Emma's Room

Cute eh?
This was a project actually completed nearly a year ago, when I sent out a recent newsletter to my clients, Emma's Mom sent me some pictures and this note:

"Just a few words about Emma’s nursery:
I noticed a wall decal in the Pottery Barn magazine and it was much too expensive to use for the walls of the nursery. I searched the internet and was very lucky to find Ellen. She came out to the house, measured the room and then discussed the design idea, color and all of the details. It turned out much better than expected – we love Emma’s nursery and everyone compliments it! It is unique and beautiful pattern. Ellen is great and we would recommend her to everyone.
Love,

Emma’s Mom"

Isn't she she cutest?

The dark chocolate ribbon is stenciled on the wall, using a stencil I designed and cut myself, giving it actually a lot more personality and depth than the decal would have. What a simple and sophisticated nursery!

For more nursery ideas, check out my friend Dawn's blog "Nursery Murals and More" .

Walking on the Beach

Finished up this painting today, all that remains is a dust cover for the back, hanging hardware and delivery. It will get a protective top coat too, but that is invisible. It will be hung without a frame, the canvas edges are painted a similar color to the walls in the room it will hang in, so it will seem to be a part of the wall.

Wouldn't it be great to take a walk on this beach every evening as the sun sets?

Three little shore birds run across the sands, wildflowers in the foreground. I purposely left any details out that would indicate whether this is a tropical or temperate shore scene- that way it can be anywhere in the world. Even the grasses and plants are simply done, with few details to indicate a horticultural species. The only details really are on the family members- I worked from photographs I took of them on a snowy December morning and adjusted their poses and clothing to fit the scene.

Hope you like how this one turned out- I love it!

A Little Beach Scene

I've been enjoying working on this new commission I got just before Christmas. Originally the family wanted a wall mural, but is considering moving house in a few years and don't want to leave the work behind, so a work on stretched canvas in a large size seemed to be the best way to go. The painting is 84" x 48".

This morning before adding in the family walking on the beach

After adding the family

A close up shot of the family so far- still some details to add in

A detail shot of the family, still needs some detail, shadows and color on her dress, the creamy beige is just a base coat.

I love this kind of work- creating a personal work of art for a family, something they will enjoy for many years. Let me know what you think- as always, your comments are welcome.

Tuscan countryside

I had a really hard time leaving this work- When the client contacted me to discuss the project, I was intrigued. She wanted a painting for her den wall, but didn't want it on canvas- but it needed to be framed like a painting. This composition had been forming in my mind for a few weeks, and I had actually purchased a canvas to put it on when she called. It turned out to be the perfect solution for her wall, the colors I had planned on using perfectly fit with the color scheme in the room, she loved the subject matter since they had a tradition of making their own wine in the fall, and have a fairly Tuscan flavor to their contemporary home.

This large scale colorful floral upholstery needed a bold color statement to fill out the blank wall.

There's even a small fishing pond since the client's husband loves to fish....

.....and an open bottle of wine with their own label.

It's a very personal solution for the room, and has a lot of meaning for both the client, and for me. Hope you like it!

This is the type of project I just love to tackle, as it says on my web site, work vehicle and all of my business stationery:

"If you can dream it, I can paint it!"

So what's your dream?

As always, your comments and questions are welcome.

The Artist's New Clothes

My old work shirts were beginning to get a little worn and more than a little covered with random splotches of paint. I just painted some new work shirts today, plus a new hoodie, and will try to remember to wear an apron to keep them nicer longer. Oooo! I could paint that too!

Step back in Time

Here's a brand new powder room with very little personality on it's own, but with a lovely old world looking mahogany vanity, black granite counter, and coordinated mirror. The homeowner wnated it to feel like you had stepped back in time, and were in a very old room, complete with cracking plaster, ground in distressed paint in the corners and random areas and antiqued trim and mouldings. A two color colorwash did the trick in colors to coordinate with the tumbled floor tiles, and trompe l'oeil 'cracks' in the plaster.

At a future date, we'll be adding in a window mural overlooking the rooftops of Paris
similar to this one that I did a couple of years ago:

Ellen In the News!

My company is featured in the Detroit Free Press' Livonia insert that is included in the paper on Sunday Mornings! This is a column I check out every week, and have found some really neat businesses through. I'm very excited about being featured, and am hoping that perhaps some new clients will find their way to me because of it. You can check out the article (no pictures unfortunately), all you hafta do is CLICK HERE. As always comments are welcome!

Landscape with Fairies

This one has been in the studio for a few weeks now, and WIP photos have been posted on my companion blog Creativity to show how it has been progressing. Completely finished now, it is scheduled for delivery Monday afternoon. I hope I was able to give it the calm, serene feeling that I intended to with a sweetly meandering stream, flowers, butterflies and fairies. This one will be installed at a massage therapist's office and dimly lit to attempt to visually expand the windowless therapy room. Below are a few detail shots of the work. What doesn't show in the photos is the mother of pearl paint used on the fairy wings and dresses, and all along the outside edges of the canvas over the lavendar paint, and the scattering of holographic glitter embedded in the paints used on the fairies- just the right touch for a fantasy painting- I really had fun with this one!