Swan Studios Mural and Faux Finish Adventures: Something Old- Something New

Sunday, April 15, 2018

Something Old- Something New

Part of the fun of being a faux artist and muralist is you never know what someone is going to request. In the same week that one client could hire you to do just a subtle tone on tone faux glaze, another could be requesting a bright colorful abstract. And, yes, that has happened to me. Same thing goes for one jobsite wanting simple stripes, while another jobsite wants to go larger than life size human and animal figures. Most of the time while working inside (or outside) a home’s walls and ceilings, there will be projects going on inside the shop. Maybe a requested canvas piece or a piece of furniture that needs faux painting. Recently, it struck me funny, that in the work room I had two projects on the opposite ends of the spectrum of old and new. A friend had just been blessed with her first grandchild. She was heading up to her home state of Kentucky to see this precious baby and planned to bring her a piggy bank. It was cute white pig. She asked me to paint the little girl’s name on it. I also added polka dots. Being known as the queen of glitter and always looking for any excuse to paint with glitter, it seemed the perfect time to “glitterize”. Just as I was working on this sweet little piggy bank, another request came in to refresh two flamingo statues from the 1950s. The flamingos were a gift from the client’s dear friends, so they didn’t want to get rid of them. But time and sunshine had taken their toll. The statues were given new life and returned to their lanai. Its fun, an oddly humbling, to know that in my journey as an artist I’m now connected to people I’ve never even met. One as a reverie and one as a welcome to the world. I love my job!

The 1950's flamingo statues