The Ornamentalist

Chinoiserie, Italian Style

2009-07-07T12:16:00.000-07:00

Sala Cinese, Palazzo Moroni, Bergamo

Chinoiserie is still one of my favorite styles, even after all these centuries. All the rage in Europe in the late 17th and 18th centuries it's still holding well up as a classic style of "theme" room, a fantastic mix of exotic Asian motifs with European technique. One of the most charming examples I have ever seen is this room in the Palazzo Moroni, in Bergamo.
The ceiling appears to be a colorful pink tent, with a lace "cap" at the top, the signs of the zodiac at its center.
Excellent landscape murals surround the "frieze" level of this room. Note the perspective in the paintings, which are all viewed from below.

Detail of the ceiling: I just adore that lace edging, and the border of little pavilions.
These fantasy buildings remind me of San Francisco's Chinatown, whose architecture was designed in 1906, to reflect the western impression of ancient Chinese buildings. Obviously not a new thing.

I visited the Palazzo Moroni during the International Decorative Painting Salon which was held in Bergamo earlier this year. Our gracious host for this event was Lucretia Moroni, a scion of the Moroni family, and herself a world-renown decorative artist. As you can imagine the group of painters visiting this palazzo were very appreciative of its historic murals and terribly grateful to be allowed to take pictures.

photos by Lynne Rutter, April 2009
click on images to view larger

Lynne Rutter Murals and Decorative Painting

simple design = big change!

2009-07-02T23:16:00.000-07:00

sketch for a silhouette mural: run spot run!

This week I am working on a deceptively simple silhouette mural, for a veterinary practice in San Francisco. This mural needs to be simple in its design, to fill a bumpy, angled, and very long hallway wall. For an assignment like this the two most important things are a good drawing, and the right color.The wall "before" was stark white, in an uneven 36 foot long sloping hallway. Just painting the wall blue had a tremendous impact on this space.

Mural in progress: both the reception area and the hall have a nice view!

I'll post pictures of the finish mural soon.

Lynne Rutter Murals & Decorative Painting

Re-thinking Batik: The Language of Cloth

2009-06-17T14:54:00.000-07:00

Now touring the US is a wonderful show called "A Lady Found a Culture in its Cloth: Barack Obama’s Mother and Indonesian Batiks" featuring some fine examples from the extensive batik textile collection of Ann Dunham. The show opens June 18 in San Francisco at the California College of the Arts and runs through June 21.

What a way to whet my appetite for pattern, as my friend Dan is just back from Indonesia and will be having a trunk show June 26-28 with all his latest textile wonders!

Through his business The Language of Cloth, Daniel brings together different styles and materials to create new batik designs. Hand-woven silks from Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand; jacquard silk from Korea, and flax-silk from Indonesia are decorated with elements from Japanese kimono patterns, Ainu motifs, European embroidery patterns, as well as traditional Javanese batik motifs. The show will also include reproductions of antique batik cloths from collectors, some reinterpreted in new colors, others reproduced exactly.

"Carbon Emissions" trucks spewing smokey mega mendung

My personal favorites are the contemporary twists added to the traditional batik patterns, like my prized Cluster Bomb sarung. A new piece this year, "Carbon Emissions" is a mega mendung "cloud" motif, with the addition of trucks and cars, in smokey colors.

I am also quite smitten with some of theses Ainu-inspired scarves:

Ainu pattern interpreted as batik ornament: batik tulis on hand-woven Thai silk, with design adapted from applique patterns on Ainu attush robes from Hokkaido, Japan

The Language of Cloth Summer Trunk Show takes place
June 26, 27, 28 11 to 6pm
650-B Guerrero St., San Francisco
415.613.9693 www.languageofcloth.com

Lynne Rutter Murals & Decorative Painting

Miniature Portraits

2009-06-14T15:22:00.000-07:00

Recently I have been spending some time cleaning and getting to know the miniature portraits collected by my great-grandmother. Many in her collection were acquired from a sale at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, and most of those were portraits of Marie Antionette.

I will be posting the entire collection in sections here as I have time.

This first group of paintings was set aside for my niece in honor of her 21st birthday.

Portrait of Marie Antionette in a green dress, goauche on ivory, signed “Chatain.” Backed with white kid leather and set in a simple ornamental oval frame with watch-crystal type pillowed/beveled glass. Very likely painted in the late 1850's as a souvenir.

Oval portrait of a dark-haired lady dressed in the Italian fashion, watercolor on ivory, unsigned.

Portrait of Marie Antionette with a rose, signed "A.T." gouache on ivory backed with white kid leather, in gilt wood frame.

Portrait of Marie Antionette in an apricot dress, unsigned watercolor on ivory. This painting is much smaller and older than its elaborate frame, which dates from the late 1870's.

Very fine and pretty portrait of a young girl, gouache on bone ivory, signed "Gericault 1812" backed with white kid leather, in its original simple brass frame.

By far my favorite of this group, "Lady Smitson" as this is labeled on the back, is wearing the fashion of the 1780's and painted with a rare amount of texture, recalling the English School style. Signed "Gram" and dated "80" on reverse, and set into an elaborate frame.

Lady Smitson is so realistically painted that I am sure this is not a portrait of Marie Antionette, but of lady dressed in her style.

Click any image to view at larger size.

Want to know more about miniatures?
Read here about my obsession with Miniature Eye Portraits

Elle Shushan in Philedelphia has a fine business collecting and selling miniatures.

Check out this huge on line gallery of a number of collections on this extremely informative site: "Artists and Ancestors"

Lynne Rutter Murals & Decorative Painting

The Silver Kitchen

2009-06-07T21:39:00.000-07:00

This gorgeous custom kitchen was recently featured in the Spring 2009 issue of Better Homes and Gardens "Beautiful Kitchens." This room features a silver and ecru color palette and is dressed with rock crystal and stainless steel. I painted a faux limestone finish on the walls and used venetian lime plaster to create the irregular stone-like finish on the range hood.

These warm stone finishes compliment the silver pearlescent cabinets and white calcutta marble counter. Silver is a recurring theme color in this Piedmont, Ca. home, where I contributed color design and well as many other decorative finishes.

photo courtesy Camber Construction, where you can see more of my work in this house.

Lynne Rutter Murals & Decorative Painting

Geek Color

2009-05-25T12:15:00.000-07:00

Can these new iPhone applications save me lugging around giant paint color fan decks? We shall see!

This week the internet is all abuzz with news of a new iPhone application ben® Color Capture™ - developed for "ben" by Benjamin Moore, that allows you to snap a picture of whatever inspiring beauty you see, then match moments in that photo to the more than 3,300 colors in Benjamin Moore’s range. The application will be available for free download beginning June 1.

Fans of SuperPaint will rejoice that Sherwin-Williams has its own interactive iPhone app called ColorSnap™ which is available for free download now. It identifies colors in your images, and suggests palette colors surrounding them, and will even give you the RGB code of each color for web use.

For you advanced color players there are even more options - beyond paint!

Color Expert, from Code Line Communications, uses an interactive color wheel displays color sets in various schemes including monochromatic, complementary, analogous, split complementary and triadic, which update as you drag a finger across it. You can also view a variety of color palettes, find hex codes for RGB values, look up HTML named colors, Web-safe palettes, etc., and then email your designer friends with your inspired finds! This one is $9.99

Palettes, by Ricky Maddy, can analyze a photo, web URL, or any other image, and offer a breakdown of its colors into a pleasing looking palette. $9.99 for this app, or free for the "lite" version.

For me these applications are not quite sensitive or accurate enough for picking colors but they are interesting for working out palette decisions. Looks like I will be eye-matching my paint for a while to come.

Images courtesy Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams

Lynne Rutter Murals & Decorative Painting

Exterior Color: using paint to emphasize architecture

2009-05-12T21:13:00.000-07:00

Here is another case study on the placement of paint color, and how to get the most from your Victorian facade.
This Laguna Street Queen Anne Victorian had some common issues- raised to add a garage, the house looked so high off the ground that the nice parts of the facade were hard to find; you could see the garage door but not the front entrance.
My clients asked me to give this Grand San Francisco Lady the refined look she deserves. I started by talking to them about not just the colors, but where we put them, and the difference between emphasizing details vs emphasizing architecture.
You see, it isn't just the colors you choose, but where you put them that makes all the difference!

Laguna St. Queen Anne before and after: color design by Lynne Rutter. Click on image to view larger

In the previous paint job, every detail was painted differently. Despite a complicated scheme of 5 colors, the house looked a bit flat; the placement of colors emphasized individual features, but without honoring the role they play in the architecture.
Columns in the entablature as well as in the entry arch, were painted dusty rose while the areas behind them were much lighter, so rather than stand out, these columns receded into the background, and everything above them, crown moulding and brackets, "floated" unsupported. Fancy rosettes had dark "holes" of burgundy, and the lovely egg and dart feature in the crown moulding had been painted out like a dark ribbon, slicing an otherwise substantial crown into three skinny horizontal stripes.

Laguna St. entablature before and after: click on image to view larger

So, in addition to a new palette, we needed a new "map" of where to put the colors to best bring out the shape of the architecture, and help this house stand up straight!

The first thing I did was de-emphasize the garage, creating a "foundation" for the house by painting everything below the entry the same deep neutral gray, a color very similar to the stone covered foundations of neighboring houses.
"Structural trim" that is, everything supportive, or the "bones" of the house - columns, cornices, crowns, capitols, etc. - are painted a warm ivory, so that they are connected and supported by each other. Carved elements like the egg and dart in the crown, now show up as sculptural relief, with shadows and highlights adding detail. From there, shades of green, bamboo, gold, and ivory, are arranged to focus attention on the beauty of the structure. In all, seven colors of paint are in use here, with some choice decorative features highlighted in 23 karat gold leaf.

All colors on this project were specified using C2 paints.

Bring out the best in your historic building, whether it be inside or outside. Color Consultation 415-282-8820

Entablature is in the glossary!

Lynne Rutter Murals & Decorative Painting

Showcase Season

2009-05-02T15:25:00.001-07:00

My Powder Room in the 2002 San Francisco Decorator Showcase

Showcase season is upon us again, with exciting spaces being presented by veteran and new designers alike. I have painted in over 25 showcases houses around the Bay Area, and transformed three rooms for the San Francisco Decorator Showcase as a designer. This year, due to my travel schedule, I could not participate in the exhilarating rush of reshaping a room in a scant three months.

I missed it, actually, because it is during this time I get my one chance each year to spend time under the same roof with so many talented colleagues in the business, and there is an atmosphere of camaraderie when a large number of the area's best decorative painters are all working on the same house. Oh of course there can also be a little drama, but for the most part everyone is trying to do their best work and finish before the press arrive, sometimes working late into the night, often running to the next room to beg a roll of tape or ask advice.

Showcases are especially great for ideas. Working without a "client" the designers get a chance to show off what they are interested in, what inspires them, and their best new finds.
A few years ago a nice book came out called "Decorator Showcase Houses" which compiled the best 250 rooms of 50 different showcase houses from all over the country. I recently flipped through this idea-packed book looking for a room I remembered from a previous showcase, and was really struck by how fresh and interesting even 7 year old projects look. This is because these designs are not the "trends" so much as each designer's personal vision, which, if anything, will set the trends for the future.
(look for my work on pages 137, 176, and 186!)

See the 2009 San Francisco Decorator Showcase , through May 25 at 2830 Pacific Avenue.

Exterior Color: Two Stucco Edwardians

2009-04-06T21:17:00.000-07:00

I love working with color, particularly with period homes. Here are a couple of recent transformations which illustrate my motto: do what will make the architecture look its best! Often this involves a bit more than paint colors to get the desired result.

28th Avenue Edwardian, San Francisco: color by Lynne Rutter, painted by Local Color

The previous owner of this home in Sea Cliff had "simplified" this house and painted it yellow in an attempt to make it look "Tuscan." My clients wanted to see the house restored to its original style, and look more like a formal City house. Black aluminum windows were replaced with insulated windows using the original Edwardian profile. San Francisco Local Color Painting stripped the paint off the foundation walls revealing the original red bricks, and then painted the entire house using all C2 paints.

The color scheme is a nod to the arts and crafts era. I started with a de-saturated green/grey accented with oxblood-red windows, and a linen-color trim that appears white in contrast to the body color. A fourth color; a warm, lighter green; is added under the eaves and on the stucco cross pieces to show off the more horizontal features and give these details a lift in the areas where it might otherwise get heavy. The result is a calm, formal facade with elegant detail.

Here is another Edwardian-era stucco and wood house with some similar issues:

Cole Street Edwardian: color design by Lynne Rutter

My clients on Cole Street disliked the whimsical "storybook" look of the house and wished to downplay the decorative half-timbered beams. They wanted the house to be simple and modern. However, previous attempts at "modernizing" this facade- by removing some features and adding others- only served to make it look more convoluted, and the old pink and purple paint job was borderline silly. I convinced the homeowners to restore the facade as much as possible, to give it back its architectural stability, which would go a long way towards creating a more refined entrance to their home. Iron railings were removed, missing brackets replaced, the garage door replaced with something simple.

The color design involves six colors of paint, some of which were custom mixed. The body above the main horizontal beam is painted a warm, tan color, with just a bit of contrast between the stucco and wood. A jazzy cobalt blue front door integrates the blue stained glass surrounding it, and calls attention to the entrance. The base and garage door are painted solid with Benjamin Moore "Hampshire Grey." This deeper color gives the massive facade a grounded base, and makes for a more stately appearance from the sidewalk. Now the overall look of this house is grand, true to its period style, without being cute or nostalgic.

Lynne Rutter Murals & Decorative Painting

Arabesque

2009-03-31T12:22:00.000-07:00

An interior detail of the new Grand Mosque Abu Dhabi, photo by Imran Akram

My fascination with Arabesque ornament... may have begun in Prague many years ago, when I first saw the Španělské Synagogy "Spanish Synagogue", built in 1868 in the Moorish Revival style. Inside it is completely covered in geometric Arabesque designs. Seeing the architectural ornamentation on such a scale made me want to run home and encrust every surface I could find with pattern.

A plate from "Art arabe : mosquée de Qaouâm el-Dyn: détails du tombeau" (1877)

It's not just that it's pretty, but it resonates with the math geek in me. The division of space, the arrangement of color, the... fractals!

Arabesque art developed in regions where Islam has been dominant; such as Morocco, Moorish Spain, India, Turkey, and the Arab states; and embodies Muslim precepts in its themes, with the focus on patterns rather than on figures. The depiction of the human form is forbidden, considered too close to idolatry, and so the art tends to be decorative and ornamental in style - geometric, floral, calligraphy.
The style has inspired and influenced non-Islamic ornament and architecture in Europe and elsewhere, particularly in the 19th century with the trend towards in Orientalism in design, and romantic "revival" styles of architecture.

The incredible new Grand Mosque Abu Dhabi is a project that I have been watching with interest. It was completed in March, 2008, and I am especially gleeful over the work of British designer Kevin Dean included in the massive courtyard's inlaid marble floors (above) and archways, a fantastic modern take on the floral elements of this style. More gorgeous pictures of this splendid new mosque can be found on the photography site of Imran Akram .

"Islam Ornament" (mosaic ceilings) photographed in Pakistan by Judith Barath

Mosaics can also play a prominent role in the ornamentation of buildings. In addition to the overall appearance of a colorful pattern, the play of light over the surface of thousands of tiles adds another level to the message of this art: this all fits together in an infinite pattern... do you see now, how you too are part of a larger pattern, how you belong?

How envious I am of my friend and colleague Tania Seabock, for this incredible ceiling she created for a client in the arabesque style, which includes tens of thousands of gold faux mosaic tiles!

I have a room set aside for my own spin on arabesque ornament, and look forward to sharing my inspiration and progress.

Some internet resources:

New York Public Library Digital Gallery

Islamic Art photo set by Flickr member Sir Cam

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia

IAAO: Islamic Arts and Architecture

Some recommended books on Arabesque ornament:

Arabesques. Decorative Art in Morocco

The Majesty of Mughal Decoration: The Art and Architecture of Islamic India

The Art of the Islamic Tile

Ipek: The Crescent & the Rose: Imperial Ottoman Silks and Velvets

Iznik: The Artistry of Ottoman Ceramics

Islamic Art in Detail

Arabic Art in Color (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)

Lynne Rutter Murals & Decorative Painting

Brush Shopping in Kyoto

2009-03-20T18:51:00.000-07:00

Cabinet full of watercolor and calligraphy brushes, porcelain palettes, at Saiundo Fujimoto.

While in Kyoto, I paid a visit to the shop of Saiundo Fujimoto, very well known for hand-made watercolors, and "special materials for Japanese-style painting." This is a lovely little shop, crammed with special brushes, paper, and supplies: glue (nikawa), chalk (gohun), and powdered mineral pigments (iwa-enogu), everything for Nihon-ga and other forms of Japanese painting.

Ms Fujimoto added my card to the guest artist book. The drawers behinds her are full of bamboo handle brushes, and trays of watercolors.

Here is my lovely new set of handmade watercolors, each in its own little ceramic tray. What a gorgeous palette, just as it is.

A display of sumi-e paint brushes at Kyukyodo.

Just up the street from Saiundo Fujimoto is a wonderous store called Kyukyodo. They specialize in calligraphy papers, brushes, incense, and lovely gifts. Trust me it took all of my will not to buy one of these giant sumi brushes.

Next time you are in Kyoto,
Visit Saiundo Fujimoto: Anekoji Fuyacho Higashi, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto.
here is a little map to help you find it (click to enlarge.)

Kyukyodo is only a short block away here (map)

My thanks to Diane Durston and her wonderful guide book Old Kyoto: The Updated Guide to Traditional Shops, Restaurants, and Inns

Lynne Rutter Murals & Decorative Painting

Waltzing through Life

2009-03-19T10:38:00.000-07:00

Erling Wold composed these two waltzes for me. This performance of the SFCCO, conducted by the Maestro himself, at Old First in San Francisco.
*sniff* I think I'll keep him.

The latest FAD in Tokyo

2009-03-13T03:00:00.000-07:00

No, I am not talking about Gothic-Lolita fashion!

While in Tokyo last week, I had the opportunity to pay a visit to fellow decorative painter Yaeko Kurimata, of F.A.D. Faux Arts Design.

I met Yaeko-san at the SALI convention in San Francisco, and again in Chicago last summer where she demonstrated her talent and expertise at the International Decorative Painting Salon. In addition to being a fantastic artist, she is also a teacher and successful entrepreneur with a thriving business in commercial interiors.

When she heard I was coming to Tokyo, Yaeko-san invited me to participate as guest speaker at a "World of Decorative Paint Introduction" she was giving to major design firm. What an honor to be included as the "out of town expert!" A dull employee lounge was transformed with FAD's many gorgeous samples and stencils on the walls and windows, creating a beautiful environment for this presentation.
Yeako-san gave a thorough talk about the possibilities and advantages of faux painting. I especially liked that she had 5 unique samples all made with the same stencil, to demonstrate how different a pattern can look depending on the materials or colors used.
I asked the designers about their color preferences (they are liking earth colors, and pastels) and we briefly discussed how color trends and choices vary with light and location.
I was then treated to an amazing sushi lunch, and we spent the rest of the day talking shop and taking care of business at the large and busy FAD studios. What a wonderful day with an inspiring, energetic, and accomplished woman!

Later in the week, Erling and I made the trek out to the aptly named Tokyo Big Sight and the huge GEISAI event, to see some of the work of Akira Ishiguro, a member of the FAD team of artisans. His latest paintings take the "ideal beauties" painted by Ingres to another level, by substituting anime Manga girls with big eyes and elongated figures, for the (equally impossible) goddess-like figures of the early 19th century European ideal. They were beautifully painted and, he sold all of them. Congratulations, Akira-san!

Yaeko Kurimata will be demonstrating as a participant at SALON this year in Bergamo, Italy in April;, and teaching some of her special techniques at this year's IDAL Convention in Memphis TN in July.

Lynne Rutter Murals & Decorative Painting

Totoro Fan

2009-03-12T05:02:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite anime films is the 1988 Hayao Miyazaki classic Tonari no Totoro. I spied this "20th Anniversary Commemorate Fan" in a shop in Tokyo and was overcome with glee. If you look closely, you can see in its design soot sprites, and even the cutout shapes of little totoros in the spokes of the fan.

Lost in Translation

2009-02-28T13:03:00.000-08:00

I am accompanying the maestro to Japan, where he will be attending the Tokyo Performing Arts Market this week.
I just love this brochure designed to present Erling's work to the Japanese. "Libertine" is here translated as "freethinker."

Joy Prevails Over Apathy

2009-02-10T10:01:00.000-08:00

Every year some team of experts decides what the "color of the year" is going to be, and for 2009, it's a certain color of yellow. I had already been working on this panel of chinoiserie using a bright Imperial Yellow field when I heard this "news."
Interesting how these "fashions" in wallpaper, trends in paint, styles and colors, come and go, and come back again. The myth here is that anything is ever really all that new.

My painting above has a trompe l'oeil illusion, of brightly colored chinoiserie paper being torn up from its predecessor, the monochromatic neoclassical stencil pattern. Don't get me wrong, I love neoclassical design, but these days I feel a need for color. I find myself attracted not to just one color, but the combination of them, and I come back to this bright yellow every so often because it makes me happy. I felt, every moment I worked on this painting, basking in yellow, the sensation of pure joy!

So to me this painting is about the triumph of joy. The joy of color dominating the innocuous, monochromatic style; the joy of vision over nostalgia; of radiating rather than retreating.

Lynne Rutter Murals & Decorative Painting

Arts and Crafts Flowering Frieze

2009-02-10T01:03:00.000-08:00

Some months ago I completed work in this unique project for the Malibu home of the illustrious Ms. Barbra Streisand. The design of the library was inspired by the "Ultimate Bungalows" built by notable Arts and Crafts architects, Greene and Greene.
I was commissioned to paint a frieze for the new library, recreated after the famous Thorsen House in Berkeley, California.

original Thorsen House rose branch frieze, painted by Charles Greene

The rose branches were originally painted by Charles Greene in 1910, on sailcloth, in a somewhat oriental style. These have, over time, discolored from smoke and aging varnish.

Ms. Streisand endeavored to include historically accurate detail in creating this room, and the library has much of the same style of joinery that make up the signature Greene and Greene woodwork. I custom-painted the Thorsen-style frieze using the same style and materials as the original,, and meticulously trimmed the the canvas panels to fit into these mouldings. Some additional painting was done on site to finesse the composition.

The addition of the floral border in the room strikes just the right balance. It's hard to describe, but the effect is stunning.

* While I was allowed to photograph my work, I was asked not to show pictures of this spectacular room itself, as it is to be featured exclusively in Architectural Digest sometime soon.

The Thorsen House is owned and maintained by the fraternity Sigma Phi, whose members take the best possible care of their home and give spontaneous tours whenever asked. They are trying to raise the estimated $10 million needed to restore this landmark.
Please visit their website and make a donation!

frieze is in the glossary!

Lynne Rutter Murals & Decorative Painting

Victorian Woodgraining

2009-01-25T17:25:00.000-08:00

This splendid Victorian front door set with leaded glass windows
was finished with a simplified faux bois effect by Lynne Rutter.

In San Francisco Victorians, it's fairly common that the dark woodwork so commonly found in their interiors is actually redwood, that has been painted with a faux bois finish to look like something richer and more expensive. This style of woodgraining usually emulated mahogany, and was often nothing more than a layer of deep tinted glaze pulled over a painted surface, then varnished. This simplified faux bois technique is a remarkably effective treatment.
In older American cities like New York or Chicago the faux bois used in Victorian homes was a complicated process resulting in a realistic imitation of wood, but in boomtown San Francisco, there were few skilled painters available in the rapidly growing city, so most made do with a very simple graining job; and then it was off to the next house!

One of my specialties as a restoration painter is rehabilitating and recreating these period finishes, which requires careful matching of color and mimicking the style of the original painter.

Missing ceiling mouldings were recreated (left) then glazed to match the original finish (right)

In this Mission District Italiante mansion, removal of a 20th century dropped ceiling in the dining room revealed the original mouldings, damaged but well worth saving! Missing areas were re-created by a carpenter, and then we painted them with a woodgrain effect to match the original finish. We also created a typical faux bois finish for the baseboards, doors, and casings, to restore the room's period look.

My associate Melka Myers is creating a burl effect in the insets of some reproduction doors.

The parlor in this house had an interesting paneled ceiling that had been painted over many times. I designed a color palette and finishes for this room to create a more Victorian period atmosphere. As you can see the finish starts with a bright, apricot colored base.

My good friend Tania Seabock was available to help us, and worked some magic to create this finish using only one layer of glaze, to skillfully fashion a convincing faux bois finish.

The effect is stunning, so much so that it's hard to believe anyone would want to paint it white. It's worth the extra effort to finish these surfaces as they were intended; you get so much more out of the architecture.

click on any image to view larger

Lynne Rutter Murals & Decorative Painting

A Feast for the Eyes

2009-01-09T15:19:00.000-08:00

If there is anything a decorative artist might love more than beautiful picture books, it's good food.
So, a group of 11 fellow painters and I have assembled a collection of inspiring images from travels and observations with the camera, as well as a few shots of our own work, and mixed them together with our favorite recipes to make a unique little cookbook called A Feast for the Eyes: Memorable Recipes and Images from Decorative Artists.

Our self-published book is a nimble little 7"x7" volume featuring 21 of our favorite recipes, and 51 inspiring color photographs collected from all over the world: from Indiana to China, from Florence, Italy to Orinda, California.
The variety of recipes and the easy preparation of each dish makes this a useful book to keep handy, and the treasury of photographs will give you a thrill even when you are not cooking.

A Feast for the Eyes is currently available through the Blurb.com Bookstore .

Lynne Rutter Murals & Decorative Painting

The Fabulous Peacock Parlor of Mr. Clem Labine

2008-12-28T14:46:00.000-08:00

During our recent visit to New York, the maestro and I made a trip out to Brooklyn, to visit Mr. Clem Labine at his historic Park Slope brownstone.

Portrait of the Publisher as a Young Aesthete.

Mr. Labine is a longtime Friend of Artistic License, and the notorious founder and former editor and publisher of the Old House Journal, Traditional Building, and Period Homes magazines, all of which sprang from his passion for preserving and improving older buildings, starting with his own spectacular manse. It's no surprise that his home boasts outstanding original as well as restored features and is decorated in high Victoriana, complete with koi pond and neoclassical statues.

My favorite room is the Peacock Parlor, the formal sitting room on the grand main floor of the house, with its massive original casings and doors, high ceilings, coral walls, and crammed with art and statues. On the day we visited, an indoor bocce court (non-regulation) had been constructed on the spacious peacock feather patterned carpet. But the real story for The Ornamentalist here is the custom-painted frieze.

Unusually large at about two and a half feet high, the Peacock Frieze was designed and painted ~ 30 years ago by Austrian-trained Helmut Bucherl, ably assisted by Howard ("Howie the Grainer") Zucker, the son of a German-born decorative painter. Both artisans spent most of their professional life working for Rambusch Painting Studios of New York. The inspiration for the design was found in an old Dover Edition and embellished by Mr. Bucherl, whose Austrian roots show in the Secessionist-style elements. The ceiling has a very cool anthemion detail of stylized peacock feathers. These borders were painted using a combination of stencils, pounces, hand-shading, and gold leaf, and the entire room, including the ceiling, has been glazed. While the color are rather intense, in the intimate light of this room, they look perfectly balanced.

The peacock motif was adapted to create a four by eight foot ceiling rosette with a fabulous antler-branch spiral border and gold leaf accents which glitter above the electrified gas chandelier.
As you can see a gorgeous decorative painting job endures, like great architecture.

click on any image to view larger
anthemion is in the glossary!

Visit Clem Labine's new blog, The Preservationist

Lynne Rutter Murals & Decorative Painting

Faux Volcanic Glass Mosaic Tiles (by popular demand!)

2008-12-01T16:06:00.000-08:00

I had a commission earlier in the year to paint some hand-made tiles to look inlaid with volcanic glass mosaic, for an Arts and Crafts period effect. So many people asked me how this was done I recorded the process for this "How-To" post!

The plain tiles are hand-formed, with a rough burgundy colored glaze on top. The surface is uneven and not very smooth, which makes it difficult to paint. So to get paint to stick to this surface, I decided to etch it. For the initial sample, the "stencil" is just masking tape.
After cutting the design out, I applied Etch-All creme over the design, waited 15 minutes, then rinsed thoroughly with water. NB- nasty stuff- wear gloves and a respirator.After rinsing I checked to see if the etching had any effect... and it sure did! In fact, I think it would be cool to etch designs into tiles like this and not paint them! Before painting, I let this dry overnight.
For the painting, I started with a layer of gesso tinted to a peach color with burnt sienna acrylic. Over that I added some layers of copper and gold metallic acrylic and a selection of interference paints. To keep the surface smooth I use a soft blending brush to soften out the paint.
It's hard to get good coverage with such transparent colors, so many layers are needed and you have to be careful not to let brushstrokes build up.

To get that volcanic glass look, I apply the interference colors in a bit of rainbow- each "piece" has several colors changing from red to green to oxide, etc
When the sample was finished, as you can see if you look very closely, the tape bled a bit during the etching process. So in the next round I used a solvent-resistant masking film from an auto-body shop.

Because the tiles are dark it was a challenge to transfer the design onto a clear film. I ended up transferring the design to the tile with bright red saral paper, then sticking the mask on them, and then cutting the design out. This whole process took only about 1 hour.

Following the steps above, the tiles were then etched.

As the tiles are not flat and the glaze has a lot of bubbles and texture, getting the masking film to stick perfectly was not possible. But on a smooth flat machine made tile, this would work like a dream. One bonus about this film- once the water dries off it, it can be re-adhered.

Now for the fun part!layers of interference and metallic acrylics blended together and softened with a black sable fitch. Important: let the paint cure hard (4 - 12 hours) and bray the edges down to break the acrylic paint film, before lifting the masking film.

A finished set of tiles: pretty, water-resistant, and unique.
This process can also be used for tiles that are already installed.

Lynne Rutter Murals & Decorative Painting

Cover story!

2008-11-30T22:47:00.000-08:00

December 2008 - check out this month's California Homes magazine, whose cover story puts the spotlight our favorite new San Francisco designer, Claudia Juestel of Adeeni Design.

The cover article features a historically significant Victorian country house in Diablo, California, to which I have previously contributed a fair amount of work, including restoring and recreating the faux bois for the baseboards and doors in the main parlors and entry, the entry floor, and the ornamental overdoor panels in the living room.

Above: The panels over the windows and doors in the Living Room were painted by Lynne Rutter.
Artistic License associate Brian Kovac created a weathered wood finish for the beams in the newly built wine cellar.

I am so happy to see this work used in Claudia's fresh design, which is an eclectic, worldly mix, and celebration of the Victorian house's original features.

<-- The entry with its painted checkerboard floor and restored faux bois baseboards and casings.

Here is proof positive that you can live,
really live in a period home, with all its "dark" wood and traditional proportions, and still have a joyful, current interior.

click on images to view larger.
images 1 and 2 © California Homes Magazine
image 3 photo by Bernardo Grijalva

Lynne Rutter Murals & Decorative Painting

Language of Cloth Textile Show and Sale

2008-11-24T19:29:00.000-08:00

Attention fashionistas and fans of color and fabric!
It's time once again for the Language of Cloth textile sale.

Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays
from November 28 - December 21, 2008
650-B Guerrero St San Francisco
415-431-7761

the blue: hand woven silk with a kotak-kotak pattern (grid) The issen-issen (batik filler patterns) fill in areas defined by the textured pattern of the weave. This design was inspired by an antique obi.

Every year my good friend Daniel Gundlach brings home a fabulous collection of handmade textiles of cotton and silk from Indonesia, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand. Unusual one of a kind pieces blending traditional techniques with modern eclectic style. Wonderful for wearing, for decor, and with many affordable choices for gifts.

the orange:
hand -drawn batik tulis on Korean silk jacquard, in a flowing basket weave. The batik follows the pattern of the weave in some areas.

Each piece is unique, hand-made using a very labor intensive process, and the sale of this work supports the artists, and the communities in which they were created.

Lynne Rutter Murals & Decorative Painting

Library Children's Room Mural completed!

2008-10-21T22:03:00.000-07:00

We recently finished the murals for the Children's Room in the Burlingame Public Library. I am so thrilled with the transformation of this space!

<----- Sierra as Melisande

The mural was commissioned by the Burlingame Library Foundation to commemorate the centennial celebration of the Library.

My goal was to create a mural that appears original to the room, as though it's always been there. Indeed it is hard to imagine the room without the paintings.

The North "main" mural wall is about 37 feet wide and the ceilings are 20 feet high. The first 5 feet of the walls are filled with bookcases, so all of the murals had to be painted with perspective from below eye-level.

There is a large metal grate and a little maintenance door in this wall, that I worked into the design, so the architecture became part of the composition of the mural.

I had a lot of fun re-imagining this little door area, to make it an entrance to a castle, or possibly, another world.

Faraway Castles, approx. 9 feet wide

We added images all around the room, so the room becomes a story, its walls the pages of a favorite book.
Details like tiny faeries, mice, and California poppies become more noticeable when you get up close.

(click on images to view larger)

See my previous post for work in progress images, and more about this project

Centennial Mural story in San Mateo Times

Bay Area Art Quake review by Phil Gravitt!

My thanks to:
Burlingame Library Foundation for their support and this amazing commission
the Burlingame Librarians for all their research and enthusiasm
interior design consultant Michelle Nelson
and to the ladies of my atelier: Sierra Helvey and Melka Myers.

Lynne Rutter Murals & Decorative Painting

Library Children's Room Mural- in progress

2008-10-13T12:54:00.000-07:00

The Russian Prince brings home the Firebird

This week we will be finishing a large children's room mural for the Burlingame Public Library,

Commissioned by the Burlingame Library Foundation, the murals draw inspiration from the "Golden Age of Illustration" the great storybooks of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, like Maxfield Parrish, N.C. Wyeth, Arthur Rackham.

The Burlingame Library is a charming Spanish Revival style building was designed by architect E. L. Norberg and completed in 1931.
The children's room is a large space with soaring, beamed ceilings, textured plaster walls, and a lot of odd angles. This presented a challenge as there is no one focal point to the room, nor is there a large uninterrupted space where one might normally site a mural.
So I designed a mural that uses the architecture, grates, doors, and arches, as part of the composition.

Work in progress on the north wall.

We painted the murals on canvas in my studio, then glued to the walls and in some areas, additional painting is done on site.

The Foreign Prince, being cut out prior to installation.

installing the castle mural in an arch

The Burlingame Library will "unveil" this mural during their Centennial celebration on Sunday, October 19, 2008.

Lynne Rutter Murals & Decorative Painting