I’m elbows deep into a decorative painting project and wanted to share all the beauty it has bestowed upon me. I am in fact restoring and embellishing two woodcut fish end tables with lily pad table tops. Then, I’m off to marbleize a mantle, all for a neighbor of mine. I know it’s a lot to imagine, so I thought I’d pull these pieces to give us all some eye-candy for inspiration.

Instinctively, when I think about faux painting techniques, I tend to shy away. However, this palette of custom effects above are so sublime. I am thinking of doing her mantle using a similar technique from the bottom left.

Scott Waterman is an artist that I’ve been admiring for some time now, his silvery chinoiserie is ultra luxe.

I love the way that his airy murals defy stuffy notions of interior art. This one is soft yet powerful.

One more that I couldn’t resist reminds me of the trees back in Kentucky. This sweeping landscape perfectly accessorizes the traditional wainscot paneling of the room. Scott’s portfolio has so much more depth that I couldn’t include it all here.

In my search for ornament, I came across San Francisco artist, Lynne Rutter whose hexagonal ceiling and faux ripped chinoiserie really caught my eye. Can you believe that rip in the paper is trompe l’oeil? I totally did a double take.

Now on to the brightly powdered walls in Mexico! Color washing is a great technique for adding old world vibrance to a wall or furnishing.

These deep hues may inspire me to do a little faux designing on my own mantle once I finish up with all these projects.

I’m convinced decorative painting can be fresh and modern as these artists have shown us.

I can’t wait to show you what I came up with, once the tables and mantles are ready to go!

The J Paul Getty Museum truly is a sight to behold. The shot above of the sweeping sky gives me the feeling that I am inside of a postcard.

Last Sunday, I went to see the Rembrandt and Irving Penn exhibits. Rembrandt and his Pupils reveals the subtle differences between Rembrandt’s style as a master artist and that of his developing pupils.

Here, my friend Roxanne gets a closer look at one of his paintings.

The Irving Penn exhibit, Small Trades exceeded all expectation. Penn, known for his fashion photography and portraiture captured numerous subjects on camera in an honest and poignant way.

A bird’s eye view of the gardens was equally inspiring.

The lawn is so well manicured, I found myself lying on the ground looking up at the rolling clouds. If you go, you may want to take a picnic on the green.

The Getty is our own lush sanctuary in Los Angeles.

I had the pleasure of meeting Laure Cuvillier at the Silverlake Art, Craft, and Vintage show last month. I was immediately drawn to her dreamy style and cool totebags! I wanted to find out more about her as a person and an artist. Laure was born in Paris, where her love for painting developed and now she is living here in Los Angeles.

I love the imagination I see in her artworks. Especially, that little cowboy boot with tabs that reminds me of a paper doll accessory.

Could you please share one interesting or little known fact about yourself?

I am also a a creativity coach. I assist people in creating and developing a personal creative language and/or artistic process.

That sounds wonderful! If someone is looking for a a creativity coach how shall they contact you?

laure@laurecuvillier.com

What an inspiration.

This is the story of a chair.

It belonged to my neighbor, who had purchased a whole set, but upon her big move she left this lil’ beauty behind.

I’m sure some of you are thinking “I own this chair!” , and it is  a popular type of Windsor loop-back reproduction commonly sold at Target amongst other places;) So, I decided to try my hand at stenciling and making this piece a little more one of a kind.

Another inspiration to revisit stenciling came from a Storque article on surface designer Lena Corwin.

Here is what Violet looked like after I stripped and sanded all the white paint off of her seat.

Not too shabby! I like the look of her with the oiled and sanded natural wood. Ahem…you may also notice the amethyst curtains that I hand dyed this week!

Next, I cut flower shaped stickers from contact paper. I did this by tracing the design onto the contact paper, then applying them to the seat of the chair.

This method of stenciling can be used to create a wall mural too.

To do this yourself, you simply need:

• A wooden surface
• Roll of contact/self adhesive paper
• Scissors
• Paint and roller
• Brush for touch ups

I decided to let the natural wood show through the surface, so I didn’t need to do a base coat of paint.

I am pleased as punch with the final results.

Ain’t she a beauty?

If you have similar stencil projects you’d like to share, send over the pics to hilary.hahn@pinkpianos.com.

Next Monday, I will be sharing the work of a talented artist along with an interview here!

Until then, XX!

Today, I discovered MyPantone! It’s a simple program that allows you to collect and arrange swatches into palettes. As part of my New Year’s resolution, I’ve been thinking about all the to do’s for 2010. There are many goals that I hope to accomplish this year, and I have 2 design projects that I will focus on this month.

*Inspiration boards for my Dad’s new bath

*Painting our bathroom

*Fortifying a color scheme for our bedroom

I guess that makes three!

Here are two rows that I concocted while playing around. The blues are found in my bedroom and bath. The cranberry is the color of the existing tiles. All the rest, such as the verdant shades of green are hues pulled from nature that I see in the banana leaves outside my window.

I wanted to really acquaint myself with the Pantone site since their colors have many applications. I worked with the free software for a bit. It even allows you to insert a photo like the one below. Then, it selects 12 different colors present and generates a swatch. You are able to decide which to add and to delete from there. This photo, is one of the many that I’ve found to inspire my Dad as he gathers ideas for an additional bathroom.

I’m lovin’ the wash table! Plus the cool grey cement coupled with the natural wood.

Next, our newly revised bedroom palette! I saw these curtains at West Elm and decided to hand dye them myself this week, while I have the time. I am tempted to paint the walls too, but since we are apartment living, I’ve tried to really limit the number of walls that we will have to repaint should we ever move.

In lieu of painting, I think 4 panels of curtains should do the trick!

Last but not least, here is a copy of the 2010 color forecast by Pantone for this year!

Don’t forget to weigh in!

Which colors do you love or disdain for your place?

I love the gray swatch in row 5, column 1.

Happy New Year, Friends!

“I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point,’If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.” Kurt Vonnegut Jr.