Painter Girl

One down, two to go...

               

Here you can see just about the entire entranceway ceiling of Apartment Building #1,  of the 3 apartment buildings I will be doing.  All three will be identical.  This is the Rattan stencil design (XL size) from the Stencil Library.  This is the stencil I was talking about the other day, that was too large for me to handle doing this ceiling solo, so I cut in in 2 pieces.  I am still mourning that decision, as I hate to cut my stencils, knowing full well I will wish I did not do so when I want to use it for another project.  Well, it's a done deed and cutting it did allow me to get the job done.  I love this design.  I used a brown paint mixed with a pearl glaze.  The pearl glaze just really softened the brown a bit and did not give it a metallic look.  This picture is actually pretty true to color!   
          
             

This is a little closer look.  I may end up putting a 1" brown border around it all, leaving a 1" or 2" border of the blue/green color in between.   I'm going to have Marc take a look at it and decide what he wants me to do.  I can easily add that when I return to do the other buildings.  I don't think the next apartment building will be ready for me until about 3 weeks.  In the meantime, the contractors are all very busy working in the Clubhouse.  My work in that building may begin before the next apartment building is ready.  I'm hoping by the time the next 2 apartment buildings are ready, I will be very busy with other jobs and be able to hire an assistant to knock these last 2 off.  Because I had such a hard time getting the stencils that I used on the wallpaper to stick, it would be helpful to have an extra set of hands.  Also, it would be very nice to have help with the ceilings... so keep your fingers crossed for me that I may be able to hire some help! 

On another note... I am working with a new client to do some fun painting in a day care center that is a 5 minute walk from my house!  Last week when I was out for my evening walk, I discovered that a former martial arts center had gone out of business and the sign taped to the door said a new day care center was opening.  I peeked in and could see it was still very much under construction.  The next morning I was on the phone to the owner to see if I could get in on some action here.  We met,  immediately liked each other, and started planning what could be done.  Melissa, the owner, is a very savvy young business woman and busy Mom to 2 young children.  This will be her 2nd day care center and she is already looking at a 3rd space because she is completely filled!  I will be posting more about this job over the next few weeks.  Other than those bubbles in the boys bedroom and bathroom in the Big House Job, I have not done a children's themed room, in what seems... ages!  Oh, I did do that chalkboard wall, but that does not really count. 

Networking

Last evening I attended the NEWBO Awards of Excellence Gala at the Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston.  NEWBO is celebrating their 30 year anniversary!  It was a very fun filled evening, with Jimmy Tingle serving as master of Ceremonies.  Jimmy had all of us laughing from the moment he stepped up to the mike.  He is one very hysterical man and should you ever have the chance to take in one of his shows, I highly recommend doing so.  Congratulations to all the Quest Award nominees and winners.

I have mentioned NEWBO here before, and I do so again to encourage any women business owners in the Boston area to join this wonderful organization.  Each time I attend an event I connect with the most amazing women and come away truly inspired.  Two examples of great connections from last night were meeting Jennifer Smith of Color Express and Kristi Andrews,  owner of The Barkery.  I am talking with Jennifer about helping me out with some one time use stencil materials, such as the Modellos I so often feature here.  Kristi, has to have one of the most fun businesses ever!  She runs a bakery for dogs!  Even if you are not local, Kristi ships all over the country, so let your dog browse her site and drool a little. 

Apartment Complex Work - ceiling

Today I was back at the Apartment Complex job to do the ceiling in the entryway.  Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, so no pictures to post today.  I DO love how it is coming out though and will be sure to bring my camera when I return either Thursday or Friday to finish.  I am using the Rattan stencil design from the Stencil Library.  I ordered it in the large size.  The stencil itself, is huge, 43" x 35".  This would be wonderful if I were using it on a wall or had a second pair of hands for this ceiling.  Good thing you could not see me trying to hold the stencil up with my head while positioning it!  As much as I hated to do this, I cut the stencil down to a more manageable size for doing this job solo.  The ceiling is small, so having the 2 smaller sections to work with, worked out o.k.  I got a late start on this ceiling today because there was a meeting scheduled with all the various contractors and the company project manager.  The building that I am working in, has a janitor's room that the janitor leaves unlocked for me while he is there.  He leaves at 4 pm and I wanted to stay and try to finish the ceiling.  Around 5 pm, I could see I was not going to be able to finish because I needed water to clean my stencil and since the janitor had left, I no longer had access to that room with the sink.  I was getting tired anyway, and decided I'd rather come back another day instead of staying even later and probably making mistakes.

In the Studio

Today I am working in my Studio for most of the day.  First and foremost, it's a mess and I have begun the tedious task of really sorting through all of my paints and stencils and trying to organize my space more efficiently.  It's far from an idyllic space, so it's hard to get too excited about this.  Eventually I am either going to have to move the studio elsewhere or sink quite a bit of money into the space to make it more usable and comfortable.  The positive side to having this space in the basement of my home is that the commute is a just a few steps away.  That's a BIG positive, especially with the high cost of gas these days!

I will be working on the ceiling stencils sample for the Apartment Complex job, as well as a finish for the fireplace wall in the Clubhouse building. 

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day! ~ back tomorrow ;-)

Working in Public Spaces

Because I almost always work in a private home or a commercial space under construction, I seldom have an "audience" when I work.  Every once in a while though, I find myself working in one of these apartment complexes where there are actually residents living there.  Such was the case this week.  I am always taken aback when the residents will stand and stare at what I am doing and openly comment negatively to another resident.  They carry on, bad mouthing the work I am doing, as if I am totally invisible!  If they do not address me directly, I just keep working and act as if they are the invisible ones.  If I am wearing headphones, I just crank up my music.   Many people feel quite violated when changes occur in the common areas of their apartment buildings.  The upside to working so publicly is the positive feedback.  Thankfully, that outweighs the negativity.  It's fun when people stop and ask questions, express their delight in the new changes, or just greet me pleasantly! 

A few years ago I did some work in the lobbies of several Senior Apartment Complexes.   On day 1 in each building,  I would be greeted with a lot of scowls and little conversation by the residents.  On day 2, a little softening.  On day 3, I had the cast of characters and their various routines down.  I discovered that many of the Seniors were watching me on their TV's which, when tuned into a certain channel, showed them the view from the Lobby cameras!  I only discovered this because one spry woman asked me if I could move the camera as I worked. Another asked if I could point the camera at the mailboxes so she would know when the mailman arrived.  Again, I felt the residents felt violated by my presence and the change I was making to their living environment at first.  They clearly did not welcome this change!  But, as they got to know me, they became excited about the work I was doing and having someone new to talk to each day.  As I got to know many of the residents more, I learned so much about their daily lives, hobbies and families.  It was one of the most rewarding jobs I've had to date.  By the end of the week, the Seniors were very friendly and several of them were bringing me treats and water!  This pattern was repeated with each Apartment Building and Complex that I did. 

Show House Sneak Preview

For those of you who live near, I want to tell you about the upcoming Newport Showhouse Guild Showhouse, which opens to the public May 10th - June 8th.  This year's showhouse is located in the lovely seaside town of Narragansett, RI.  Although I was unable to participate in this event, my good friend and wonderful Interior Designer, Marc Bordet, of Bordet Interiors has designed the Living Room in this magnificent home.  Last Saturday I had the pleasure to spend the day assisting Marc in his room.  I always have so much fun when I get to help set up a room with Marc!  Tomorrow evening, May  8th, is the opening Gala, which should be a lot of fun.    There are some fabulous examples of decorative finishes used throughout this house.  Naragansett is about a 2 hour drive from the Boston area and this showhouse is well worth the trip.  House.  The best shot of the room I have, has Marc's back in it!  This room is HUGE!  You are only seeing about two thirds of the room in this shot.

Apartment Complex Work

Yesterday, I began Phase 1 of the Apartment Complex/Clubhouse Job.  This is the job where I am using 3 wonderful stencils from The Stencil Library, the Alium, Fennel, and Rattan designs.  I have the Alium and Fennel in different sizes, and the Rattan in 1 large size.

There are 3 Apartment Buildings and 1 Clubhouse being renovated.  Only 1 Apartment Building is done at this point, so that's where I am.  Each of the Apartment Buildings has 6 floors. 
When you step out of the elevator on floors 2-6, you are facing this niche.  Here, I used my smallest Fennel stencil.  I varied the placement of the flowers a bit on each floor.  My friend, Marc Bordet,  is the designer on this job and when we first talked about this area, the walls were to be painted.  Somewhere along the way, the client decided to use a slightly textured wallpaper instead.  Last week, I was given a small sample of the paper to do a sample on.  Of course, I had no problem there.  The problem occurred, naturally, on site.  Because the wallpaper has tiny ridges in it, and perhaps just the surface coating of the paper is causing this, but my stencils are not adhering to the wall for long.  I've sprayed them to death with spray adhesive and am using tape, but boy... I have to work quickly before they fall right off the wall!  It was not too bad with this smaller size stencil, but when I got to the lobby and used my larger stencils... YIKES!  Here are 2 other floors:
   

Here's a close up where you can see the "ribs" of the wallpaper.

Because I was moving so quickly, I was able to complete all 5 niches yesterday. :-)

Today I returned and completed the 2 panels in the Lobby.  Here is the Before Picture.  I'm just doing work in the center panel on this wall and the opposite wall, which looks just like this one.

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Here is the Alium stencil in 2 sizes.
I wanted the top left Alium to look like it was just floating, so I did not include the stem.  Now that I look at the picture, I'm not so sure I like this look.  I'll let Marc decide if I should add the stem or not.  I will return one more day to do the Rattan design on the entryway ceiling.

Where is my post???

Grrr... I wrote a post late last night to appear here this morning, but I see it is nowhere to be found!  I just began some work at that Apartment Complex job yesterday and thought I had posted those pics.  I am rushing this a.m. to get to that job site again, so will re-post (is that a word?) when I get home tonight.

I was able to finish my newsletter and get that out.  If you have not received the May/June issue in your email and would like to, please subscribe using the "Sign Up" box to the right. :-)

E-newsletter

I am working on the May/June edition of my e-newsletter so cannot spend too much time blogging today.  I really love doing this newsletter.  Most of my clients are not into reading blogs, but they do love to receive the e-newsletter.  It's been a great way to keep them informed of new stencils I have, or to show some new uses for my older stencils.  Many of my clients follow up with an email to tell me what caught their eye or to just say hello and re-connect.  For those of you with small businesses, I highly recommend giving Constant Contact a try.  They have a 60 day free trial period, which allows you to send out mailings to 100 addresses during this free trial period.  They also have a great referral system!  For every friend you refer who becomes a Constant Contact customer, you'll both receive a $30 credit to your Constant Contact account.  If anyone should decide to go for the free trial, just email me and I'll send you a referral post so we can both receive a $30 credit, should you decide to sign up after the free trial period.  :-)