This is the last stop on my “Art Gallery” tour. I think. I just may have forgotten a project or two. Which I attribute to being incredibly busy, or the numerous projects I’ve painted in this house. It’s definitely not due to my age.
Just so you know.
Before I show you how easy it is to paint a ‘faux’ niche on your wall, I want to give you little back story on how I met my ‘patron saints’, aka the homeowners.
About 16 years ago I was a floral designer working in a large craft store. It’s like Michael’s, but California-based. Part of my job was to do the displays for the store and make silk flower arrangements for purchase. But a huge part of my job was helping people with weddings.
I won’t tell you how much I was paid, but let’s just say it was substantially under the current minimum wage standard. I digress, as usual.
One day a lovely woman came in looking for ideas for her daughter’s upcoming wedding reception. We struck up a conversation and she followed me all over the store while I grabbed some lame (not lame as in sad – lame as in lam-ay) fabric, tulle, strands of ivy and, if memory serves, silk calla lilies.
Long story short {almost} we hit it off. Really well. I think I was just starting to paint at this time, but again, the memory-thing. When it came time to order fresh flowers for the bride, Gayle asked me to make the bridal bouquet. Since I had been a florist years earlier, I willingly obliged – partly because I really liked Gayle and partly because I took any job to supplement my meager craft store wages.
I believe I did some other floral work, but I’d have to ask Gayle. Again – busy, busy, busy. Not an age-related deficit.
Just so you know.
Fast forward a few months and Gayle comes into the store telling me about the new house they’re building and how she’d like me to paint a mural in the dining room. Which I did. Eventually.
Before I got to the dining room I painted the tile mural in the kitchen and the powder room. I think. Well, it doesn’t really matter when I painted what, does it?
Somewhere along the line Gayle wanted something painted for her walk-in shower that would work with her white sculpture.
It was during my stage of experimenting with joint compound.
A la the dragonfly in the vanity area.
Each ‘brick’ of the faux niche is raised about 1/8 – 1/4”. I cut stencils out of mylar for the ‘bricks’ and the fan detail.
But I was a little tentative about using joint compound for the fan, so it’s just painted with three colors – the basecoat, shading, and highlights.
Every place I wanted dimension I first added shading, then highlighted right next to it.
Thanks so much for joining me this week for my little “Art Gallery” tour. This house truly shows a variety of ways to use paint for decorative purposes.
And a huge Thank You to my ‘patron saints’, Gayle & Don, for always believing in me – even when I didn’t fully believe in myself.
If you missed any murals, here’s a recap:
Master Bedroom Tray Ceiling
Master Bathroom
Powder Room
Foyer & Dining Room
The Kitchen
The Wine Room
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