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!

I Painted My Boots - On Purpose

So usually when I get paint on my shoes it's unintentional. But yesterday I decided to deliberately paint a pair of boots I bought last year and only wore twice.I thought they they were gray when I bought them, but they were a gray-taupe-pinky shade that didn't really go with anything. 

No prep. Just taped off the sole edge and started with a chip brush and these colors.

First the two dark ones and then a wash of the reddish one.Then wax.

And here's how they turned out. I think I'll wear them a lot more now.

Before and After - 70s Fireplace

I did this project a few years ago. Each rock is painted and glazed separately in stony colors. Homeowners have since installed an insert. Everything is still fine with the finish on the rocks.
It was quite a transformation in this house.
Here's the before

During

After

Detail

Window Dressing

I got to do the coolest job a couple weeks ago! Two windows for an optical shop in Bellevue. 

The outer border is antiqued gold leaf, the lettering is metallic red. Both done in reverse on the inside of the glass and sealed so the glass can be cleaned. 

Finished product (left window)

Before: left window

Before: right window 

During: right window with the masking still up 

My good college bud, Tami Szerlip, helped me put up the masking. Much easier with four hands and two brains! 

 If you're in the neighborhood and want to see it in real life, the address is 10204 Main Street, Bellevue, WA. I got some really cute glasses there. Oh, and some sunglasses. I'm set!

Website here (unfortunately pics on website were taken before the windows were done), Facebook site here.) Lorali is super knowledgeable and very professional. The selection of frames is marvelous! There's a great eye doctor there, too, so you can maximize your time.

Lorali has two Poodles and a Papillon. The dogs get to go to work in rotation, so one is at the shop and two are home keeping each other company. What a fun place to work!

The I-Hate-Heights-But-This-Was-Fun Fireplace

This fireplace was up there! (Although not as high as the one at Inglewood Golf and Country Club, but I had a scissor lift for that one.) Here is the finished fireplace. That bottom lip of the plaster part is about 5 and a half feet from the ground.

This is the view from the top of the scaffolding. (Yoga breathing helped.)  The arches are about 4 feet above door height.
The progression: before, base layers of plaster, glazing:

Before Just for fun, here's the scaffolding. That's my ten foot ladder.

After the first plaster layer

Second plaster layer

First glaze was too light

Final finish (same as first pic)

Antiqued Paris Trunk

Jim bartered (with the guy who made it) for this cedar camel-back trunk years ago. For a long time it sat in its naked cedar-y state storing odds and ends in our former house. When we moved, I put a quick glaze on it and used it for a while, then tried to sell it in a shop. It didn't sell, so it has languished in the garage for the past few years under a pile of stuff.
Periodically I donate things to charity auctions, and when one came up I decided to donate the trunk. But of course I had to mess with it first...
This is how it turned out.

Above: cedar trunk, after.
Below: cedar trunk before. (Note the lack of cargo handles.) The front handle is off an old suitcase I found at the side of the road on garbage day.

This is the trunk with the glaze coat it had for several years.
Some 'in progress' pictures:

The shiny cargo handles

The cargo handles after black primer

Cargo handles after foil, glaze and sealer

The front before the Paris graphic.  You can see the wide 'strapping' I added to the sides of the top.

The tack template and the first of 360+ tacks going in.

I found some burlap printed with a Parisian motif for the top tray.

And here's the finished product with the wide and narrow strapping, tacks, cargo handles, and new/old finish.
It was in the silent auction and fetched $150. 
Thanks for stopping by!