - don’t go quite as white as you think you need to, and stay MUCH MORE neutral (tannish or grayish or both) than you think you need to. Buy a quart and little roller if you don’t have one, and put some on a wall or two (or all) in as large a sample as you dare.

DON’T brush it on for the sample! The brush-stroke texture will always show unless you sand it off, which will make a spot with no roller texture (most walls have some roller texture unless it the first paint), and the smooth spot will show and then you will think you need to sand the whole wall and you will abrade your trim and it will need repainted too, and you will probably sand through to the drywall paper in at least some places and then you will end up floating out the whole wall with drywall mud and try to paint it before it dries all the way and not prime that new drywall mud and the new paint will bubble off the wall in huge sheets and you will end up firing yourself and trying to find someone else to finish the job for you so you can finally get your house back, because this little project is rapidly creeping out of whatever little room it started in, into every corner of your home, and you will curse the way “Trading Spaces” made painting look like it is so easy and could be done by ANYONE, overnight because they choose unreasonably loud colors that could only look good on TV (and often not even through that filter)and really shiny sheens so you can’t really see the paint just really bright reflections, so you can’t see in their walls any of the major flaws you got in your paint job even before the paint started hanging off your walls. I assure you they are there, and they are many. If they didn’t surprise the homeowners and make their good friends responsible, after seeing those walls for a few days those painters would be fired too. I think I was saying something … oh yeah choosing paint color. Well actually I think it should quickly be said that the main difference between a pro job and a homeowner one is prep which is no fun to anyone and should usually be well over half of pretty much every paint job. Homeowners usually just go for the fun stuff and jump right to the color. Usually this is probably adequate for the spaces they are painting, but it is hard to get a Crisp look with chunkiness all over, roller nap fibers, wavy lines at the edges, along with brush-strokes and the previous color peeking through here and there.

The white colors show this imperfections more, as you alluded to the original comment because highlights and shadows on the wall have a broader possible range. The other colors you mentioned are probably going to be more forgiving though it is really easy to end up with a much stronger color than you intended especially if selected from only a color chip. The color can even turn out stronger than it looks on the sample even because it is going to reflect the same color off itself to the other walls. With some colors however they actually end up more muted than you thought on the sample, because the original color on your walls is no longer framing the new one. This totally changes the context you are seeing the new color in. Mostly this is determined by how strong the original color is. If you are priming do that before you paint samples or do a sample again after you prime.

Another important consideration is “sheen”, how shiny or glossy the paint is. Most people think of this as a flat or semi-gloss consideration. It seems that, it in Utah at least, usually they go for the semi-gloss, because “it’s washable”. Semi-gloss paint is more washable but having a shiny ceiling just so you can wash it if needed seems a little to me like keeping the plastic on a lampshade (or couch) so it will “stay looking good”. Semi-gloss also is almost impossible to touch up if the finish actually gets damaged. There are, with most brands, several options between flat and semi-gloss and usually one of those is going to work better than either of the extremes, all things considered. For a crisp look in a white nothing is going to look as good as flat. Partly because the flat will hide many of the imperfections. Flat paint touches up really well but it will show dirt easier especially on a white color. Flat is not washable ( thought here are some newer paint that do much better) mostly because you get shinny spots when you rub it. Unfortunately the shinny spots show from almost any touch depending on how good the paint is. Back to the concerns you expressed about white to begin with.

One way I have found to get around most of this, is going with a textured paint of some kind. The most commonly used are paints similar to Ralph Lauren’s “suede” (available from Home Depot) or “venetian plaster” (Behr has one available from Home depot).

The “suede” finish is basically latex paint with sand-like grit embeded to be applied in random strokes. this kind of application takes a bit more time but this finish's main problem is that it gets white patches whenever it is slightly scratched. With a white color obviously there wouldn’t be any problem with this issue. With almost any other color, even light light colors it is a big problem and this finish also can’t be touched up well at all.

The most commonly available “venetian plasters” aren’t really plasters at all but a synthetic water-based medium so they avoid many of the application, adhesion, flexibility, and repair issues associated with plaster veneers.

Oliver made us a Treat

2008-01-10T08:51:00.000-07:00

Here is a little gift Ollie made before I left. I don't think he saw the camera,or at least didn't know I was filming him. I had it down near my leg so it's not the best cinematography, I know. He seems to be having a really hard time apologizing because he is so proud of his efforts. I think he really doesn’t quite believe that we aren’t more appreciative – later I think he finally "gets it" (not even close) and starts to explain that I “can have some.”

The most unfortunate part, I guess, is that he used 3 $7 containers of Stephen’s branded hot chocolate mix and one of their wassail mixes.
Also in there are a can of grits, the remainder of a can of instant oats, and as I was cleaning up I realized he did, in fact, put the strawberries in there, in that he had put like 4 individual size packets of strawberry flavored instant oatmeal.

I wonder how often our Heavenly Father thinks of our efforts summarily. I would think he must at least where it come to much of our economic “development”. Like turning the amazingly majestic trees of the redwood forests into railroad ties and mine timbers. I guess he might think it was great – or could care less for all I know. I am sure I can’t really guess which efforts he would think fit such an allegory better than another, his perspective is just too different. I do think there has got to be a lot of our efforts that he views as just as productive as I view Oliver’s’ in this instance.

What do you think might fit in this category?

Kissing the Frog

2008-01-06T19:53:00.000-07:00

I just came across these pictures. I thought I would share them. They pretty much explain our reaction to Oliver's statement in Charlotte's post .

Christmas Morning

2007-12-27T11:14:00.000-07:00

Video of our Christmas morning.

Every time I watch a video I took all I can really think about is how much I really don't like to hear my voice pretty self centered I know. Anyone else have that overriding feeling? Hopefully not about my voice - I kinda meant your own.

Charlotte's Nightmare

2007-12-24T10:52:00.000-07:00

So, speaking of my studio, I have really been wishing I had a place to paint at my house. My studio is about a 10 min drive from my house, but I hate going over there, away from the kids, when I am out of town so much. And I already gave some ideas of why they don't come with me a lot. I think we are getting close to finishing up the NYC job and I am really hoping to get serious about production. The intermittent painting I have been able to fit in this year has been interfering with any growth - I seem to forget everything I figure out before I get a chance to use it again. I think if I had a place to work here, then during drying or anytime they needed me I could take a little break. Unfortunately there isn't really any space in this house where that kind of thing would work. With the fumes it would probably need to be some kind of separate structure anyway. It really needs to be somewhere Charlotte doesn't really ever see it either. Her list of interesting things #7 along with the following picture of my current studio explains why this is so important- as if it wasn't already obvious to all...My tolerances for such things are a bit different.

Oliver's "Painting"

2007-12-24T00:03:00.000-07:00

Little Ollie spent some of the day with me at the studio. He decided he would do a "paining like your's". [mine]

Actually his looks better than any of mine in a few ways.

Also, I love the medium he used for this piece. When we were painting together a few months ago, he dipped his brush in a little deep (think well past his hand at the end of the brush). I cleaned him up and then cleaned the brush and as soon as I got out to the main area from the bathroom, realized he had decied to keep working without me. I think most of the paint was on the floor, but he definitely had plenty on him too, and the 20 or so brushes he was using. The mostly full gallon he was working out of was now mostly empty. I will have to post the "Rabbit" painting for that day sometime. The pens on white-board can only go so wrong.

Movie

2007-12-17T00:47:00.000-07:00

I am Not one of those people who's life revolves around an aspect of pop culture (I hope anyway). I think I see 3, maybe up to 5, movies in theaters in any given year. Pretty much all of these are because my kids desperately want to see them or I am alone in some city with nothing to do and everything is closed when I am done working. I am convinced that most movie experiences have as much to do with the viewers' state of mind as the actual picture. I have been in this Apt for four days straight. I had Charlotte mail me some food. It was taking too much time going out to dinner at night. Dinner is typically my only meal anyway. I've been working from about 7am to 10-11pm. Tonight I finally got to my goal just in time to make it to the 1130pm showing. After that kind of isolation this movie was quite the intense experience, only to be made a little more strange by walking home in a bit of an ice storm on some of the same roads as in the movie. Amazing how deserted this place gets at night with a bit of ice on the roads. I probably need to be a little more careful what movies I watch, since I am already afraid of the dark anyway. Good thing the roads aren't dark or I am not sure I could have made it home

2007-12-12T22:18:00.002-07:00

I kind thought it would be a little embarrassing to write a bunch of stuff about me. Though I enjoyed reading this I think it might be even more embarrassing to read what someone else wrote- only know others are reading it too. Well at least one other person anyway. I certainly cant remove it after all the work Charlotte put into it. I will obviously need to make a post with my own "clarifications" to this list. Let me state right now however that I absolutely can Not imagine being more attracted to anyone than I am to my Beautiful wife. I am also very glad she finally married me even if I will never really understand it. I worry sometimes - I need to move this to a post.... anyway i worry sometimes and try - though not consistently enough to make sure this marriage doesn't fit the pattern set by her older sisters' first marriages. They also first married men a bit less than what they deserved (I am pretty sure they would agree with that)as Charlotte clearly did too. I am trying to become a better person than the one she married. I will have to to the rest of the items later. Time for bed now.

7 Interesting Things

2007-12-11T16:14:00.001-07:00

Okay, since Tyler is never going to get around to this... I'm going to do it for him. But you better read quickly... he retains the right to edit, delete, or in any other way "fix" this post.

1. He can remember things from when he was an infant in a car seat and couldn't talk. (The only other person I have heard of that has this in common is Georgia O'Keefe- so maybe it's an artist thing.)

2. Colors and numbers have personality to him. Subtraction was difficult, as a child, since some numbers where taken away.

3. He feels that having attention deficit is an asset, not a handicap. When we first started dating, it bothered me that he could be watching T.V., drawing, and supposedly listening to me at the same time- until I realized that he actually was listening. He just appeared to have his focus elsewhere.

4. He is the smartest person I know. When he was given an I.Q. test as a child, the score was so high, his parents thought perhaps he had cheated until the administrator explained that was impossible. (Their doubts were likely due to how poorly he was doing in school.) He is not only "book" smart, though. He has amazing problem solving skills, common sense and is a trivia king!

5. Although it is hard to pin him down on a "favorite," the colors he most often chooses are those that other people would call "ugly." Puke green, mustard yellow and brown are good examples.

6. He doesn't really believe in "talent" for art. He believes that anyone can become good at drawing, painting, etc. if they just decide they want to do it and practice. He doesn't feel that as a child he had talent or was even particularly good at art. He just wanted to do it and practiced all the time.

7. The MOST interesting thing is that he married me! Although he loves to tell strangers a bizarre story about how he rescued me from a trailer park and an abusive marriage- we actually met at good old "Ivy Towers" dance club in Provo. I was there with a guy I had been "dating" who was a real jerk. To make my date mad, I decided to flirt with the best looking guy in the club. Who else but Tyler?! I really never expected him to even give me the time of day. I think he didn't expect to give me any attention either. He thought I was dressed funny and had a big nose. But I stole his heart- I guess it was "meant" to be =)

possible T-shirt for Huntzinger family reunion

2007-12-10T21:19:00.000-07:00

I been trying to put this together. I kind of like how it is coming out. What you you all think? The lettering describing the desserts on the original label is being a little troublesome to me. My first thought was changing it to say something like "Little devils with super sweet filling". Mostly that was attractive because that would be very few letters I would have to draw in that same font some words even stay the same. That isn't going to work for obvious reasons. For anyone who may not find it obvious - it would be really lame.
Any suggestions for alternatives would be great. Even if the suggestions are lame too it may be a starting place so cough um up anyway- they cant be worse than what I just admitted to.
Any feedback on any other aspect of the design would also be appreciated - even if you just fell compelled to tell me the whole concept is "lame". Ignore the exact date. I haven't looked at the calendar yet - or i guess you could tell me when it is
Below is the original in case any of you haven't seen one or have just forgotten.

Sales at the Seattle home decor store (and link)

2007-12-10T12:38:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures of the pieces that have sold at the show in Seattle. At least the ones I have already received a check for anyway.

'Overexposed' 22'x 28'

2007-11-21T09:25:00.003-07:00

Yesterday I also finished another painting. I will take it over to the gallery later today I think. I haven't been doing very well with taking photos of my works, and been event worse about updating my website MY SITE I just received an email informing me I have sold another 3 paintings in Seattle. Another interesting developments up there too... I guess a art reproduction company, Grand Image (their site), contacted me about signing with them for 4 years. I need to discuss a few specifics with them but not really seeing any reason not to do so.

2007-11-20T23:21:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I was in Logan doing some repair work. I used that as an opportunity to take some photos of the work we did there. The bottom picture is the bathroom where we had the repair work needed. The homeowner seemed a little put out that no one removed the toilet when we painted the powder bath, so wen they changed toilet to a super low profile some of the original white walls showed. In all the years I have been painting I have never heard of someone just expecting something like that. I guess they thought we were plumbers also. Of course the wall needs to be finished down to the new toilet -just weird they thought the wall should have been finished behind the old one. Of course all they heard from us was, "we'll take care of that."

This is the master bedroom. The ceiling is genuine silver leaf aged with a true patina. The contrast in this finish isn't nearly as strong and it looks in the photos. It is hard to photograph highly reflective surfaces. It is a little stronger than I would have liked - it was what they wanted though. Some of the cool iridescence doesn't show up at all, even in the detail.

This is Aluminum leaf (the "silver" leaf you get at craft stores) on a burnished plaster finish. The leafing is lightly aged with some steel wool giving a "brushed" metal look. the shaped are based on a drawing I did in VA of some daisies that are kind of drying up. I used that drawing in several ceramics pieces I did in school too.

kids' rooms murals

2007-11-20T07:20:00.001-07:00

This is in the girl's room. It is about 6'x9'. unfortunately you cant see the little bugs there are crickets grasshoppers caterpillers little bees and wasps and even a fly.

This is in the boy's room. It is about 7' x 12' pretty monumental effect actually. Oliver LOVED it.

Yesterday I went up to Park City to do some repair work on some plaster in a house that had a sprinkler (interior fire prevention) leak. It was a house where I had painted some murals for the kids' rooms. I was able to get some photos while I was there, more later but I've got to get up to Logan, and I am hoping to get home before the kids go to bed tonight. Really starting to get to me how often that happens.

Finished.... for now

2007-11-18T10:44:00.001-07:00

So I am "finished" with the stuff I needed to complete on this trip. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get done until yesterday, but now I am home again. This photo shows what the walls look like – this is that same room with all the masking in the previous post . Much of the ceiling has the same finish on it. Usually in really small spaces – especially with low ceilings, it is important to finish the ceiling as well as the walls. Often, in early consultations, clients express concerns that having anything other than white on their ceiling will make the ceiling feel closer. I have found that white simply makes the ceiling feel forgotten or even the whole space feel uncompleted. I think either of these is worse than having it look closer.

Sometimes when I am doing a whole house – especially in colored plaster, the ceilings add up to be a very substantial amount of additional money. In these situations often it works to find a similar color to the plaster for some of the ceilings. Rarely is the best option to have all the ceilings just be painted. Mostly it seems to depend on how awkward the ceiling may be, and more importantly how much of your field of vision is ceiling in that particular space. Ceilings can be a really good opportunity to support the feeling you are attempting with the walls. Even if the walls are just a carefully selected paint color, the ceiling color can be a color that can have a powerful effect.

In our library/nursery/guestroom we have a deep turquoise on the walls , The lighting isn’t great there, so I went with a darker color on the walls because darker colors recede into the distance in low light situations. The more intense color prevents the room from looking drab in the low light. Much of the natural light in this room come almost vertically up. This is reflected off the concrete of our neighbor’s driveway that is right outside that window and the neighbor’s house blocks most of the light from the sky that would be very blue. Light reflected from the ground is usually reddish (unless it is off of grass of course) so on the ceiling in there we put a very bright lemony green (almost a chartreuse muted just enough to read as white). I think this color gives a look of a glow that makes the soft light look more comforting and makes the ceiling combine with the walls really well. If it was done the same darker color as the walls, it would have absorbed way too much light . Unless you are trying to achieve a stark or rigid look and feel (maybe in a very formal setting), true white should be avoided for any painted surfaces.

My Lonley Heart

2007-11-15T19:18:00.000-07:00

I really enjoy listening to this guy playing in the subway. He is on the uptown side of the spring street station (green line), pretty much every time I have been there in the past few years. I love his dilapidated old guitar and the way he pauses for trains, completely unselfconsciously. And I really love the way he truly doesn’t seem to care about whether anyone is listening or not. I guess the thing I love most is the plaintive longing in his love songs. I suppose it really strikes a chord partly because I am always missing Charlotte so much while I am away.

bogged down

2007-11-15T18:34:00.000-07:00

The little bedroom (how it looks today) that I have been working on for weeks.

I have noticed that things rarely seem to be going well (quickly) on my painting jobs and then all the sudden everything is done. Sounding like a real optimist here… Anyway I am at that point that it seems like nothing is getting done day after day and I am supposed to be done tomorrow I really don’t see how this could possibly happen. We are going to be working late into the night again tonight- in fact we have been working 10-15 hour days since we got here. We are currently working on the master bedroom walls. We are doing kind of a subtle bi-directional stria (streaking horizontal and vertical) in warm creamy white over a mauvey brown basecoat that has been covered by a thin veil of translucent iridescent gold. I added a mica powder to water based polyurethane that only reflects a gold color when it catches the light, but is otherwise clear. Sorry, I am probably getting too basic here, don’t mean to offend. I will definitely post a picture later but I am sure most of the effects couldn’t be seen in photos even if you were comparing quite a few from different angles in different light. One of the downsides to the understated finishes I try to produce is that they rarely photograph well. I almost always hate it when the first thing you see when you walk into a room is the finish on the walls. When I see that I can almost hear the often accompanying “I Fauxed it!”

Initial Posting

2007-11-14T20:54:00.001-07:00

So I am here in NYC (above picture is out my "bedroom" window in the evening) trying to finish up a job - that keeps expanding, and have finally been unable to resit the urge to start some kind of a blog. Mostly I have been resiting because I know that I would have a very hard time with three aspects that would be important to my feeling in any way successful in this endeavor. There are going to be several others ways that I will fall sort as well. I just don't feel those are very important. Three ways let’s see now I don’t remember them.... I know one was a lack of focus. That one is obviously already kicking in... Oh, and consistency - I probably will make like 5 posts in a day then go months with nothing. Finally the one I feel is maybe the most important, and the one I am sure I will fail most miserably at fighting, is a fairly consistent tend toward the negative. I don’t really think of myself as a pessimist I am not negative by nature I don’t think. I seems to have something to do with writing stuff down and the major effort it take for me to follow one train of thought long enough to try to actually communicate it in writing. Usually by the end of the sentence I am second guessing every aspect of it so much that I often am not able to even leave it in anymore. Somehow the negative stuff makes it through maybe cause it is harder to construe those to be in any way bragging which I am always concerned that I am going to sound like. It is definitely interesting to me that I am much more concerned about sounding like I am bragging that actually bragging. I guess the most obvious of the shortcomings I will that that I do Not feel matter much is grammar - luckily I have a wife that actually does care about such things so hopefully she will rescue me from some of the most heinous of my grammatical transgressions.

This is my "bedroom". Nice rosewood walls, don't ya think?