Make a statement in your foyer!

I create a lot of custom artwork. Which is usually designed to go in a specific room. I love creating work for my clients, especially if I have painted the room.
 I also create a lot of art just for the sheer fun of it. Designed for no one in particular, and with no destination in mind.  I thought it would be fun to create a room around one of my paintings....in this case my mixed media painting entitled "A Crack in the Universe Through Which We Fell".



I imagine this piece to be in a very crisp setting, in this scenario, I imagine a foyer.  Because the piece is pretty chaotic, the rest of the setting needs to be razor sharp and clean.
This imaginary foyer would begin with a coat of  Fine Paints of Europe, Delft Blue. 

It is my personal belief that lighting can make or break a space, and I like to see my clients INVEST in lighting. I fell in love with this modern chandelier dripping with crystals at Victoria Dreste's blog.   The murano glass lamp is an antique, however I have seen lots of blue glass lamps at different major retailers like TJ Maxx and Crate  & Barrel.

The painting as well as the room are grounded by a simple black Bombay chest, this one from House to Home (.uk) To me it looks like a silhouette of a Bombay chest, which adds a little humor to the space.

I love a chair in a foyer, a place to sit and slip on or remove your shoes.  A slipper chair is perfect,  especially when upholstered in a pale neutral. It's an investment piece that can easily be changed with just a pillow.

The 'Bright Stuff" pillow from One King's Lane pulls the colors of the painting into the furnishings. The geometric pattern also mimics an element from the painting.

I am CRAZY over  this "Brooke" rug, by Madeline Weinrib in  Goldenrod yellow. I think the color is unexpected, but it refers back to the painting. This yellow sets a cheery 'welcome home' mood!

I really wouldn't mind re-creating this scenario in my own foyer!
If you are interested in having me create a custom piece of art for your foyer, or ANY room in your home or office, contact me through my etsy shop!

Etsy shop now open! And Spring upcoming events!

 
 It seems there is never a loss for things to do at Studio Chicpaint!

I finally got my Etsy shop up and running. Wow, what a lot of work! Not only do you have to have a marketable product, you need to be a pretty good photographer as well as a word smith!  I will be adding more and more pieces as they become available! Will you take a moment to check me out? Please feel free to link my blog, my shop, this posting....
Click here for the link to my etsy shop!


It's time to start planning for the next "Hollywood to Highpoint" Open House, held once again at Designer Finishes, which is now being called " "The Perfect Pair Antiques and Salon" in Warrensburg,IL, the weekend just before Mother's Day. My friend Wanda, owner of Designer Finishes, has decided to take on a new journey with her daughter Megan. They are teaming up to open a boutique/ salon, featuring Megan's styling talents, and Wanda's love of antiques and reproduction furniture.  To celebrate Mother's Day, and my own journey as a mother, I am creating a "Flowers for Mum" series of paintings for this show.

 I love the work of artist Christy Kinard, and am inspired by her whimsical, floral abstractions.  My work is less realistic, more abstract, but I love the use of bright color and happy subject matter such as this painting by Christy.

 Getting back to my etsy journey ( is it getting older that makes me thing of every life experience as a 'journey'! )....having to describe my own work made me realize that I'm not so much of a 'painter' as I am a 'layer-er'. My work leans heavily on texture and layered elements. I love how Christy's paintings too are a process of layered papers underneath the paintings.


When Mike was choosing a painting from my Cork showing for his office, he made the comment that my work was slightly girlie. Hm...never thought of it that way. I do love some rust and crumble! I always thought my work tended towards masculine. Well, I am going all out for my Spring showing...I'm not sure how it will end up, but I know there will be flowers and glitter involved!
 I will be posting more information about this show as it becomes available.

Unpainted Walls

I have been gathering some really cool ideas in my absence from blogging. This is the busy time of year for a decorative artist, everyone is coming out of hibernation and dialing those digits! "Hello, can you do something cool with my walls?"
I'd love to incorporate some of these non Paint ideas into my portfolio. Any takers!?
 All photos from Pinterest....to see original sources and more ideas too, view my board "Unpainted Walls".

 Tin can lids!

 Skateboard decks!

 Cookie trays!

 Scrabble tiles!

 Ceiling Medallions!

Firewood Slices!

Pennies!   ( although I think I would clean them all first)

Many of these ideas would be great for floors too. I predict with the rising cost of, well, everything...that recycled materials are going to become a viable option for many homeowners.  Now to start counting those pennies......

Postcard Inn, St. Petersburg Florida 60s Surfer Style

            Postcard Inn, St. Pete Beach        photo via Travel & Leisure

After a bit of an extended break from blogging, and a wonderful and much needed vacation in Florida, I am back and ready to embrace my design life again.

Because I typically blog about fun things I've seen on my little mini vacations, I was hoping that Florida would show me some blog worthy art, architecture and ideas. Florida did not disappoint!  My honey and I visited the Dali museum, which restored my adolescent love for Dali and his crazified surrealism. If you ever are in the St. Petersburg area, visit this museum. Here's the link.
The outside of this museum is as much fun as the inside!

We also visited the Chihuly collection, which is a 10,000 square foot art installation by American glass artist Dale Chihuly. It's a little pricey but definitely worth the price of admission. The space is a little slice of visual heaven.
 
This was my favorite display, a 'Float Boat' filled with glass orbs that just glowed because everything is lit just perfectly. I never wanted to leave this area. But of course there is so much to see here, and photos were frowned on so  Here's a link to the museum.  

One evening, Mike and I very accidentally stumbled upon this hotel called "The Postcard Inn". It was adjacent to a restaurant where we were dining and we were both completely bemused by it's decor. 

On my way to the restroom, I spied this  :  sliding 'barn' doors, skateboards on the wall as art, a 'light fixture/hammock/netting' on the ceiling....I had to take a peek.

What a cool hotel lobby, and so completely unexpected!
Guests are invited an encouraged to choose a book from the library , and choose a chair from the collection of mis -matched ,Mid- century comfy spots. Climbing on the furniture is allowed, as are bare feet, cut offs and flip flops!

I had to pick the funkiest chair, not the coziest!
There were several places to sit and read, or have a snuggle.
So,  I have this gigantic sectional in my living room. It has at times seated as many as 16 people. My sectional has NOTHING on this one....

I soooo badly want to find a coffee table/bench like this one.  This area has so many inspiring ideas. The feature wall behind the sectional is 2x6s attached to the floor and ceiling, you know, just because.  The little end table made out of skateboards reminded me of my punk hippie friends. I bet skateboarding IS allowed in the house here!

How about some Moroccan lanterns over the 'coffee table'? Love this idea!

Mike and I have a couple of traditions when we travel. We always photograph our feet (in the sand, in fancy shoes,on a boat, etc)  and we seem to stumble on to a lot of working photo booths.  Of course we took our photos here (they turned out very cute). I am in love with those re-purposed Wing Back chairs with their new mismatched legs! 

Let me talk about the floor in this place for a moment. Apologies in advance that I only have a cell phone photo of it but it appeared that the floors had been stripped down to cement, (you could see remnants of former grout stains and carpet glue), stained and then stenciled willy- nilly. Um, HELLO! I am the QUEEN of willy- nilly stenciling! I think I just solved my own flooring problem in my house...could this be my summer project?

While we're on the subject of the floor, we may as well talk about the ceiling. Because the floor was kind of a 'solution to a problem', the ceiling is a total focal point. There were walkways to nowhere, gigantic industrial fans, and these cool tungsten bulb pendants everywhere. 

Always a fan of the chalkboard wall, I loved this one behind the registration desk.

I am guessing The Postcard Inn used to be a motel of sorts, built around an open Quad. Now the suites each have their own 'front yard' complete with hammock and a tiny patch of grass. The Quad offered plenty of cool- people -friendly activities too, like sitting around the fire pit, laying on a blanket under gigantic lantern filled trees, and sunbathing on elevated mattresses around the pool. Live music poured from the poolside bar. Their beachfront had sand volleyball and pedal buggies for renting, and of course a beautiful view of the pristine beach. This is where we will stay next time! For more on this Hotel and to see interior Suite photos, click here.

I am

To thine own self be true, they say.  I am having so much fun on Polyvore! It's important for artists to explore all sides of their creative selves. I started out my design journey by wanting to be a fashion designer, and this site lets me enjoy fashion design as something of a late night hobby. 

Have you tried polyvore.com yet?

Patina and Rust

via flickr



I'm so excited! I am going another show, this time in my home town of Jefferson City, MO.
A friend of mine owns this amazing little wine bar/ lunch cafe on High Street called Capital City Cork an Provisions.
One of their 'things',aside from fine wine and good clean food, is that they have a revolving collection of featured artists.
'Cork' has this amazing copper tile ceiling, and exposed brick walls and a definite vintage feel. ( Photo below courtesy of Dana Bryan).




The interior designer in me wants to make sure that my work makes sense in the space, looks like it was created just for there, while the artist in me just wants to make great art!

I am really interested in working with chemical reactions, like rust and other types of patinas. Because my main goal in any of my work is to create wonder, I am going to focus primarily on rust and patina finishes for this show.

I've found some inspiring work and an entire website dedicated to rust painting! Who knew!?

The A #1 most popular painting that I have ever created is this one, which sold right away. You can't tell from the photo, but it has a lot of metallic gold behind it which gives the whole painting an inner light.
Everyone that sees my work, asks about this painting and I probably could have sold 10 more by now. I am sure to have another version of this one ready for the Cork show. It won't be the same, I would never exactly duplicate my own work, nor could I, since this is a chemical reaction.

For my next show, I want a bolder use of color.
More like this painting I created for the last show.


At my last show, the art was arranged on a 'pastel/neutral' wall, so the look was soft and pretty. Cork has a storefront and I want my work to grab the attention and imagination of passersby.


Here is my friend Audrey McFadden's work on the walls at Cork. I love the way her colors just jump off the wall. Good job Audrey! To view or purchase her work, click here  :Studio Audrey on etsy.

Here's what's inspiring me now.

(artist unknown)

via flickr
Rusted door by Anne Raine

I found this artist, Willie Little, and I am in love....
via Willie Little

Check out his website, it is sooooo inspiring. I am particularly interested in this gallery 'oxidization paintings'.

Christmas Snobbery on a budget

I admit it. I'm a holiday decor snob. I like to DESIGN my Christmas displays, and I spend way too much money on silly things like glitter covered coiled wire. Last year for Christmas, the girls were with their dad in Denver, so I didn't even put up a tree. This year it's my year and we are going all out! But we are on a budget, so much of our Christmas snobbery will have to be hand crafted.
Here are some great ideas I've found....


You might think that being a professional artist and designer that I would MAKE many of my Christmas gifts. Oh no, not so. I recognize that not everyone is a fan of my brand. And I also used to be married to the son of a crafter, so I know all too well that gut twisting feeling of opening up a gift that you know someone spent so much time on, and at the same time trying not to cry at something so completely 'not me'.
On the other hand, I also admit to be a terrible gift giver, so gift cards are my way of saying 'i love you, but i suck...here ya go...go shopping. ' I found this darling way to give a gift card, that removes some of the guilt, and looks great too! (via thecreativemama.com)




I have 4 extremely sentimental daughters who have each been given at least one ornament a year for every year of their lives. Some of them involve plastic canvas. And pony beads. But they also have bunches of really unusual and fun ornaments too. They love them, I love them, so I must use them and display them on the 'kids' tree, which I usually place in the fun half of the house...the kitchen/sunroom/dining room. Since it's kind of a historic mishmash of things...I tie it all together with handmade garland and gigantic handmade paper flowers.

I love this idea for making garland out of strips of fabric. The girls can sit and do this while they watch Law & Order.

I think we will create this version, tying the strips directly to the Christmas lights. 2 birds, 1 stone! (via junkgardengirl.blogspot.com) That blog has tons of cute ideas!



For myself, I decorate a tree in the living room that is usually based around a particular color combination. For years it was red and black, when the walls of my living room were 'candy apple red'. I burnt myself out on red so badly that I can hardly bear to use red anywhere anymore. Last year it was teal and orange. This year, I'm thinking it will be an ode to turquoise. (Remember my turquoise painted bookcases?) I love the simplicity of this tree. Another thing I do, which some of those nearest and dearest to me think it just CRAY-CRAY is that I wrap all my gifts to match my decor. It's not any more costly and the gifts look amazing under the tree, waiting to be ripped in to!

I would love to do a flocked tree this year. I have seen spray cans of flocking, but have never tried it. I'm thinking this may be the year!

Okay, okay, now for the inspirational piece de resistance...I found this blog posting at houseofturquoise.com. It is as though the designer of this tablescape was inside my head! I love everything, and am completely inspired by this room. The designer is Tori of Sitting in a Tree Events and captured perfectly by Joielala Photographie out of San Diego. When you look at this 'scape as a whole, you might think big bucks, but when we take a closer look, there are tons of budget ideas here!


Little gold binder clips! Who would have thought? I am recreating these confetti filled ornaments, but using a combination of Martha Stewart large flake glitter, and hand made confetti. (Hole punch to the rescue!)


While these stockings are amazing and probably expensive, the garland is just a quadrupled strand of yarn and twine! Tres chic! I also like the 'tag garland' made out of scrap booking paper.

Here's my snowball garland....it's actually just yarn that I bought for 4.99 for a skein. I draped it and looped it between my sunroom and dining room and had enough left over to make bows on some of my presents.


I like the idea of using food for display purposes. These s'mores are adorable and ready to pop into the microwave for a fun after school treat.
The classic 'I'm a cheapskate' flower, the carnation, looks awesome in bright fuschia in a row of single bud vases. You could use a combination of recycled glass, like my favorite ,the Starbucks Frappuccino bottle.

Christmas doesn't have to be expensive, in fact I think being forced to get creative with materials you have on hand makes for more unique and interesting concepts. I can't wait to get started!