Mural Studio

Fairy Castle Bedroom

2008-02-27T10:05:00.000-08:00

Colorful fairy castle accented with gold details, meandering fairies, and a shy bunny.

This is a really darling mural for two lovely little girls who share a bedroom. They each got their own large painted scene over their bed. A gorgeous castle with mostly pinks for one girl, and a flock of butterflies in a flurry of colors for the other. I love how this all came together. Maybe after painting so many fairy type murals I just know what to do at this point :o) But whatever it is, I'm really happy with the result and the girls loved it - that's the most important thing!

Butterflies in flight, mushrooms bursting with patterns, and a fairy picking teeny blooms.

Striped-tights fairy enjoying a swing in the huge shade tree.

Magical fairy castle up on the hill - the center of fairy commerce and magic spells.

A fairy stops to pick a tiny bloom underneath a giant fragrant lily in the mushroom forest.

Ocean Life Nursery

2007-09-11T09:47:00.001-07:00

Ahhh, I love this mural...it came out pretty much the way I wanted it to with the depth and layers and colors that really make it come together. Mostly it's the subject matter that is so wonderful - how can you not love the most beautiful creatures of the sea?

I painted this mural for some terrific clients who were expecting a baby - this was to be his room. I assume the little guy is happily enjoying his own personal ocean and undersea friends. This mural should last for many many years - I know I wish I had it painted somewhere in my house! Hmmm, maybe my bathroom?

The sea turtle mama and baby.

Blue tang fish and colorful corals of the ocean floor.

Vibrant orange clown fish and pensive crab.

Lovely, ethereal jellyfish floating above a young damselfish and flowing sea grasses.

One of my favorites...and ends up in most of my undersea murals - the moorfish with so much personality.

A flurry of activity on the ocean floor.

A World Safari

2007-08-20T09:46:00.000-07:00

I had too much fun with this mural - painting what are some of my favorite subjects...animals, of course. This client was interested in having all of the continents wrapping around the room with animals representing each place painted large and friendly for their baby's room.

I managed to fit a lot in...

An adorable panda bear cozies up to some bamboo in Asia.

Antarctica with a penguin standing at attention.

A polar bear glances over at you from the ice of the arctic.

And a tree frog from South America lounges in a vine.

Down under in Australia a koala bear climbs a eucalyptus tree and a kangaroo hops away.

A giraffe in Africa peers down at you, shy yet curious.

While a monkey swings and plays.

A Gondola Ride Through Venice

2007-08-09T10:06:00.002-07:00

I painted this mural for a lovely couple that holds Venice, Italy, near to their hearts. They've visited several times and have several nice collectibles from Venice in their home. It was fitting to paint this grand scene of Venice and St. Mark's Square in their dining room. I planned the dimensions of the mural to go from the ceiling (about 12' up) to just above their sideboard buffet, and about 11' from left to right. This mural took me 4 days to paint (with plenty of preparation) and the end result is really stunning!

A full view of the mural.

Another view of the gondolas and the square.

The gorgeous street lamps.

A zoom in on the water, the architecture, and the boats in the canals.

The mural in process - day 3 of work.

Before the mural: an empty space in the dining room begging for a view on Venice.

Desert Motor Speedway!

2007-07-19T09:36:00.000-07:00

This was Tuesday...a fun one day job...painting a racetrack with speeding cars! The walls were already basecoated yellow which made this look like it was in a desert landscape - further accentuated by the hints of greenery and lofty clouds.

I'm off to Panama tomorrow...time to visit 'home' again :o) Hopefully I'll return with tons of photos that I can use for delicious tropical scenes in future murals! I'll be back next week!

Paris Princess Bedroom

2007-07-16T09:48:00.001-07:00

These are the rooms I worked on Thursday and Friday. The first one is a bedroom for a little girl and her soon to arrive sister. It turned out sooo cute, yet quite sophisticated with the color palette and clean, playful design. The swirls and borders are actually a deep chocolate brown with a nice pink as a base and a softer pink above within the borders. Above all that is a gorgeous cream that flows up to the ceiling. I think of a few different things when I stare at the swirls - racetracks, lassos, meandering thoughts...I think it's so fun :o)

The other room will be used as a playroom for the girls. This design is a harlequin pattern that I painted more as squares on their points rather than long diamonds. It's not yet finished as there will eventually be a picture rail molding applied at the top of the diamonds and then a very pale purple will be painted above the molding all the up and on to the ceiling. This pattern looks so simple and pretty but don't fall for it! It takes quite a bit of time to figure out how to make all these diamonds the same size and have them all line up perfectly around the room (the pattern covers all 4 walls). I used lots of careful measuring, a 36" ruler, a 4' level, a pencil & eraser. It was also helpful to have the deep purple paint for touch up after I was all finished.

Next up for tomorrow...race car bedroom!

Rolling Italian Countryside (just inside the office!)

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

A detail of the Italian Countryside mural.

This was such a fun mural project for me - it was so easy to imagine being in this place and what the light and colors would look like. Really, when am I going to Italy??

...a grove of cypress in the distance with warmly lit mountains far behind.

Full view of the Italian Countryside mural (painted frame is cropped out).

My mural sketch...

The mural in process...I measure and tape, then sketch in and start adding layers.

About halfway completed...

The finished mural...

This ended up being such a nice space to paint this mural. It fit so well and really is like having a window into the countryside...not bad for an office in a basement!

Such an elegant, warm, & colorful niche.

Shelter Network Family House Project

2007-07-10T10:03:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of doing a little volunteer work for Shelter Network Family House in Redwood City this past spring. Working with design firm, Innovative Spaces, we put together some plans for the teen & kid spaces that would serve as play, study, and hang out areas. Then I popped in for a fairly intense 6 hours to paint up all the fun patterns & colors. The folks who work at this nonprofit are so lovely and it was a joy to help them get this space put together. I know it's being put to good use!

Some of the sketches...

New Projects for July

2007-07-10T09:48:00.000-07:00

Some fun stuff coming up...a race car themed bedroom, a sophisticated girls' playroom, a harlequin patterned bedroom, some cute room accessories. Right now I'm working on a colorful wooden alphabet for a little boy's room.