Swan Studios Mural and Faux Finish Adventures: February 2023

Sunday, February 26, 2023

From Kansas City To Key West

From Kansas City to Key West

I’ve been painting beach scenes now for as long as I can remember. It’s Florida, so duh, everyone comes here for the sunshine, the boating, and the beaches. But this beach scene has a special place in my heart. No, I’m not from Kansas, But the homeowner is. Well, to be more accurate the second homeowner is. This beach scene was originally painted just 2 years ago. A wonderful friendship was formed with the colorful homeowner, and she had me paint other murals, art pieces, and furniture in her home. Sadly, she passed away. Last year I received a call from a homeowner raving over the murals I had painted in their home. But the thing was I had never painted for these people. They explained they had bought a home filled with colorful artwork and murals that I had painted. They requested that I add some personal touches into the poolside beach mural. They hailed from Kansas City and Lake of the Ozarks. They had also seen another beach mural I had painted with signs nailed to a palm tree and loved the idea. So, I painted their favorite locations on this beach mural and added their yacht, boat, and favorite activity-snorkeling into the mural. I have no doubt the original homeowner is looking down pleased.

Here's the original mural:

To have your own custom mural created contact me at: Swan Studios Inc

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Sunday, February 19, 2023

Oil Rubbed Bronze Faux Finish Outdoors and Indoors

Sunshine, humidity, and a hurricane can cause havoc on any exterior finish. In today’s case, a beautiful front door needs to be refreshed back to life. The original hand painted oil rubbed bronze finish has been worn off, bleached off, and in some areas chipped off. After a little sanding and priming it was ready for its makeover. The results are glorious:

The colors used to create the finish were Faux Effects Metallic True Brown and Modern Masters Metallic English Brown. Modern Masters Clear Satin was used as the final topcoat. The finish was painted on both the exterior and interior of the door:

This finish can be used on more than just doors:

Do you have a door or item that needs to be refreshed back to life? Contact me at: Swan Studios Inc

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Sunday, February 12, 2023

Solid As A Rock

SW Florida took a major hit with Hurricane Ian. Just about every home here in Cape Coral needs screening, pool cages, and fencing replaced. As we start to mend it is the best time to bring everything else up to date. We do have the blessing of glorious sunshine almost 365 days out of the year. But that has a price to it. Outdoor finishes came become faded. This is the perfect time to refresh your outdoor living space. Here’s a great example:

Hurricane Ian crumbled the homeowners lanai cage and brought in debris literally flying through the air and causing cracks in the faux rock water features of the pool. The first step was to clean off the surface and repair the cracks. Next step was to bring the mold faux rock back to the glory of looking like Pennsylvania flagstone.

To create the look here’s a lis of the colors used:

Valspar Porch paint light grey ( reduced by half tone)

Valspar Duramax Flat finish :

Curio Gray HGSW0024

Software HGSW7074

Falcon taupe HGSW2493

Otter HGSW6041

Faux Effects Red Oxide

Outdoor Acrylic Raw Sienna

The results are realistic. Here’s a look at various angles and closeups around the waterfall, hot tub, and step into the pool:

Ready to have your outdoor space refreshed with faux finishes? Contact me at Swan Studios Inc

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Sunday, February 5, 2023

It’s All About The Family Beach

Any business owner will tell you that repeat customers are everything. As an artist it is especially heartwarming when a client returns again and again. A few years back I had the blessing of painting a very specific beach mural. It was specific not due to its location but rather due to the items painted in the mural. 2 chairs to represent the homeowner, 5 sea gulls to represent the children, 7 seashells to represent the grandchildren, and butterflies to represent grandparents. Recently the homeowners decided to sell the property and move to a home in Estero. But what about the mural? You can’t exactly remove an entire pool privacy wall and take it with you. And the new home’s lanai isn’t situated with the same outdoor wall space. The answer is to have the mural re-painted onto the entry wall from the garage since this is where everyone trapses when they enter the home. And new articles are added into this new mural. Dolphins for the in-laws and turtles for stepparents. After all the mural is all about family.