Jenny’s Favorite Things

Tomorrow I will back talking about “My Voyage to Painting Murals, again.” Today I thought I would interject a fun little painting project. Earlier today I met with a potential client and wanted to refer her to my website to see this room but realized I hadn’t posted photos to my website yet.

Jenny was seven years old and she wasn’t crazy about her family’s upcoming move to their new home. Her mother called me to talk about a mural for Jenny’s new room, something to make her new space feel special. 

When I met with them I asked if I might speak with Jenny, alone. Her mother was fine with this. We chatted a bit and I asked Jenny what some of her favorite things were. She had no problem telling me that she liked daisies, blue birds, butterflies, fairies, turtles, mushrooms and pears.

My mind was going a mile a minute until she said, “pears”. Hmmmm, well we finished talking and off I went to do some sketching wondering how I was going to fit pears into the equation I had going on in my head.  

This is a portion of Jenny’s mural measuring ten feet tall and eight foot wide, total mural was about 16 feet wide. Did you see something totally different in your mind’s eye? Let me know what your thoughts are.

Extensive Portfolio

Upon entering the large commercial design firm the receptionist greeted me, asked if I was Mickey and proceeded to tell me that they had twenty-six designers on staff. Each designer was required to be present every Monday when factory reps gave presentations of new their products. My presentation was to be fit in on a Monday. This was in March and the first opening they had was in October. Ooooooo, another lesson learned.

 

Never having spoken to a large group of designers this brought up some fears. You know what I mean? On my way home I stopped at a book store and bought three books on speaking, by Dale Carnegie. In the interum I painted lots of residential projects and by the time October came around I had a much larger portfolio to show the twenty-six designers.

Lessons Learned

After learning that lesson there was no way I would drive that far without more than one appointment. After the first presentation I was hired to paint the Jane Tillery’s showroom, subsequently customers asked if they could have their homes hand painted. This was Indiana and I wasn’t aware of anyone hand painting walls at that time.
 
The next design firm appointment was even more encouraging. The designer suggested other firms he thought would be open to what I was doing/going to do. He called ahead to a large commercial firm so I could stop by on my way home to make an appointment. It never entered my mind that some firms wouldn’t talk to you without a referral. Another lesson.

What kind of lessons have you learned while getting your business off the ground?

Making Cold Calls

My instructors reaction to my painting was encouraging enough that I made those cold calls that most of hate so much. The town I lived in was very small and I felt this idea would be better suited to a large city. The city I chose was one hundred miles from me but my gut feeling was it would be a better fit. Being very young I didn’t know protocal for making appointments. After a few more designs in my portfolio I checked the yellow pages and drove to a large design firm in Indianapolis. My thought was that a large firm would have a larger and perhaps a higher end clientele. I wanted to start at the top. 

Jane Tillery not only had a beautiful design studio with furniture and accessaries but it was her own little strip mall with a paint center, wallpaper area and other related stores. Dressed in my suit and heels I approached the assistant asking if I could have a few minutes of her time. She didn’t understand what I was wanting so she checked out a few of my designs and scheduled me for two weeks later.  Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh, an hour and a half drive and I had to make an appointment. A lesson learned. Have you had a similar experience? Tell me about it.

Composition and Design

Florals, by far, were my favorite subject matter. Painting on smaller objects like vases, plates, etc., I had been lucky in that I could look at photos in magazines of floral arrangements and paint something similar. Painting on walls with the design being very linear would be more challenging for me. 
 
Going to college for art classes was not in my budget. Instead I signed up for a flower arranging class and an interior design class at a near-by community college. Two nights a week for a several months I could handle. 
 
The flower arranging class was intense and I learned a lot. The missing link for my painting was composition. A few of the things I learned were to work in odd numbers until there were over seven, it takes about seven yards of ribbon to make a big loopy bow (I still used this for making bows for gifts and my Christmas tree.), ways to balance an asymmetrical design, fun stuff.

After class one evening the instructor asked if I could stay for a few minutes. It seems she was interested in hiring me. She told me that she would send me to Holland to learn new techniques. Upon returning I would teach the new techniques to the other emplyees. I cannot tell you how much I would have loved to have gone to Holland. All those wonderful flowers. Can you imagine how tempting that was?

Coloring Outside of the Box . . . again

Not being easily discouraged I returned home, pulled out illustration board and started painting borders. At the time I was working sixty hours a week at a “real job” and teaching two night a week. My energy soared. After dinner ever evening I was in my studio painting samples. Do you have this happen when new ideas are flooding your head?

Coming up with designs was invigorating.  There had to be a way to turn this into a business. One I could actually make money at. Off I went to a local frame shop to have beveled edged strips of matting cut to frame my designs. They needed to look professional. Guess I was coloring outside of the box long before I began using the term. The only way I new to market myself with no budget was to make cold calls on design firms, but something was missing.

 

Sample Borders 3

Border Sample 1

My Voyage to Mural Painting

My life as a freelance artist has been quite a voyage. From teaching freehand design on ceramics and porcelain to painting custom murals for five-star resorts. Although I continue to do some of these very same things my latest voyage is taking me in the direction of marketing a line of fine art, greeting cards and bookmarks.

It truly brings joy to my life to share the beauty I find in nature through my art. My voyage has not been as smooth as I sometimes would like but if nothing else, it has been interesting and truly fulfilling. Hold on here we go again but first let me share my story of how I came to paint murals.

In the eighties I had been teaching classes in my ceramic studio for about ten years. The earge to paint on larger and larger surfaces was insistant. While reading a magazine I saw an ad for Jackie Shaw’s tole painting class. Not having painted on wood, metal or fabric much I decided to sign up, thinking I would just be learning new techniques I could then teach.

 
At Jackie’s Old Stone Mill, turned beautiful studio, she could sleep twenty-one students. The students were from all over the United States and Canada. Never having taken classes of this size, I thought I had died and gone to heaven.
 
What made Jackie’s huge studio so facinating to me were the walls she had hand painted. In particular one of the bedroom on the lower level. She had painted a border of Rosemaling that thoughouly intregued me. A beautiful free-flowing design in colors of peach, brown, black and white. I asked her how long it had taken her to paint and was told it took so long that she would never do another. Would that statement have discouraged you from trying it yourself?

Colorado Scenery Mural

 

One of the first projects I took on after returning to my world of painting in 2008 was for a lovely couple in Colorado Springs. Suzanne Cowen, a talented designer in town, called to see if I was still painting murals. I met with Suzanne at her client’s home to discuss painting a ceiling in their living room. Suzanne is great with colors so we settled on colors and a basic design.

Home for a stunning bronze

 
While I was working on the ceiling, our clients spoke of a bronze statue of an eagle in flight in their lower level. They invited me to take a look at it. The exquisitly crafted eagle stood on a tall black stand in front of a curved, light beige wall beside the staircase. The home owners told me they had waited ten years to find someone whose painting style they liked. Considering the beautiful original artwork hanging on their walls, I was honored they had chosen me. 
 
Another nature painting, I was thrilled. The ideas flowed. The mural was to be a Colorado scene with mountains, a lake, cattails, columbines, a marmout and a bee. Not having scene a marmout I asked if they had photos of one. They just happened to have some great shots of marmouts.

It is always an honor to have one project turn into another before you finish the first project. I’m sure you have had similar experiences, would you like to share your story?

Simply Painted Window Treatments

My starting point for this project was flowers. My client loves flowers but in particular orchids. In fact, she gave me my first orchid. My personal goal is to have at least one orchid  blooming at all times in my home. If I find I have none blooming I begin my search and usually come across a new variety I simply cannot resist. There are now nine elegant orchids in my possession.

This project was relatively simple yet elegant, light and airy. The colors we chose were favorites of my client. Her walls and floor covering were neutral with accents of purple. She had also purchased several of my floral paintings so the colors we chose for the window treatments blended well with her decor.

Mary Lou Beshears Breast Care Center

The Mary Lou Beshears Breast Care Center in Colorado Springs was privileged to receive a donation of six digital mammogram machines from Mr. Beshears. It was my honor to be asked to design signage in the lobby as well as the entry to the Breast Care Center before their formal dedication.

During a phone call from the head of  the Breast Care Center, pink roses kept popping into my head. When this happens I have learned not to ignore these ideas. Two weeks later I presented my ideas to the board, to include Mr. Beshears and his son. After showing my sketches Mr. Beshears stood with tears in his eyes, walked over, gave me a hug and said, “That was Mary Lou’s favorite flower”.

How do your ideas come to you, a flashing picture in your mind’s eye, in dreams, during a conversation with a total stranger?

Signage for lobby of Mary Lou Beshears Breast Care Center

Mary Lou Beshears Breast Care Center/entrance