Repeat Customer

I love it when a painting client asks me back to do more for them! 
One of my faves is Rita; she's been my client since 2014. I've done several painting jobs for her vacation home on the 6th floor of a high rise across the street from La Jolla cove, with floor-to-ceiling views of the Pacific Ocean.  

Each and every project I’ve painted for Rita has been completely different! She comes up with amazing ways to add little touches of glamour to her vacation home. 

In her living room, she commissioned me to create a folding screen to hide the TV niche. It’s designed to match the asian-themed wallpaper in her Northern California home.

I constructed the four-panel screen out of gallery-wrapped canvasses. I then hand painted sepia-toned chinoiserie scenes over a metallic silver base. I connected the panels with small hinges, so it can be folded flat and tucked away.

In the same room there is a great accent chair that I added a metallic silver finish to.

In the guest bedroom, I painted the closet doors to look like a folding screen, Rita had an example of a screen design for reference.  
I had Modello Designs make custom, one-time-use  stencils for each door. 

The Modello team worked with me to get the design to fit just right, even around the door handles. I stenciled the designs in a shade just lighter than the base color. 

In the master bedroom, I painted a faux bois (fake wood) finish on the cabinets, in an inlaid design to match the headboard and a wood armoire on the other side of the room. 

Rita thought it would be fun to paint the faux wood bathroom door with a 
little outhouse moon cutout and label it "W.C." for water closet.

Above the doorway, I echoed the top diamond panel of the cabinets, and added a circular medallion to the centers. The medallions came from decorative jar lids. I'm telling you, a creative eye can see potential in anything!

Next was a curved wooden folding screen on wheels, that I faux painted 
to match the cabinets. 

The screen was originally a pale blond wood. One side is now painted in a darker faux wood color, and the other side has a subtle metallic finish with glazes over it. 

Both sides have been stenciled with a Shou symbol placed off center on each panel 
(also Modello one-time-use stencils.) 

The Shou symbol is prolific in Asian art to denote happiness, harmonic life, and longevity. 

 The newest addition to the master bedroom is a bit of whimsy added over the bed with two simple outlined dogs painted in gold. 

 The dogs are taken from a crest design, 
which I converted to a line drawing and had blown up.   

There are two beautiful chairs that look out on the ocean view. 
I added the Shou stencil design to all four sides of the chairs.

The expansive windows shower this interior with coastal light, changing colors at every season and time of day. Many of the painted surfaces are metallic, which reflects the light and colors nearby.  Asian style accents appear throughout, which combine with the shifting colors to give the home a dreamy, elegant, zen feel.

What a gorgeous home!
It's a joy when a client has creative ideas and cares enough 
to put some artistry into their surroundings.

I look forward to doing more painting for Rita in the future.
Here's to Happiness, Harmonic Life, and Longevity!
And great clients like Rita!