Fauxology

Fauxology, the marvelous blog written by  the effervescent Regina Garay,  is today featuring an exposé of yours truly,  with big, color pictures.

And while you are there have a good look around her blog, it's full of great useful information and inspiration from Regina's work, her library, and the other artists she has gathered there.

Thanks Regina, for this flattering entrée into the world of Fauxology!

image:  self-portrait in the Unteres Belvedere: Goldenes Zimmer   Vienna, Austria

Lynne Rutter Murals and Decorative Painting

Setting the Stage

Everyone should have a leviathan at their wedding.

For our recent nuptial celebration, Maestro and I let the Slovenian Hall, only a few blocks from our home, with a small stage just begging for some decorating. Such a splendid event after all, required the proper setting.

---- The Slovenian Hall stage, lots of polysester drapes and potential

Friends far and near contributed ideas and inspiration.  Carla Eagleton lent me some fantastic vintage Fortuny drapes  from her wonderful textile collection, delightfully shredded and faded in places, and I painted a valance to match their colors, with a metallic shell motif in its center. Something old, borrowed, and blue, and something new to go with!

I am also lucky to have as a friend, the sage and talented  Ziska Childs, who sent me the enormous gift of a suitably  fantastic designer elevation, with a baroque grotto, complete with a leviathan or two, of course.

grotto backdrop in progress in the studio

.... this would have been far easier to produce if  my studio were a bit bigger.  The backdrop had to be projected in  twelve parts.  The ground row had to be cut into  six pieces just so we could get it out the door (something we thought of at about 11 pm after nearly finishing the assembly of it. oops.) Thanks to my volunteers Erling and Erika, and my assistant Sierra, it all gone done in plenty of time and once installed was quite fabulous.

 

In addition to our ceremony, in which Erling pledged to be my  liege-man against all manner of folks, the grotto played host to many great performances throughout the evening. 

Woody Woodman and Igor Finger reading "The Devil in the Drain"  in their own inimitable style 

(photo by Marty Takagawa)

 

Griffin Runnels (my nephew) performing  "The Rainbow Connection"

which little monster is cuter, now I ask you.

More about the performances and happenings  are mentioned at Erling's blog
Endless thanks  are due to all our creative  friends and family who contributed their time and skill, painting and singing and playing and  tying ribbons and dancing and remixing things to make beautiful noise and clear the room just when I needed the space to dance, and all conspiring to make this all such an extraordinary evening.

Lynne Rutter Murals and Decorative Painting

Wedded Kiss

Maestro and Empress have tied the knot! As you read this we are on our way to the scenic desert for some warm, moonlit nights.  We look forward to our future which is sure to be filled with love, beauty, and music.  

photo by Karen Johnson

Eye of the Beholder

 Lover's eye portrait pin with seed pearls, circa 1810

Since writing my first post about miniature eye portraits  (September 2008) or "Lovers Eyes" as they are often called,   I have managed to get even a bit more obsessed with them, and even succeeded in finding one for my very own (above) via Tail of the Yak in Berkeley, one of my favorite sources for inspiring things.

Last year I started restoring a family collection of miniature portraits and have spent many hours looking closely at how they were painted.

I like to paint at very large scale, and in so doing I closely examine and celebrate details and moments in paintings that would otherwise just be accents.  Perhaps because of this examination, these intimate little gems really enthrall me, and I have been researching the techniques involved in creating them. Usually miniature portraits were painted with gouache or watercolor on ivory, and later cellulose nitrate, also known as ivorine.  Lover's eyes  were nearly always mounted into jewelry:  pins, pendants, and sometimes rings.   Mourning jewelry sometimes took this form as well.
In my research I found a number of artists  from the 20th century who were working in this medium, as well as contemporary artists who are reviving this art in their own fashion.

Tabitha Vevers has painted some beautiful lover's eyes based on portraits by Simon Martini, Ingres,  and even Man Ray.
The image at left is one of Vevers' lover's eye miniatures, painted in oils after a Bronzino portrait.

Mona Connor has recently started a series of miniature eye portraits using  egg tempera, and has even started a blog about this project.

Eye portrait of Erling Wold,  250% of life size, oil on panel ©Lynne Rutter

I might continue to work larger than life, but I am so inspired by these tiny tributes, and the methods used to create them, that I may be launching a new project of my own soon.

Lynne Rutter Murals and Decorative Painting

Recent Press for Moi

Today I learned my interview with the Faux Finisher Magazine resulted in the cover story for the Spring 2010 issue, including a seven page spread about my "illustrious and varied career"  with lots of color pictures.  PDF of article here.

This is a painting and decorating trade magazine published by the PDRA, for specialists in the decorative painting industry.
 

In both April and March I had work featured at  the on-line magazine ID-Digest which is  a great resource for designers, artisans and  those who appreciate fine living.

My thanks to these publications for the recognition, I am honored!

Lynne Rutter Murals and Decorative Painting

Musing

A splendid corner bit, from a ceiling at the MAK, Vienna. 

 photo by Lynne Rutter, Vienna, Austria 2008
click on image to view much larger.

Lynne Rutter Murals and Decorative Painting

Florentine Furniture Painting Workshop

I am thrilled beyond belief to be hosting this wonderful four day  intensive workshop taught by my friend Alison Woolley, of Florence Art  in Florence, Italy.  Mark your calendars now and join me for this rare opportunity to learn the traditional Florentine methods for decorating furniture and cabinetry,  in my studio in San Francisco, California.

Florentine Furniture Painting 

dates: Thursday, July 29 - Sunday, August 1, 2010
class hours 9:30 AM - 5:30 PM

instructor:  Alison Woolley

location: Lynne Rutter Studio, San Francisco

The techniques taught in this four day course are useful for creating some very special accent furniture pieces, cabinetry, or unique art panels, and a distinct addition to your portfolio. This class will also serve as an introduction for those who wish to learn how to restore antiques, or do conservation or decoration work for old houses.

 
You will learn a variety of techniques to decorate wooden surfaces which come from the historical tradition of decorators working in the artisan district of Florence, Italy. This craft developed its many rich facets over many centuries, starting with the decoration for churches and altar panels in the 13th century and continuing on to the present day. Decorators perfected techniques for decorating wooden surfaces, gilding them and coloring them with a rich variety of designs and finishes. 

  

Class projects

~ Create a wooden panel decorated with techniques for Italian and French country style painted furniture. 
~Additional wooden moldings with antique furniture finishes
~ Stencils and tracings are supplied. Example panels to work from are also supplied.

Topics and Techniques covered:
~ Design and transfer techniques for historical styles of ornament
~ Techniques for decorating wooden frames, furniture, and cabinetry using traditional materials such as casein, gesso, bole, varnish, and wax.
~ Historic painting techniques for creating Italian and French country style painted  furniture
~ Techniques used in restoration of antique furniture and frames
~ Antiquing and patina techniques for creating a genuine, softly aged finish.

Class fee:  $1,250.
~ price include sample panels,  all paint and materials, and lunch each day.

~ Students must bring:  work clothes, stencil brushes, fine tip synthetic brushes for decorative painting, large brush for wax.

Some brushes and supplies will be available at the studio for sale.

Special  half day seminar just added:
Florentine Decorative Gilding Techniques
Monday August 2, 2010  Noon - 5 PM
a combination of demonstrations and hands-on exercises showing traditional water gilding techniques and decorative techniques for gilded surfaces. Useful for people who would like to either work with these techniques, do small repairs to gilded antiques, or simply wish to have a better understanding and appreciation of how antique and contemporary gilded frames and furniture are decorated.
cost:  $200.  deposit with reservation- $50
Students taking the four day furniture workshop may attend this seminar for the cost of materials only -  $38. 

Alison Woolley has been a practicing artisan in Florence for  20 years. She developed her craft working for many years in several well known botteghe or workshops of Florence, before opening  her own studio.

To reserve your space in this class:

~ contact Lynne Rutter  

reservations for this class are now closed. Please contact Lynne for information about this or future classes.

Oil Gilding Workshop

Obsessed with Gilding? So are we!

Expert gilder Melissa Goldman and I have added another weekend workshop on the art of gilding.

Traditional Oil Gilding --- 2 day Intensive Hands-on Workshop:
April 24-25, 2010 Saturday and Sunday

instructor: Melissa Goldman Gilding Conservator

this class will be offered again soon. please check back


location: Lynne Rutter Studio
2325 3rd St. #207, San Francisco, CA
Come and join us to learn the principles, properties and history of materials for traditional Oil Gilding!
This class will be specific to architectural gilding and three-dimensional objects such as furniture, frames, and objects d’art. You will learn how to properly prepare any surface to receive pure gold leaf or imitation leaf (Compositon/Dutch metal).
For this workshop, we will practice using both imitation gold and aluminum leaf. How to lay genuine gold and silver leaf, “surface” and “patent”, will also be demonstrated and discussed. Mica powders, hard-waxes, traditional sealants and patination materials and techniques will be demonstrated and applied.

This class is open to all levels of skill. Students with water gilding experience will learn how to add burnished “highlights” to their work.

Architectural moulding samples and carved objects will be provided to work on. Students may also bring in their own objects to review and/or work on.
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this class will be offered again soon. please check back

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  Lynne Rutter Murals and Decorative Painting

The Back of the Museum

Tokyo National Museum, back hallway.


Waiting,  fire extinguisher.


Mosaic and textured plaster walls.




photos by Lynne Rutter, Tokyo, March 2009
click to view larger

awakening from that Blogger nightmare

For months now blogger has not been working properly on my site. They recently announced they will no longer be supporting FTP sites (blogs hosted by people like me on their own websites).
So I have "migrated" it now and with the help of Dr Wold it seems to be working.

It may take some time to repair busted links, etc. Search feature isn't working at all. rats.

If you wish to link to this blog or any part of it, please use http://www.ornamentalist.net

A Hidden Gem in Boston

Incredible circular stairway leading up to a 30 foot diameter leaded glass dome

I recently visited the fine city of Boston for the first time, just last week,  and I spent a wonderful day squired about by local artist and blonde vivant, Mark Hänser.

Operating on a tip from my fellow ornamentalist Cleta Grant,  we wandered off the  Freedom Trail and scoped out the New England College of Optometry, which is housed in part in a grand 1894 mansion in the historic  Back Bay district.   The staff obliged me by allowing me to snoop around with my camera.

Students crammed for exams in the splendid Victorian rooms, while we  tiptoed through some of the more fabulous parts of the house, gobsmacked at the beautiful oak paneling and magnificent ornamental painting.

above: superbly painted ornamental frieze over a gilt ground in the foyer/sitting area off the main stairway.  These murals are painted on canvas and glued to the walls.

 

Oak stairway topped with a gorgeous leaded glass dome and Italianate ornament painted over gold leaf.

The school campus was completely renovated in the late 1990’s and  has won local and national awards for outstanding preservation and adaptive use of historic buildings. The decorative painting remains in very good condition.

Detail of painted Italiante ornament with stenciled gilt background

A fantastic gold mosaic effect was created by stenciling a geometric pattern over the gold leaf base prior to painting the ornament. This breaks up the reflected light and really gives a marvelous impression, especially in the low winter light.  I fully intend to try this technique in a future project!

The school also has a cozy library and study area, with beautiful ornamental plaster ceilings and polychromed lincrusta on the walls. Look closely at the detail- how many times have I seen this fantastic material painted glossy white? Painted in this way it can emulate Renaissance-era  embossed leather wallcoverings.

detail of textured library walls

A florid bit of polychromed lincrusta with 12 karat gold accents,  in the NECO library

All images in this post by Lynne Rutter

please click on the images to see them at larger size!

Lynne Rutter Murals and Decorative Painting

The Last Time I Watched the Super Bowl

How painting a mural about the 49'ers made a football fan out of me.

Lynne Rutter painting  a scene from Super Bowl  XIX

In 1994 my friend and colleague Jennifer Ewing and I teamed up to paint an 80 foot long mural depicting the "History of the San Francisco 49'ers" for a Burger King in Mountain View, CA. The restaurant was owned by Len Rohde and his wife, Bev.  Len had been an offensive lineman for the 49ers for 15 seasons (1960-1974) and subsequently had other careers including teaching, coaching football, and owning franchises. During the 75th season of the NFL, and the 49'ers team nearing its 50th anniversary, the Rohdes wanted to decorate their flagship restaurant in a bright football theme.

The site has a long, narrow dining room and four wall panels about 20 wide and only 5 feet tall.  Bev and Len provided us with piles of 49'ers football memorabilia: photos, names, milestones, ephemera;  and we started arranging these things scrap-book style on large pieces of paper to assist the composition framing highlights in the team's history. We painted the mural on  long canvas panels in the studio, then installed them on site.

The narrative we designed started with the early years of the team 1946 - 1960, painted in muted reds and golds, sepia and nostalgic.   In those days the 49'ers played at Kezar Stadium, a lovely, open field at the end of Golden Gate Park.  This panel features Hall of Fame quarterback Y. A. Tittle (#14) about to enjoy a "Whopper" (the signature Burger King sandwich.)

During the painting of these murals,  I learned a tremendous amount about working with the color red. Red jerseys, red pennants, the red and gold uniforms changing from burgundy to glossy candy apple red  to bright fire engine red over the years.

Local favorite, quarterback John Brodie (#12), opens the second panel.  In 1970 the team moved to Candlestick Park.     

Certain Raiders fans in my life took exception to the choice of  Ken Stabler  (also #12) as the sacked quarterback, but  we decided there ought to be some black in the mural. The view on the far right shows the Bay Bridge, seen from Potrero Hill, where I live.

Jennifer working on a vignette from the mid 1970's

Football-fan friends, relatives, and former clients, came out of the woodwork with memorabilia, photographs, and stories of great games past.    People dropped by the studio a lot, and we began to realize that this wasn't just a large-scale, colorful, commercial job, but a testament to an important part of San Francisco history.  Accuracy was crucial - any fan that saw this painting would already know who was left-handed, how many yards so-and-so rushed, what is meant by "The Catch" and what happened on September 5, 1994 that really mattered.  

The Rohdes made frequent visits with reference materials, and Len taught me how to throw a perfect spiral down the long hallway next to the studio. I took to wearing a replica of Joe Montana's jersey while painting, for inspiration.  Jennifer arranged a shrine of memorabilia next to her desk.

Highlights of Forty Niner Football 1980-1995, featuring Joe Montana (#16) and Steve Young (#8)

While we were finishing this painting the 49'ers once again won the playoffs and headed for the Super Bowl. Our clients did not mind waiting until after the game had been played so we could design the right end of this mural to reflect the 49'ers victory in Super Bowl XXIX.
Prior to installing the mural Jennifer and I held a "tailgate party" in the studio as a send-off for the over 80 mythic football heroes portrayed in this mural.

Legend has it that the Forty Niners will once again go to the Super Bowl,  when we are next commissioned to paint about them. 



Congratulations to Jerry Rice,  who was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame today!!


You can enjoy this mural with your lunch at Burger King, 177 East El Camino Real, Mountain View, California.


click to view images larger
Interior design: Brenda Rudd
Site photos:  David Papas
mural © 1995 Jennifer Ewing and Lynne Rutter

Lynne Rutter Murals and Decorative Painting

La dernière Dauphine

portrait of Marie Thérèse Charlotte de Bourbon
gouache on ivory, signed "Chatain" circa 1825

When I went off to school, my father presented me with this painting so I could have something nice in my tiny dorm room. How long I've been attached to this wonky portrait with the bright eyes, its Empire gilt-brass frame of oak and laurel garlands and inexplicable rhinestones. I have moved it with me from one (tiny) bedroom to another for over 30 years.

This miniature was part of a collection assembled by my great-grandmother, who was something of a francophile. Over the last few months I have been cleaning and restoring the collection.

The portrait subject was unknown to me until recently when I opened the frame and discovered her name written on the back: La Dauphine Duchesse D'Angoulême. The painting is signed in the lower right front Chatain. After a bit of research I found that the noted miniaturist Hippolyte-Louis Garnier (best known to San Franciscans for his portrait of Lola Montez) had done a portrait of S.A.R. le Mme. La Dauphine, Duchesse D'Angoulême, around 1825, and made this lithograph after that painting. Chatain almost certainly copied after the same work by Garnier.

Garnier, Hippolyte-Louis (Paris, 1802 - 1855)
La Dauphine, Duchesse D'Angoulême
original lithograph with hand coloring, 1825

Marie-Thérèse Charlotte de France (1778-1851) was the Crown Princess and Duchess of Angoulême. She was the daughter of King Louis XVI and Marie Antionette, sole survivor of her immediate family, and the wife of Louis Antoine of Artois, the Duke of Angoulême. During the time this portrait was created she was in line to become the Queen of France, a title she subsequently held for a mere 20 minutes. She spent most of her adult life in exile in England and Scotland.

You can read more about the life of Marie-Thérèse in the historical novel Madame Royale by Elena Maria Vidal, and on Elena's wonderful blog, Tea at Trianon.

Lynne Rutter Murals + Decorative Painting

Vermillion

Newly painted columns at the restored Sanjūsangen-dō temple, Kyoto.

photo by Lynne Rutter, Kyoto, Japan, March 2009

Vermillion columns, deep charcoal gray roof tiles, white plaster walls, deep malachite green shutters, accents of canary yellow. I love this palette.

Lynne Rutter Murals + Decorative Painting

Ornamental Borders Workshop

Announcing the latest in our series of specialized workshops for professional decorative artists working to enhance and refine their skills


section of a ceiling border by Lynne Rutter

Ornamental Borders: Two Day Intensive Workshop
San Francisco
instructor: Lynne Rutter

Borders are the most versatile of ornamental embellishments! Even the simplest design can create a wonderful impact on a space. In this class we'll explore multiple techniques used to create some Renaissance-style ornamental borders, with an emphasis on design and transfer methods, as well as painting techniques including stenciling, pouncing, trompe l'oeil, lining, and gilding.
Learn each simple method and how to put them together to create more complicated designs. We'll discuss how to adapt ornament for a variety of different applications in today's interiors, while you create your own set of samples in hands-on practice.

 

location: Lynne Rutter Studio
2325 3rd St. #207, San Francisco, CA

Classes are held from 9 AM to 5:30 PM, with a one hour "study hall" at the end of each day, during which students may remain in the studio to practice at their own pace.

This workshop will be offered again soon. Please check back


ceiling of the Santa Croce Church, Florence

Lynne Rutter Murals + Decorative Painting

Turquoise- the color of the year

Erling's turquoise straw fedora

Colors seem to go in and out of fashion so much faster than I'd like. Of course I never tire of a color that I love, further, I feel it's really the combination of colors that makes them appealing or trendy (or not) and not just a single hue.

A New Year, and time once again for the experts to announce the "Color of the Year" which for 2010 is to be turquoise: a bright color full of possibilities and which works well to jazz up a variety of palettes. You'd be surprised how well it works with black, oxblood red, and even lavender.



I am pretty wild about these cobalt turquoise pigments available from Enkaustikos and from Sinopia (right).

Golden Artist Colors makes a brilliant cobalt turquoise acrylic paint; I used copious amounts of it in one of my recent projects.

further reading!

• Rather nice discussions of color from Ellen Kennon
  
• Have a look at this charming blog "House of Turquoise" for thousands of lovely images featuring this favorite color.
  
• Interesting "Color Futures" PDF brochure, from AzkoNobel features some new palette idea for 2010.
  
• Sherwin-Williams has an informative color site with a lot of nice examples.

Cards of Christmas Present

2003: " The 7th Angel of the Apocalypse" inspired by a 14th century ceiling fresco in southern Italy; the bombing of Iraq, and the capture of Saddam Hussein; and an obsession with ultramarine blue.

Since about 1971 or so, my parents have encouraged my art career (perhaps unwittingly) by asking me to do the artwork for their Christmas cards. I may post some of those early efforts here someday.
In recent years, Kit and Jet have traveled a fair bit, and it has become the tradition for me to design their Christmas card inspired by their most current trip abroad, be that Italy or Angor Wat. I paint them in gouache on paper, print the card, then frame the original artwork as their gift. I am told by my parents these cards are being collected by their friends.

So in case you are not on their mailing list, here are some selections from the last few years.

2008: I spent Thanksgiving weekend with Jet and Kit in Palm Desert, and sketched this view.

2009: A statue of the Madonna, damaged from fighting on D-Day, painted from a photo taken by my mother in Bayeux, France


2004: I made a too-short trip to Africa with my parents in May. This card was painted from my watercolor sketch of a Himba village in the Kaokoland, Namibia.


2005: Gospa od Škrpjela "Our Lady of the Rocks" painted from a photo taken by Kit in Montenegro

2006: from Kit's excellent photo of a Huli elder in Papua New Guinea.
I took some liberties with this portrait, aging the subject to make him look more wise and fierce.

all artwork in this post © Lynne Rutter
click on images to view larger

Lynne Rutter Murals & Decorative Painting