Indescribable Colors

Diamond St.  Victorian, color design by Lynne Rutter

The commisison to design a color scheme for this Victorian cottage in San Francisco's Noe Valley neighborhood,  started with a request for something that looked elegant, and "not so cute."   I am hearing this request with some frequency  these days.

before: a faded dusty-rose dollhouse

The Victorian Cottage is kind of like the Pollyanna of architecture. So upright and optimistic, so many opportunities for color - can they help but look a bit like doll houses?  Especially when they are painted dusty rose?  The previous paint job wasn't a bad color scheme at all, but it no longer suited the owners' feeling about their home.

My clients also directed me to a house they like in the area, that had recently been painted charcoal.   And they requested a red door.

I love red for front doors!  It's good feng shui.  Plus, you know right away where the door is.  

I started by looking for the perfect charcoal for this location. In full afternoon sun, I wanted it to look like charcoal grey flannel, and not  shift too blue or brown in the bright light.  How apropos that the C2 color I found to use as our base is called "Savile Row."

Wedgwood Jasperware color trials

I was working on this color scheme about the same time as I was studying up on Wedgwood Jasperware, which had provided an inspiring solution to another facade I was designing.   

I also found this set of  Jasperware glaze trials fascinating. Wedgwood had also struggled with achieving just the right tan, just the right mauve...

Somehow I find myself wanting to use those indescribable colors more and more,   like mauve,   puce, asphaltum, taupe, feldgrau, basalt.

Will these color be getting popular again, or is it just me?

Expert painting by San Francisco Local Color.

All of the paints used on this house are by C2 Color.   

 

Color Consulting by Lynne Rutter 415.282.8820

Lynne Rutter Murals and Decorative Painting

Painterly Cloud Ceilings - two day workshop!

A warm cloudscape, painted by Lynne Rutter for the Westin St. Francis Hotel, San Francisco

Cloudscapes can be painted as beautiful soaring ceilings on their own, or as the base for grand murals. A cloud ceiling mural can raise up the ceiling,  enhance the architecture of the space,  create the illusion of height, while bringing color and a sense of light to the room.
In this intensive workshop, learn techniques for painting decorative cloud ceilings that are artful, colorful,  and surprisingly fast to produce.   We'll explore various aspects of good design such as composing cloudscapes of different shapes and sizes to suit the proportions of the ceiling, and creating color palettes for tailoring the mural to the room and its decor. 

Beautiful lavender and peach painted clouds

Topics covered:  
- Cloud ceilings: demo and slide show

- Practice painting technique using a pre-mixed palette
- Practice painting technique at full scale

- Basic compositional matters for rectangular and "tray" ceilings

- Creating palettes for different colors and "moods" of skies - allowing for more expressive and painterly murals.
- Matching colors of cloudscapes to work with the interior design of the room

- Advanced cloud composition:  designing for domes, round,or oblong ceilings

- Designing clouds to use with figures or as part of more complicated ceiling murals

- Marouflage techniques for adding figures or birds into a ceiling or for installing a canvas mural in general.

Students will complete three unique full-scale cloudscape panels.

 

The Nine Muses, cloud ceiling mural with marouflage figures, painted by Lynne Rutter 
for the David Allen Co., Raleigh, NC  photo by Jim Sink

Two-Day Painterly Clouds Workshop

Instructor;  Lynne Rutter

dates:  Friday, December 17 - Saturday, December 18,   9:30 am - 5:30 pm

location:  Lynne Rutter Studio, San Francisco
class fee:  $825
includes all materials, 3 full size mural panels,  class notes,  
lunch and refreshments.

Supplies to Bring:
some or all of these: large artists or scenic brushes, your favorite natural sea sponge, pointed round glazing brush, #20 filbert.
Some brushes will be available for purchase in class.

To reserve space in this class   contact Lynne Rutter
phone  (415) 282-8820
You may send a check for your deposit of $250.  to 2325 Third St. #207, San Francisco, CA 94107

or use this handy PayPal button:

Painterly Cloud Ceilings class

reservation-deposit $250.00 pay in full $825.00

you do not need a PayPal account to use this method

Remaining payment is due the first day of class by check or cash only.

please note deposits are not refundable after December 3, 2010

All images in this post are work painted by Lynne Rutter ©Lynne Rutter
click on image to view larger

Lynne Rutter Murals and Decorative Painting

Historic Painted Furniture - new hands-on workshop

detail of a painted wooden box by Melissa Goldman

The latest in our ongoing series of painting workshops will explore the many possibilities of working with historic milk paint and other traditional paints for wooden furniture, cabinetry, and paneling.

Historic Painted Furniture
and Milk Paint Techniques
Two Day Hands-on Workshop,
November 6-7, 2010
with Melissa Goldman, Conservator and Restorer

Please join us for this intensive two day class and learn about natural historic paints, their traditional colors and uses.  Learn how to use milk paint to create beautiful, authentic finishes on raw wood as well as previously finished surfaces using a variety of historic painting techniques.

Milk Paint is an authentic historic paint that is
non-toxic and colored with natural earth pigments; it is safe for children’s toys, cabinets, and furniture. Those who are sensitive to modern paints can also use it.    Learn how to create natural crackle finishes, and explore various uses of wax, as well as antiquing and patination methods. In addition, we will cover tempera, distemper, and shellac-based paints and sealants, all historic and non-toxic; and naturally 100% VOC free.   You don't need to be a chemist to understand these simple, natural products!

kitchen cabinets finished naturally with milk paint

Ancient recipes, natural materials...   a joy to work with on new projects, and historically correct for antique conservation and restoration.  Come and learn the many ways this wonderful material can be used!  


Two Day Historic Furniture Painting Workshop
Instructor:  Melissa Goldman

When: November 6-7, 2010  9:30 AM - 5:30 PM

Where: Lynne Rutter Studio, San Francisco

 class fee:  $695
scroll down to reserve space in this class

Embellish your beautiful painted finishes with this  special full day ornament workshop:

18th Century commode restored by Melissa Goldman

Ornament for  Painted Furniture
Instructors:  Lynne Rutter and Melissa Goldman
When:  Monday November 8, 2010

9:30 AM - 5:30PM

class fee:  $250

special: students in Milk Paint class may add the ornament class for half price!

Learn techniques for adding ornamental motifs to painted cabinets and furniture using natural paints, with inspiration from  Scandinavian painted furniture to Early American styles and more. 
Students may bring in their own small projects or work with samples provided.

Dining Table of solid pine, painted by Lynne Rutter with milk paint and casein ornament, antiqued and waxed.

To reserve space in these classes contact Lynne Rutter
phone  (415) 282-8820
You may send a check for your deposit to 2325 Third St. #207, San Francisco, CA 94107

or use this handy PayPal button:

Historic Painted Furniture workshops

workshop 1 - deposit $250.00 ornament class 2 -deposit $50.00 reserve both! $300.00

You do not need a PayPal account to use this service.

Remaining payment is due the first day of class by check or cash only.
Deposits will not be refundable after October 23, 2010.

Lynne Rutter Murals and Decorative Painting

A House Inspired by a Jasperware Teapot

Portland Blue and Cane  Jasperware Tea Set, by Wedgwood

Recently I had a request to do the colors for a Queen Anne townhouse in San Francisco where my good friends the Von Petrins had just bought the upper flat. Having worked with them on the interior I already knew they prefer a more minimal/contemporary/unusual treatment, and they had even suggested the house be painted entirely black, a growing trend in San Francisco.

The partner owners love the Victorian style, but also wanted a deep color and directed me to houses painted dark blue. 

Raised in the 1920s to add a garage, the house is rather high off the sidewalk making the garage door a bit more obvious than the entry. So we discussed using a bright color on the doors to make them more visible.   The upper flat has white vinyl window units and I decided to just ignore them since they may be replaced soon.   The house had previously been painted pale blue and white,  in a way that de-emphasized the  ornament and flatted out the facade.    In fact it is patchwork quilt of different applied ornament, some original, some not.   I admit it, this one was a brain-teaser for me.    

How to make a daring, contemporary splash and still celebrate the Victorian ornament and have it all look cohesive?  The answer came to me while admiring a deep blue and ivory Wedgwood Jasperware teapot:  a lovely object that had 6 distinct  ornaments that look wonderful together, on a highly contrasting surface. Seemed to me a perfect solution! Rather than call out the details in different colors, ALL of the ornament can be the same color. 

So--- here is the result:

Naturally we added a bit of gold leaf here and there, and we have a few details still  to do. But I am completely thrilled with it.  It's a traffic-stopping house and reflects well the personalities of its owners.

Are you a fan of Wedgwood too?  Read on----

•  - Wedgwood celebrating their 250th year!
•  - Wedgwood Prestige Arabesque Tea Set limited edition available here
•  - Tea with Claudia:  Claudia Juestal interviews Lord Wedgwood  
•  - At Home with Wedgwood: The Art of the Table Tricia Foley's new book celebrates Wedgwood design

You may call Lynne Rutter for color consulting:  415.282.8820

Lynne Rutter Murals and Decorative Painting

 

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 host this wonderful four day  intensive workshop taught by my friend Alison Woolley, of Florence Art  in Florence, Italy.  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 

Four Day Course

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.

 

Special  half day seminar:
Florentine Decorative Gilding Techniques

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.
 

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.

 
These classes were taught in July and August 2010.
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.
----------

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