Drool-worthy Vignettes

Last weekend Jim and I went to the ocean. On the way, we stopped in Aberdeen at Grand Heron, a home decor shop that Ann Steward, one of the decorators I work with, has touted quite highly. It was amazing!!
Grand Heron has been in business for 24 years. Suellen Metke has the most spectacular eye for detail and she is the maestro of vignettes. I could happily live in this place.
Here's Suellen at the front door of the 1923 building they're in.

And some shots of the shop's interior. (My favorite green is all over the place.)

See what I mean about the vignettes? Drool-worthy, indeed.

Thanks Suellen, for taking the time to show us around. And for letting me take a gazillion pictures!

Grand Heron

200 East Heron Street

Aberdeen, WA 98520

For a link to the Grand Heron Facebook page, click here.

Travel Inspiration #1: Paris

Inspiration. That's what travel is to me. In 2012 we took a trip to France and I always meant to post pictures. Never got around to it. 
So now I think I'll pepper my blog posts with pictures of that trip. And since I seem to gravitate to other people's pictures of France, I'll include some of those, too. (Note: Some of these pics will come from Pinterest. Whenever possible I'll get back to the source to credit, but I'm finding that difficult to impossible sometimes.) Anything not credited came from my old Motorola phone camera...
So, in no particular order except that I hope these inspire or entertain, here goes.

This was our first bleary view of the Eiffel Tower. After the all-night plane ride and actually negotiating the train and Metro (thank you Rick Steves) into Paris to get to our flat, we couldn't contact our host. We had no working cell phone. 
But we made it. We got the keys, deposited baggage, and decided the best thing to do was get on a bus and head for the Number One Tourist Attraction in Paris. 
Boarded the bus and promptly fell asleep. Neither of us could keep our eyes open. 
We learned two things.  1. A sleep deprived body will not be denied once the pressure is off.  2. Take the Metro, not the bus. Underground there's no traffic.

There are 700+ stairs to the lower observation deck. You can also take the elevator, but the wait was longer and the ticket costs more. The stairs were a blast!  Lots of people climbing and resting, climbing and resting... Climbing woke us up. Here's the view from the stairs. 

source
Here we are on the Eiffel Tower observation platform after climbing all those stairs. Seine in the background. Joli, n'est-ce pas?

And I couldn't resist these. source source

Christmas 2013

Glass ornaments I made this year for Christmas. Thanks to Bella Kitchen and Home for selling them for me! (If I start now for next Christmas...)

Three Amazing Stairways (and the Eiffel Tower)

I love stairways. These are in Paris. Source here.

I'm always looking for inspiration for marble and panels, so this one from La Galerie Vivienne is perfect. Not to mention the great swoop!

Two dizzying spirals that look like nautilus shells.


And who can resist the Eiffel Tower?
And Paris in snow!

Composition Gold Leaf Moldings

From the job site this week. Antiqued composition gold leaf on eleven picture moldings in this dining room. My goal: to make them look like they've always been there. They do not 'pop' as much as they do in this photo. They sit quietly on the wall and look pretty but demure. 

Next up, photos of the fireplace wall, 16 feet up. (I had help, our daughter, the fabulously talented and fearless Lessa). Now if I can just get any sort of image that is representative. Metallic plaster is SO hard to photograph.

Color Studies and Project Pieces

Pieces for a new project.

Study for a large panel on a 16 foot fireplace wall. I'm doing a finish on that whole wall next week. With help. Stay tuned. This is a reactive finish and it only has the first patina (rust on the vines).

Color study including the fabrics in the room and the wall treatment behind the color study.

Update: 'After' Shots of an Art Installation and Chair

I've completely revamped this post from November 7, 2013, with the 'after' pictures.
Here's a picture of the finished chair with the gold leaf legs. I just got to see it yesterday.

Below is the chair from the original post, 'before,' upside down with the upholstery off. (The birdhouses - eleven of them - were a hit for a house I decorated at Christmas.)

And this is the installation of the 24" x 80" art piece I did above the fireplace in the same room as the chair. (My trusty helper/daughter, Lessa and I also did the finish on the 14 foot high wall behind that piece. She did the very tall bits at the top of the ladder. I'm kind of a heights-wimp.) There is a two story window wall just opposite this which is why the picture is so washed out, no matter what editing I did. A night time shot might be better...

Below is the panel standing in a doorway. Gives you a better idea of the size.

And this is a closer picture of a test panel before I put the metallic in the center. Lots of texture in this!

Now I'm bidding on some projects in the same house. One of them involves stenciling three 15 foot high pillars in the pool room. Here's a picture I took yesterday.

And a view with the side of the pool. (We'll be watching the ladder legs closely so we don't inadvertently go swimming.)

The original post had the concrete counter, but sorry, no pics of it installed, I've never seen it. :(
Sometimes I don't get closure!

Concrete counter finished, waiting for sealer which will deepen the color.

In the (Very Messy) Studio

Someone told me when we built this studio to take the amount of space I thought I'd want and double it. Four projects going on in here right now. Just have to make sure the gold leaf from the chair legs doesn't get into the black counter top. Hmmmm....  

Deconstructed chair before the gold leaf on the legs.

This little countertop will be black concrete. It overhangs the dryer a bit!
The birdhouses on top of the dryer are another project. Fifteen of them. The glitter for them is under the countertop in the paint tray that hasn't fallen off the stool. Yet.
The fourth project (no pic): Samples for a big panel that will go over a client's fireplace.
I hope it's true that messy people are creative!