“Just the Way You Are”

I was recently commissioned to create a very special painting  for my client Amy’s home. This piece needed to capture her families love of music and the memory of Amy’s “first dance” with her husband Tim on their wedding day. She was originally thinking a mural, but after we discussed other options we decided on a dyptich style painting. This piece would be featured on their living/music room focal wall.

We started by listing everything she wanted incorporated into the painting. The sheet music from their first dance, “Just the Way You Are” by Billy Joel, the scroll patterned on Amy’s gown and wedding cake, the keyboard from the family piano, the roses from her bouquet and the harlequin pattern and colors from the rug grounding the room. from there I drew up a rough black and white sketch and color palette to review with her before I put the first brush strokes into the canvases.

Amy, Tim and their children love the new addition to the room, capturing their love of music! This was the fourth project Amy commissioned me to create for their home.

It has been an absolute pleasure working with Amy and I always look forward to our next collaboration!

The Christopher Kennedy Compound at “Villa Golightly”

I was thrilled to receive a call from Allison and Liza of Trellis Home to discuss a project for The Christopher Kennedy Compound Show House for “Modernism Week” in Palm Springs, California. I was even more excited to find out that my work would be featured at “Villa Golightly”! Kelly Golightly is a social media sensation! With Kelly’s a sparkling style guide for modern-day Audrey Hepburn’s of the world, celebrating the art of living a colorful life. visit Kelly at www.kellygolightly.com

This show house event celebrates the appreciation of mid-century architecture and design represented in Palm Springs. The “#1 Must See Event of Modernism Week” – The Hollywood Reporter

This master bedroom has been featured in Traditional Home magazine “Color Me Modern” issue.

For this exciting project, I took my “vibe” from Florence Broadhurst, a distinctive Australian wall paper and fabric designer. I was inspired by her design legacy and bold style. I was attracted to a particular bold at her “peacock” motif printed wallpaper and decided to create a large peacock silhouette, filling it in with hidden names, places, patterns and even a illustration of “Villa Golightly”. Working with Allison and Liza’s color palette of cream, soaring sky blue, aqua and teal, the monochromatic colors work harmonious together. I rotated the canvas to 45 degree’s to create a diamond shape to highlight the peacock and give the painting a mid-century feel. This piece is completely custom, from the composition to color, and I’m proud to have it included as a showcase piece in this fantastic event!

 

Custom Living Room Centerpiece Painting

This piece was created for an art collector client to be the centerpiece of her living room, bringing together all the various textiles, artwork and colors around the room.

Diptych custom centerpiece

I worked with this client, Haley, over the course of a few weeks.  I first met Haley in her home to discuss this focal point piece for her living room.  She shared with me some of the stories behind the various pieces in the room including a beautiful elephant painting from her grandmother’s home. We also discussed ways to incorporate the layers of textiles she had custom made for her room.  This helped me choose a coordinating color palette that would work to draw everything together.

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The final layout of my piece was inspired by a mosaic fireplace in a Yves Saint Laurent’s vacation home.  Using this as my inspiration, I combined some of the patterns found in Haley’s drapes, rug and elephant painting.  The result is a pair of large acrylic paintings in the Diptych composition.  These conversation pieces are hung above the sofa and really do complete the room.

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Custom Golf Design Painting – “Vision of a Golfer”

“Vision of a Golfer” is a large, square abstract painting of golf clubs that was designed for a client as a Christmas present for her avid golfer husband.

Custom golf painting

 

As I worked with my client, Jen, we discussed her two main “objectives” for the piece.  First, she wanted to honor her husband’s passion for golf through this gift.  He enjoys playing a round of golf every chance he gets so she knew he would love a golf-inspired painting.  This brings us to the second objective — she wanted to create a piece that could hang proudly in their living room (as opposed to a den or office).  It had to match the current colors and style while still capturing his “vision of a golfer. ”

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From my visit to Jen’s home, I was able to create an unexpected color palette that would fit her living room’s style so we landed on an abstract layout of vintage golf clubs and tees.  I also wanted to create movement and energy — inspired by the swing of a golfer — that would pop and become a focal point in the space.  I created the design with vertical brush strokes and acrylic paint to create that texture and movement I envisioned.

The final piece went beyond the expectations of my client and her husband absolutely adores his gift.  In fact, he actually GOES in the living room to admire the piece.  For me, what I loved about this project, was being able to create something that the client couldn’t envision or really describe but trusted me to create.