The Open Studio yesterday at the Lake Erie Screw Factory was

Great!

Around 300 folks strolled through, with the second and third floor studios busy from 2:30 till 9 p.m.! The variety of artists was impressive and the perfect weather added to the high spirits of our guests.

Better late then never, here is a nice article explaining the history of the factory's Open Studio from ClevelandIndependent.com:

 

Our next Open Studio will be in May, 2010.

Our open house tomorrow from 3pm to 9pm

in the Lake Erie Screw building (also known as the Templar Industrial Park building) promises to be a blast!

Besides visiting the open studios on floors two and three, shopping for the holidays and snooping around to see how everyone else organizes their space, we'll have plenty of food, drink and a live band at 8pm on the third floor.

I'll be working on a few projects....

We hope to see you there!

Some of my most fun inspirations

 Asha Carpets- Isabelle

come from magazine ads featuring rugs. There are some fabulous designs and color combos out there!

Asha Carpets- Accanto

Emma Gardner Design rug

Asha Carpets- Sakura

Visit www.ashacarpets.com, www.emmagardnerdesign.com/rugs.html and http://www.pointclickhome.com/elle_decor for more inspirations!

Open House Announcement

Hope you can join us! 

Get inspired!

Raw walls are a thing of beauty...

One of my favorite issues of Metropolis magazine is the April ’09 issue. It features the Rough Luxe Hotel that just opened in London. When Rabih Hage, the architect chosen to rehab the 1820’s Georgian home, saw the plaster walls after removing the wallpaper and paint layers, he fell in love with the beauty of the rough hewn walls and their resulting patina qualities. He designed the décor around each room’s walls, combining different textures to complement the whole.

 Now how cool is that?

  

Rough Luxe Hotel guest room

  

Rough Luxe Hotel- another guest room

The Studio in Photos

For those of you who have asked to see what the Great Lakes Decorative Arts Studio looks like, here it is!

The Studio is located in the former Lake Erie Screw Factory in Lakewood, Ohio. It is a 2  minute drive from I90. The wonderful old factory houses over 50 various sized artisan studios. We hold an Open House twice a year, which is when most of these photos were taken. The studio is divided into two areas, the classroom and the work room. I keep the work room private; it is filled with products, works in progress, tools, ladders and anything else you can think of!

When I moved in...

After a little lime plaster and rust

Welcome to the Open House!

Coming into the classroom area

Here is the wall of finishes... in several pics

Finishes...

Wall of finishes- two

Wall of finishes- three

Wall of finishes- four

The other long wall

In an upcoming post, I'll tell you a bit about that gorgeous Art Deco screen that you see in the first photo.

HGTV August 19, 2009 11pm

This is when the show, My Big Amazing Renovation,  will air.

I was privileged to be selected as one of the artists chosen to take part in the renovation. My contributions included a medallion / border ceiling design in the homeowner's sitting room and transforming ugly, gray cinder blocks into a continuation of the existing brick wall. 

Before:

 

After:



Here is the ceiling:



I hope you catch the show as there are so many fabulous finishes and green solutions in the home. Inspiring artists...

Pink, orange and crimson

are quite the popular combo at the moment. Especially during the summer months, I see this color composition everywhere.  Flowers look great combined in these colors. In a home, this mixture can be a tad overwhelming, but accessories can be used to incorporate the colors with little investment.

Case in point- check out this gorgeous wedding bouquet:

No one creates a better bouquet then Pieter Bouterse!

May I digress again?

We have a new puppy!

Our 9 week old little girl puppy is named Bella Bouterse. She is a Standard Schnauzer, ultimately growing to about 35 to 40 pounds. Not exactly a lap dog, so I am enjoying her small-ness for now.

Here she is, looking "innocent":

And here she is, about to make a quick dash away into the forbidden areas of the yard:

Talk about cute and intelligent.... She'll be keeping us on our toes.

My daughter's wedding photos!

Finally!

I have organized Beth and Alan Cafferkey's wedding photos. My pretty daughter married her sweetheart on July 17, 2009.

 

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Amethyst and the color purple

I just opened the September '09 issue of  House Beautiful and discovered the color amethyst  in their Everywhere We Look column. 

I just finished my living room with this amethyst metallic silk texture with a damask stencil done in a tone-on-tone. The walls were first painted cream. I then added the amethyst texture panels and made them into "framed" pieces with small moldings.

TaaDaa! I now have artwork. Some I will leave as is, some will receive our collected art pieces. 

 Before the molding:

The finished walls:

Turns out that the folks in Pompei in the first century also liked the color amethyst. This photo is of a wall from Pompei (now in the Met):

 

Also in the same issue, there was an interesting article called "Confessions of a House Painter" on page 56.  His answers were spot on!

Zinc whitewash look

 

This outdoor garden set started out with chipped and peeling, ugly brown paint. After they were sandblasted and a metal primer was applied, I gave them the kind of finish that they deserved! This whitewashed zinc look is one of my more popular requests.

A custom mix of charcoal gray paint was applied with two coats, followed by my whitewash / pickling glaze. The topcoat followed.

Aren't they fabulous? The client loved them....

I just found these cool mediums...

to add to your paint or other mediums: http://www.jerrysartarama.com/discount-art-supplies/Acrylic-Paints-and-Mediums/Matisse-Derivan-Acrylics-and-Mediums/Matisse-Mix-Ins-Dry-Mediums.htm Who ever knew you could find crushed garnet? 4 sizes of sand?  I'm going to do what I love to do most- experiment!

I also want to give a plug regarding a very useful tool called the Colour Shaper. You can purchase it at most art stores, online or actual stores, or at : http://www.royaldesignstudio.com/shop_supplies_detail.php?id=1304. I use the shaper tool to fill in stencils with usually a smooth medium. I have another Colour Shaper tool that is actually perforated, allowing one to move the medium over curved surfaces, such as columns. Handy dandy!

 

 

 

A big thanks

to Dee, Tom and Carol at McDhurries for hosting Deborah and I at their beautiful store!

McDhurries is in a great building (the old Rocky River post office) with a wonderful layout. Their rugs are to die for and their antique wood furniture pieces are tempting as well!

In case you're wondering...

I'll be demonstrating 5 finishes at McDhurries tomorrow in Rocky River, Ohio:

-simple glazing,

-last step with a Venetian plaster's metallic, translucent topcoat to add depth to the plaster,   

-Chinoiserie stencil using Lusterstone in a cool, very French combo of deep amber gold and orchid lavender

-Modello filled with a shimmery silver/white texture over a creamy yellow Venetian plaster

-Foil finishes- am bringing metallic foils and special "faux finished" foils that aren't even out yet! 

All of these finishes can be applied  in your home or business and are also covered in various classes taught at my studio.

Am looking forward to meeting with you and discovering what you are interested in!

For more info, go to: http://shop.cleveland.com//ROP/Ads.aspx?advid=769741&adid=8049754

I hope to see you Saturday, 7-11-09,

at McDhurries in Rocky River, Ohio!  I'll be demonstrating glazing, textures, gold leaf (gilding) and plasters at this FREE consultation from 1-4pm. Deborah Cunningham will also be there for garden and interior design consultations. A big thank you to McDhurries for generously hosting this event. Here's the event info:http://www.mcdhurries.com/oriental-rugs-cleveland-ohio.html

Here is a metallic silk background with a tone on tone damask. Looks like fabric on the wall! 

Hello world!

My first post!