Painter Girl

Progress at the Day Care Center

I tried to post this last night and this morning, but am having trouble with TypePad, so we'll see if I can post now.  I just ran home for a quick lunch break from my work at the Day Care Center. I'm hoping to finish today, but may have to return once more for a hour or two.  I'll post more pictures tomorrow, but here are some from yesterday:

Remember, I am only doing 1 accent wall in each room.  This is a close up of the "Alphabet Wall" in one of the two Preschool Rooms.

This next photo shows most of the wall.  My camera doesn't zoom out enough to fit the entire alphabet in the shot.  The place is not ready yet, so you can see the missing ceiling tiles left out for inspections to happen.  Also, the furnishings are not in place.

In the 2nd Preschool Room, I painted the numbers 1-10, with corresponding circles beneath each number.  Again, cannot fit the entire length of the wall in the shot, but you get the idea. :-)

Did I Say... A Quick Job???

Last week, I do believe I used these somewhat similar words 'I'm going to slip in a quick 1 day job...before I start the Master Bath project."  HA! That was the job where I was going to the Fitness Center of a new apartment complex to paint some large silhouettes on the wall, of people doing various sports. To do this job, the plan was to project the figures onto the wall.  I have a great portable projector I use for this type of job.  The night before the job, I set it up in my living room to test out the size of my silhouettes.  All seemed fine, UNTIL... I knocked over the projector and the 2 bulbs broke.  Now it would not work at all.  I frantically went on line, in search of replacement bulbs in my surrounding area.  No luck,but it looked like MAYBE Staples would have the bulbs.  They open at 7 a.m., so I was over there around 7:30 the next morning, praying they would have the bulbs in stock.  Unfortunately, they did not.   I returned home to call two friends who I thought might have access to an overhead, again no luck.  Back on line to search for rentals of overhead projectors.  Apparently, no one uses these anymore.  I finally found a great company, SmartSource in nearby Waltham that had one.  And I mean one.  (again, apparently not a big demand for overhead projectors these days!)  The guys were very friendly and helpful and even loaded the projector in my car for me. :-) . 

First, when I arrived on the job, a temporary wall had been constructed to block access to the wing where the Fitness Center is located.  This required me to move my car to the side of the building, enter through a side door, crawl under some scaffolding, and walk up a flight of stairs to get to the Fitness Center.  I had to make 3 trips with my supplies.  This building is still very much under construction.  I completed the wall I was commission to do in 1 day... almost.  The first 2 silhouettes that I put up, looked great, until I peeled away my one time use, paper stencil.  This is when I realized the paint was just too light against the background wall paint and the silhouettes just were not showing up well.  I continued on with the remainder of the silhouettes in a darker tone.  After I was done with that, I went back to the 2 light silhouettes and taped them all out using Flex Tape.  This tape is very flexible, but has a high tack.  I took some of the tack off, but after I had repainted the silhouettes in a darker tone and pulled the tape off, a lot of the wall paint came off with the tape.  Now it was late and I had to leave.  I returned the next day and patched all the peeled paint areas.  As I was doing this, Marc showed up and said he thought I should do the adjacent wall too.  I had limited time that day, so I projected the silhouettes on paper and traced them out to do this week.  I returned on Monday of this week and completed everything.  This was a very fun job and I love the look!  I am already thinking for some new, fun ways to do more of these silhouettes in another fitness center that may be added to my schedule in the near future. 

On a side note, I am now out in western Massachusetts staying with my Mom until Friday.  She suffered her second TIA ( a mini-stroke) 2 days ago. :-(  She spent a few hours at the hospital, but they did not admit her.  My cousin spent the first night with her until I could get out here.  She seems to be doing remarkably well with no damage from this episode.  One of my brothers will relieve me on Friday and stay with her through the weekend.  Today my Mom was more concerned about her out of control hair than anything else, and promptly drove down the street to get her hair cut! 

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. 

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.

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. 

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. :-)

Model Apartment

Today I am posting some pictures I took of the Model Apartment Marc furnished for the Commercial Job we are presently working on.  This is a one bedroom unit in one of the 3 buildings I mentioned in yesterday's post.  I was not involved in the Model unit, but loved the way the apartment turned out and thought you might be interested in seeing it.
All work done by Marc Bordet, Bordet Interiors.

 

 

Meeting Update

I am sorry I have been absent from this site for a week!  Except for the Monday meeting, I was over working at the Big House Job and then coming home to basically collapse.  I was tired all week and by the end of the week had a sore throat and cold-like symptoms.  I think it is allergies, but not sure.  I've been lying low for this 3 day weekend.

Last Monday, Marc and I had a meeting with our commercial client and had a chance to look around again at the job site.  I had not seen this site since last August. These commercial projects can move at a snails pace!  This job consists of 4 buildings: 3 apartment buildings and 1 clubhouse.  Marc furnished and decorated a model unit in one the apartment buildings, which I will post tomorrow.   I will be using 3 stencils, all from the Stencil Library for this job.  In the 3 apartment buildings I will stencil the ceiling in the entryways and a small recessed wall space that faces the elevator as you get off on each floor.  In the clubhouse I will do some work in the Lounge area, a long hallway, and 2 bathrooms.  The apartment buildings will be ready first.  The Clubhouse will probably not be ready until the end of May or some time in June, since there is some major construction happening in that building first.

This is the Lounge in the Clubhouse.  That's the former bar leaning against the wall.  The wall with the light is coming down so you will be able to see into the galley kitchen.  A new counter will be built.  The carpeting will be replaced with tile.  I was going to do some stenciling in that soffit area, but Marc is unsure now what he wants to have happen in that space.

This fireplace is also in the Lounge.  It will be resurfaced and I am going to do a metallic plaster finish here.  I have to do a little research on the finish and come up with some sample boards.

Ok, I am trying to learn a new program, PhotoStudio, so please excuse my very primitive attempt here!  Hopefully, I will get the hang of this program soon and produce something a little more polished looking. :-)

This is an arched ceiling in the entryway of the Clubhouse.  The ceiling will be painted and the Aliuim design stenciled on both sides of the arch, above the recessed rope lighting.  We are still working out the colors for walls and stencils.

The Fennel design will run the entire length of the hall, on both sides and in 2 smaller hallways that run off of that.  I have both the Alium and the Fennel in various sizes, so I can alternate height and placement.  This ugly wallpaper is coming down and the walls will be painted.  Colors to be determined.

There are also 2 bathrooms off this hallway that will have the Alium design stenciled on the walls.  The contractors were in there pulling out the toilets and vanities, so I did not think they would appreciate me snapping away!

In the 3 Apartment Buildings I will be doing the ceiling in each of the Entryways using another one of the Stencil Library's designs, a Rattan pattern.  I had it made in a very large size.

Then, when you get off of the elevator on each of the 4 floors, there is a recessed arched niche.  In this niche I will use a combination of the the smaller fennel and alium designs.  I'll have to take some pictures of those areas when I return.

Meeting Day

This morning I am off w/Marc for a meeting with our clients about an upcoming commercial project.  This is the job where I will be using two of the Stencil Library's giant stencils, Fennel and Alium:

   

I don't think the walls will be ready for me until the end of April or early May, but should have a better idea of the time frame after today's meeting.   Marc is the designer on this apartment complex project which includes a clubhouse building and 3 lobbies of the apartment buildings.  I had the 2 designs done in a few different sizes.  They will be very large and used in different ways throughout the buildings.  I will take some "before" pictures of the site today.