The Steampunk Aquarium Mural

Giant octopus in a rusting iron aquarium

the garage before painting

I recently completed a fabulous project on a tiny detached garage in Oakland, California. My client is an avid scuba diver who loves all things Victoriana, and has a special attraction for octopi. So I devised a plan for a Jules Verne-inspired aquarium.

I designed the mural to incorporate the entire structure: the garage door became the glass "tank" and the building its "case."

The finished mural with many surprising details

In retro- steampunk fashion, trompe l'oeil rusting iron bolts and cast-iron brackets hold the aquarium tank together in a Victorian-style oak woodgrained case. The mural is completed with three portholes at the top and protected with several coats of UV varnish.


all images in this post ©Lynne Rutter

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Lynne Rutter Murals and Decorative Painting

simple design = big change!

sketch for silhouette mural: run spot run!

I recently completed a deceptively simple silhouette mural, for a veterinary ophthalmology practice in San Francisco. This mural is designed for an angled, and very long hallway wall, with a bumpy uneven surface.

the hallway before (L) , and with its new base color of blue

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 a nice color of warm blue had a tremendous impact on this space.

bulldog and horse see eye to eye!

The client asked that the design feature a variety of animals, emphasize the importance of sight, as well as show interaction between the animals and their human companions.
Here are some more details:

Kathy explaining derivatives to her hound

the great butterfly hunt!

Finished mural as seen from the reception area

Both the reception area and the hall now have a nice view!

You can see this mural in person at the office of Veterinary Vision in San Francisco.

Lynne Rutter Murals + Decorative Painting

Library Children's Room Mural completed!

Sierra as Melisande

We recently completed a sizable  mural for the Children's Room in the Burlingame Public Library. I am so thrilled with the transformation of this space!

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

My goal was to create a look 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 entire room was treated as part of the mural

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.

small maintenance door transformed into a secret castle entrance

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

mice and faeries among the poppies

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.

read a book!

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
I would especially like to acknowledge the contributions of my associates Sierra Helvey and Melka Myers who were instrumental in the design and production of this project.

Lynne Rutter Murals and  Decorative Painting

Library Children's Room Mural- in progress

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

Nursery Room Mural in SF Chronicle

July 31, 2005
San Francisco Chronicle Magazine
This wonderful children's room mural, commissioned by Sharmin and Brian Bock, is featured in the article "Room to Grow: Decorating, kid style" by Jane Meredith Adams.
The mural transformed a tiny, dark space into a cheery, open meadow, and features a portrait of Sharmin's horse painted onto the closet door as part of a trompe l'oeil "stable."
More than 8 years after it was painted, this room is still used as a playroom for the family's two children.

Lynne Rutter Murals + Decorative Painting