Street of Dreams Portland - It's Not A Metal Wall

When you step into 'Suede' the first home in this year's Street of Dreams you might think the wall in front of you is made of metal. Really, really, it's not. It has been cleverly disguised. It is actually a specialty plaster - well three different colors and six layers of specialty plaster called Lusterstone. It's an architectural coating that produces reflective stone-like patterns and is one of the most versatile products I use.

The 9' metal water feature that greets you right away is definitely metal, and quite fabulous I might add. Crafted by John Xóchihua (pronounced So-chee-wa) of Aztec Artistic Productions. John was given a sample swatch of my wall finish and the color palette for the walls and went to work on his masterpieces. The two benches that flank the entry way made of reclaimed steel and natural slabs of stone are his creations as well.

Be sure to visit the Suede Home and oogle over the wonderful furnishings and architecture of this home. It's a showcase of possibilities for your own dream designs.

A big thanks to the following who made this project a success. I was proud to play a part:
Lisac Brothers Construction,
Michelle Pointer, Interior Designer - Whirlygig Designs
Maureen Pulicella, Interior Designer - Gallerie Nouveau Interiors
Sara Peterson, Interior Designer - Go Lightly
Lee/Eastman Contemporary Furniture
John Xochihua - Aztec Artistic Production
and many more...

In the next couple of days I'll be sharing the entire listing of paint selection for this home - stay tuned...

Faux Crocodile Skin Preview

Look what's cooking in my studio.

I'm working with Garrison on a project in his home. He and his partner are creating a beverage center in their foursquare Portland home. This will be the countertop and tabletop when it's all finished.

Oh, it's going to be fabulous! Stay tuned to see how it all comes together.

West Hills Glamour

I'm so excited about this project. I can't show you the dressed room just yet, but I wanted to tease you. Perhaps you'll come back and visit more often which will inspire me to post regularly.

One of my fabulous clients-turned-interior-designer, Garrison Hullinger brought me in on a recent project. A gorgeous home in the West Hills of Portland with some incredible decor. This client has amazing pieces already and is just adding and improving her collection of classic furniture pieces. It's truly my kind of design.

I was brought in to create a glamorous wall finish for this dining room. Here it is before. You can't see it well, but there's painted grass cloth wallpaper on the walls. It was removed.

Isn't that chandelier fabulous? It's been moved to the foyer and being replaced but something far better. I'll keep that a surprise.

This was the board the client selected and Garrison and I agreed happily. This is one of the most popular boards in my portfolio right now.

Here it is applied.


I love the smokey mirror that is going to stay in place as well as the sliding glass door to my right. The plaster has a subtle metallic sheen which you can see reflecting in that mirror. The natural lighting changes quite a bit during the day, as a result the finish will change as the light moves. It's an effect from this product that I love. This finish will be incredible at night with ambient lighting.

Oh, I can't wait for the final staging of this room. It's a treat to work with Garrison. He has impeccable taste! When there's a client involved that has great taste as well, it's even better.

I love my job!

2008 Street of Dreams - Portland

Welcome friends,


Are you ready for Portland's 32nd Annual Street of Dreams? It starts Saturday, August 16th and will be open for a month. Visit the website for more details and information. Hopefully you saved the discount coupon in your NW Natural Gas bill last month. Tickets are $17.50 this year!

I worked on the entry wall in the Lisac Brothers Construction home. You can see a sneak preview of it above. It's a contemporary home and the designers gave me a palette and let me have some fun. Thank you Michelle, Maureen and Sara!

My challenge... because the house was already completed I didn't get a chance to spec out the finish of the drywall. So, I was faced with knockdown texture. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, builders in the NW put texture on walls. Most of them apply orange peel which literally looks like the skin of an orange. Now the trend is to spray on texture and knock it down - a trend I hope doesn't stick around. The photo below is the knockdown before I got my hands on it and plastered away.

The wall doesn't look that big in the first picture, but I did need two tiers of scaffolding to work on it. See my ladder and scaffolding set up? Big fan of the aluminum scaffolding.

While I was working on the project I took a break to enjoy the incredible views of Mt. St Helens and Mt. Adams. I noticed a smoke cloud which turned out to be the Cold Springs Fire in Gifford Pinchot National Forest near Trout Lake due to a lightning strike.


I've been quite busy and hope to post some after pictures of some recent projects. I'll be back to tell you more about the Street of Dreams. Stay tuned.

Trompe L'oeil - the learning continues

I'm still here... plugging away, continuing to learn my craft and rediscovering all the foundational techniques buried in my mind. Skills I learned at Columbus College of Art & Design.

All the painting I've been doing lately has brought back a slew of memories. A journey so long ago that has lead me to where I am today.

My parents weren't jazzed about me going to art school. An art school how could that get me anywhere in life? Senior year I was introduced to a new high school and an amazing art teacher - Jill Crowe. She nurtured me and my talent and prepped me to win a two-year art scholarship. At that point my parents realized there was no turning back. If it were up to my father I'm sure I would have been an architect or an accountant somewhere in middle America. Secretly I think my mother wishes I would have followed in her footsteps and become a real estate agent.

CCAD was an entirely different experience than I anticipated and challenged me in many ways, but losing my father in the middle of it all was heart-breaking and sent me on a completely different path. I didn't see it's value at that time, and I was a little lost. I opted for the corporate world thinking it would have more to offer. So off I went for 15 years of hard work, moving myself back and forth, from coast to coast, working for small and mid-sized high-tech corporations. I became very involved with my work as a database marketer. I loved it! I loved being around technology, I loved being on the verge of new beginnings. I absolutely loved the technical and creative aspects of my day-to-day job. But then I burned out. I hit the wall.

Interestingly enough, five years before I hit that wall I voiced a goal out loud - to a financial planner of all people. In 1999 I stated that I would start a business in five years. I knew it would be a creative business, but at that time I had no idea what type of creative business. I thought millinery because I had developed this love for making hats, or perhaps it would be a home decor retail shop. Five years later I started my decorative painting business. I guess I have the corporate world to thank for burning me out and forcing me to take this business risk.

Here I am five years later and feeling I've come full circle. In so many ways like that freshman at CCAD once again, full of uncertainty and fear. This time I have knowledge and skills, but I'm afraid of the paint. Well, I was afraid of the paint until my class with William Cochran. William spent a lot of time nurturing us as artists. He reminded me to face my fear only by saying "It's just paint".

All this reminiscing of CCAD I started thinking about all of the professors that made the most impact on me - the ones that really took me as an artist to another level. Unfortunately in my research to find where they are today I discovered that Ron Augutis passed away. It was a very sad discovery, and he left us at a young age. I stumbled upon a blog of a former student of his who had posted this quote which I found quite apropos to my recent artistic endeavors.

"In order to make a painting you've got to use paint"...

-Ronald Augutis

Mr. Augutis, thank you and may you rest in peace.

Airplane Mural - Pushing A Teen's Dreams

Hello everyone. I'm still here. I've been quite busy and trying to get pictures of completed projects so I can share with you the work that is keeping me occupied.

This project has a nice story. In February I was contacted by a mother of a 15-year old son. She told me that her son loves airplanes and aspires to be an airline pilot. She then explained that he had borrowed an overhead projector from school and traced a plane on his wall, then told her that he would eventually paint it himself. Time passed and she got the idea to surprise him by hiring a professional to come in and finish it.

Surprises are tricky - we had to coordinate our visits when he wasn't there and she had to bribe his little siblings so they wouldn't spill the beans. Finally I was able to schedule time when he was going to be out of the house long enough for me to come in and work.

His original drawing wasn't perfect with some skewed perspectives - and a composition of the plane on a tarmac facing the other wall. Did you know tarmac is short for tarmacadam? I digress. Anyway, his drawing didn't quite work for me so I proposed that we put it in the air and add some clouds. I also proposed a second plane to it's left coming towards you as in an approach to land (nose facing the viewer). That increased her budget so we ended up with what you see above.

He also loves water and surfing and has this surfboard bedspread that I thought would be fun to use in the design of the plane.


It was such a fun mural and I just got word that he was quite surprised and ecstatic when he saw it last Friday. This young man is driven. I was impressed when I noticed a list of goals taped to his wall; get a job to make money for flying lessons, take flying lessons, etc. I hope what I created for him somehow keeps that dream alive. Best of luck to you young man.

William Cochran's Trompe L'oeil Class

I'm excited to tell you all about the class I just finished with world renowned trompe l'oeil artist, William Cochran. I had the opportunity to take his five-day class in a condensed three-day version. I'm not sure if that's a good thing, but it certainly forced me to get motivated, focus, and soak up as much knowledge from William as I could! Here is my unfinished study of Ceasar cast in stone.


By no means is this painting done. I would say it's about 1/3 completed. But because I took my time and studied the values it appears to be a realistic study. By day three I was pleased with my painting, but that's not to say it didn't happen without a little bit of left-brain tormenting. As a matter of fact all 16 students were tormented by their painting at one point or another. But the results were outstanding.

Day 1
Day 1 progressing along
Day two - stuck in the mid-tone values and realizing my darks aren't as dark as they should be.
Day 3 - moving onto light values and realizing time is running out with William.

The piece is now hanging in my studio ready for more work. I'll be sure to share more as I progress with this piece.

For those of you who aren't familiar with William Cochran please be sure to visit his website and be prepared to be astounded by his talent. You must take some time to scroll through the works of his public project - Community Bridge. William is one of few living artists adept at the difficult, mind-bending Renaissance perspective technique of anamorphic projection, which creates astonishing illusions of depth when viewed at an angle. You'll see an example of this within the Community Bridge portfolio. My favorite of his works has to be Handful of Keys displayed in Great Neck, NY. Each time I view this piece I am mesmerized, especially by the Asian girl with the handful of keys.

William it was truly an honor to study with you for three days. Look out - I'm about to start setting up still lives all over the house and break out the paints.