Painter Girl

Fish Folding Screen, completed

I put so many crystals on this folding screen, that I lost count!  The fish scales really lend themselves to the gems.  You will be able to see the details better in the close up pictures that follow.  All photos were taken before the screen was assembled and delivered. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is one of the fish.  I used clear and two different colors of blue crystals, in 2 sizes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is better look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the top portion of the panels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's an even better look at the gems. Remember, there are three fish, so I did a LOT of gluing!

 

 

 

Fish Folding Screen

I am back in my studio, with yet another folding screen.  Can I tell you how much I love doing these?  The only thing I am not crazy about is spending so much time in my studio, but that too, has it's good and bad points.  Thankfully, I've had a few residential jobs to mix in while doing the panels, allowing me to get out of my basement!

For this job, I needed to have the panels made, so I turned to Joe Gallagher, owner  of J.A. Gallagher Inc., a very talented builder/carpenter/contractor.  I explained to Joe what I needed and the next thing I knew, I had it!

I wanted the top of each panel to have a little wave-like effect and this is working out perfectly for my design!

 

 

I'm using the Moroccan Scallop stencil by Royal Design to represent some waves.  I've done them with a blue foil and have added a little blue metallic glaze over each scallop...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

along with this fish stencil.  Lots of Swarovski crystals will used for this screen!

 

 

 

Lion and Tiger Folding Screen

Ok, I hope I am back on track here with my blogging!  Here is the update on the Lion and Tiger Folding Screen I last began posting about.

  Here is the completed screen, but the panels are not attached yet, just standing next to each other, in order.

For this project I used two two stencils:  the Moorish Trellis by Royal Design Studio and Birds On A Branch by Cutting Edge Stencils.  I eliminated the birds and just used the leaves with the latter stencil design. 

This folding screen differed from my previous screens because it was made from three, solid panelled doors.  I found it much more difficult to work with this type of panel and more restrictive when it came to laying out and working on the design...  Not to mention, because they are solid, they weigh a ton! 

I used A LOT of Swarovski gems on this one!

 

 

A closer look at the center portion of the screen.  All of the leaves were done with a combination of metallic paint and foils, then the gems were added.  Only the eyes of the two animals received gems.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wider shot of the center.

 

 

 

 

Leaves!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Closer look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bottom portion of screen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The gems worked really well for the eyes, giving them just a little sparkle!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lions and Tigers and Another Folding Screen, Oh My!

I was hesitate to do this folding screen when my client changed her mind about the concept last minute, calling me to tell me she wanted a lion and a tiger on the screen.  The original screen proposed had more of a Fall Foliage theme going, without animals.  After pouring over images and ideas, I finally felt comfortable with the compromise I came up with.

This folding screen is made differently from the previous two I have done.  The doors are solid wood panels, bi-fold doors that you would use for a closet.  They are much narrower and I found the panels limiting to the design... at first.  Here you see them base coated.

 

 

 

I taped out the base coat and added a metallic orange glaze to the top and bottom portions of the panels. Next, I added the Small Moorish Trellis stencil design over the glazed areas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here you see the stencil completed.  The fabric that is on the two couches in this room is to the right, with a closer look below.

 

 

 

Ready For Their Close Ups!

With all three panels finally completed, I stood them up in my studio for one last photo shoot before I wrapped them up for delivery. 

 

I zoomed in on the details of each dress, so you can hopefully get a better idea of just how much the Swarovski crystals enhance the gowns and accessories.  I ordered 1200 assorted gems for this job and used every single one of them.  I always think I have ordered enough, but in the end, wish I had more to play with!

 

 

 

 

This is the bottom part of the above sash on the green dress.  The longest part of the sash utilizes Goldens Glass Bead Gel over gold metallic paint.  All the Gals shoes also have the Glass Bead Gel with additional gems to coordinate with their outfits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The red dress has these large roses at her hip.  The shading is not showing up in this pic, but it does look quite dimensional, which is why I did not want to cover it completely with the gems.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is her bracelet. Remember the foil I had used underneath that I showed the other day? The foils really help to add to the bling of the gems!  Her left hip and arm are only washed out in this pic because of the flash and crystals.

 

 

 

 

 

I love how the Glass Bead Gel worked on this gold dress!  It almost looks like gold lame'.  To further highlight this overlay of the dress I outlined with gold crystals and then added the beaded at the hemline... and her shoes, of course!  She is my "elegant gal".  I really love them all, and try not to play favorites!

 

 

 

 

I ended up doing a chevron pattern on the bottom portion of each panel.  I used a light purple foil, then taped out the chevron pattern with blue tape and applied the Glass Bead Gel to every other stripe.  Once dry, I added a crystal at each point. This photo does not do the color justice. :-(

 

 

 

I did a 1.5" border around this, using a gold foil and glazes, then shaded a bit. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now it was time to transport them to their new home (sniff, sniff).  I carefully wrapped them and loaded into my car.

 

 

 

 

 

This color in this photo is actually very good!  Here they are, trying out their corner.  You may recall this living room from earlier in the year.  The walls you are seeing in the background are padded fabric, meticulously hung, with self covered cording at the ceiling line, baseboards, and all edges!  There is only one, long wall that does not have the fabric and I did some stripes on it.  You'll see them in the next shot.

 

 

It's quite a long room, so this is just about one third of the length. The lamp on the table in front of screen is way too big and just does not go, so I had to convince the homeowner to swap it out.

Luckily, she was on board with that and quickly brought in this smaller lamp that is blown glass with a beautiful embroidered silk shade.  It really goes well with the dresses.  The only request my client had was to add more crystals to the chevron pattern, so I will order 600 more and outline that pattern.  I said good by to the Gals, knowing that I'll be back to visit soon.

 

Details

 

Now that I've blocked in all the colors, I begin to work on some of the shading and details.  I decided to periodically stand the 3 panels up together, in the order they will be put together, to make sure they are flowing nicely.  I did not do that with the 3 Geisha Girls and discovered when it was way too late, that one was really a bit too small in size and should have been adjusted. :-(

 

 

Now, remember... NONE of these panels are anywhere near finished!  This is just the work in progress.

 

Red dress.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Green dress.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gold dress.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More shading.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I ordered these three rolls of foils from Prismatic Studios for this job, thinking I'd use the gold for the background, but decided it was just too dark of a gold and too harsh looking.  I'll use all three of these, but much more sparingly than I had originally thought.

 

I used the dark purple foil for the background of the headband and earrings.  I will be adding gems over this later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Same with her bracelet.  Gems to follow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I used the lighter purple foil on the sash that is on the green dress.  Again, gems will be added here later.

 

On the gold dress, I have an overlay piece of the dress taped out and have applied glass bead gel in a striae pattern.  This is to make it look like there is a sheer beaded fabric over the bottom portion of the dress.  I also added the bead gel to everyones shoes, for more glitz!

 

 

 

It has taken me forever to come up with an idea I really like for the bottom portion of these panels, but I have finally found something that I think I will really like.  This is just the basecoat... don't panic.

1920's Gals Take Shape

Now that the panels are all primed, I dragged them up to my living room, the best place for me to set up my overhead projector.  The panels are hollow, very light to transport... thank god!

 

 

 

 

 

Here's the overhead set up.  I actually worked off of two different overheads, because I swapped out dresses, last minute... for one of the gals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back down to my studio, I begin blocking in the color on each panel.

 

 

Here are all three gals, in progress.  I will be using a mix of foils, metallic paints, glass bead gel and gems.

 

New Folding Screen

I thought I'd move on to the latest folding screen I am working on, since there is little to report on my front hall project.  Remember the Geisha Girls, on the three panels?  Well, I have another folding screen,  exact same size and shape to play with.  Yay!

This one is going to feature 3 Gals from the 1920's.  A fabulous fashion era, with lots of beading and glitz.  Perfect for these panels!  At first it was to be fashions from the 30's, but once I started doing the research, I could see the 20's was much more in sync with my client's style.  She has two chairs from the 1930's in her living room, where this screen will reside, so that is why she initially thought about doing something from that era.  We poured over a lot of dress styles and both agreed, the 20's would be a lot more fun.  I bought this book with CD from Dover Press, which has all royalty free images to use.

 

Here are the three Gals we choose for the panels. The colors will be altered.

 

 

I set about the arduous task of removing the existing fabric from each panel, i.e. pulling out a zillion staples!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then, I peeled off the paper liner and cleaned all the glue off with TSP, rinsing it all well.  Of course, I have no sink in my studio, so this meant several trips upstairs to my kitchen for clean water and back down to the studio.  My previous source of water was always from my top loading washing machine.  Unfortunately, that recently died and I made the maybe not so wise decision to get a front loader instead, completely forgeting about this handy source of water when I'm working!  I do love my new front loader for laundry though, and I guess I'll eventually catch on to the idea of filling up a few pails of water every time I'm working down here now.

Here they are, all primed and ready to go!

 

Tape, Tape and More Tape

Sometimes even I can't believe how much tape I go through for one job!  For this Family Room I began by taping out all of the panels and the diamonds.

I have to say, I slacked off a bit with my picture taking while on this job.  I kept forgetting to pack my camera because I have been taking most of my photos with my iPhone lately.  But... for this job, I was using my iPhone for my source of music on a portable docking system and everytime I took it off to take a pic, I had to set it all up again, which was a pain, plus I was getting too much paint all over everything. 

Sifting through the photos I do have of this job, apparently I did not take any when I was taping out the diamonds.

I did manage to take some finished pics of this room though.  For the diamonds I used Snowflake White Lusterstone.  I rolled on two coats, then taped out for the diamonds, and skip troweled one more coat. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I shaded on both sides of the grout lines before pulling the tape, then added the brass tacks.

The color is off in this photo and I cannot adjust, but the above photo is more true to color.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This close up shows the brass tack, but the photo is washed out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ah, finally, a true to color photo. 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a close up of the leather panel.  I used Blue Pearl Shimmered Suede in Red Sable, followed by layers of Stain and Seal Antique Cherry and Van Dyke Brown.  I love doing the leather finishes.  They are easy and really do look like leather!

 

 

Putting on the Finishing Touches

I used some black mica flakes for the girls hair.  To adhere, I used some sizing, let tack up for a bit, then just liberally sprinkled the area with the mica.  Later, I brushed the loose flakes away.  This was messy and not the best idea to do near areas that I had already foiled, as flakes stuck to that too, and I had to pick them out.  Note to self, I'd apply the mica flakes before I began any foiling.

 

 

I've had this jar of mica flakes for months now, just waiting to use some.  A little goes a long way, so I will probably have this jar until I'm 90!

 

 

 

 

I pulled out all my smallest patterened stencils and applied them to all the various sashes.  I shaded and  highlighted the fabrics.

 

 

 

 

 

The hands and facial details were kept very, very simple because I wanted the focus to be on the clothing.  I struggled with the positioning of one of the hands, so ended up taking a pic of myself with my hand in the position I was trying to draw.  I look quite intent, don't I?!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a close up of my Umbrella Girl.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Far shot, trying to fit her in the whole frame.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Girl with Fan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Close up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coming along!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Close up of Hat Girl.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Close up of bottom panels. If you are not noticing in the pics, I glued on a lot of fairly tiny Swarovski crystals. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, installed in the client's Master Bedroom!  I won't tell you how long it took me to put these 3 panels together correctly!  They have piano hinges with a bizzillion screws.

 

 

 

This pic shows the screen against the wall I had previously done in this room.

Well, I'm kind of sad to see my girls go, but the good news is I have a second, identical size and shape screen to do for this client.  This time the theme will be Women from the 1930's.  These screens are very fun to do, so I'm excited to begin the research on this next one.More on that later.