February 5, 2010
I LOVE this!
These glass and 24 carat gold mosaic tiles are arranged in a damask pattern that is fabulous!
Carlo Dal Bianco’s “Damasco Oro Giallo” tiles are seen at the website: http://www.carlodalbianco.it/
Glass tiles are everywhere right now…

Gold and glass tiles in damask pattern
This inspired me to create a faux finish for an accent wall with a similar feel. My first step will be to trowel on the “grout” layer using a metallic plaster. Pics coming soon…
Filed under Faux finishes, Inspirations, Plasters
Tags: gold leaf, damask, glass, glass tiles, gold, gold tiles, 24K, 24 carat gold, faux finish, metallic plaster, grout, accent wall
January 15, 2010

Gjelina in LA
Photography: Art Gray
This is the new LA restaurant, Gjelina. I would have loved to have seen the plaster design being made.
Go to www.gjelina.com for more information, hours, etc…
November 8, 2009
Great!
Around 300 folks strolled through, with the second and third floor studios busy from 2:30 till 9 p.m.! The variety of artists was impressive and the perfect weather added to the high spirits of our guests.
Better late then never, here is a nice article explaining the history of the factory’s Open Studio from ClevelandIndependent.com:
Our next Open Studio will be in May, 2010.
November 6, 2009
in the Lake Erie Screw building (also known as the Templar Industrial Park building) promises to be a blast!
Besides visiting the open studios on floors two and three, shopping for the holidays and snooping around to see how everyone else organizes their space, we’ll have plenty of food, drink and a live band at 8pm on the third floor.
I’ll be working on a few projects….
We hope to see you there!

October 27, 2009
come from magazine ads featuring rugs. There are some fabulous designs and color combos out there!

Asha Carpets- Isabelle

Asha Carpets- Accanto

Emma Gardner Design rug

Asha Carpets- Sakura
September 28, 2009
Hope you can join us!
Get inspired!


September 8, 2009
One of my favorite issues of Metropolis magazine is the April ’09 issue. It features the Rough Luxe Hotel that just opened in London. When Rabih Hage, the architect chosen to rehab the 1820’s Georgian home, saw the plaster walls after removing the wallpaper and paint layers, he fell in love with the beauty of the rough hewn walls and their resulting patina qualities. He designed the décor around each room’s walls, combining different textures to complement the whole.
Now how cool is that?
Here are a few photos:

Rough Luxe Hotel guest room

Rough Luxe Hotel- another guest room
September 6, 2009
For those of you who have asked to see what the Great Lakes Decorative Arts Studio looks like, here it is!
The Studio is located in the former Lake Erie Screw Factory in Lakewood, Ohio. It is a 2 minute drive from I90. The wonderful old factory houses over 50 various sized artisan studios. We hold an Open House twice a year, which is when most of these photos were taken. The studio is divided into two areas, the classroom and the work room. I keep the work room private; it is filled with products, works in progress, tools, ladders and anything else you can think of!

When I moved in...

After a little lime plaster and rust
Welcome to the Open House!

Coming into the classroom area
Here is the wall of finishes… in several pics

Finishes- first

Wall of finishes- two

Wall of finishes- three

Wall of finishes- four

The other long wall
In an upcoming post, I’ll tell you a bit about that gorgeous Art Deco screen that you see in the first photo.
Filed under Uncategorized
Tags: Art Deco, Art Deco screen, Brandt Art Deco screen, faux bois, finish, finishes, Great Lakes Decorative Arts Studio, iron paint, Lake Erie Screw Factory, Lakewood, lime plaster, open house, patina, rust, woodgraining
August 15, 2009
This is when the show, My Big Amazing Renovation, will air.
I was privileged to be selected as one of the artists chosen to take part in the renovation. My contributions included a medallion / border ceiling design in the homeowner’s sitting room and transforming ugly, gray cinder blocks into a continuation of the existing brick wall.
Before:
After:

Here is the ceiling:

I hope you catch the show as there are so many fabulous finishes and green solutions in the home. Inspiring artists…
August 14, 2009
are quite the popular combo at the moment. Especially during the summer months, I see this color composition everywhere. Flowers look great combined in these colors. In a home, this mixture can be a tad overwhelming, but accessories can be used to incorporate the colors with little investment.
Case in point- check out this gorgeous wedding bouquet:

No one creates a better bouquet then Pieter Bouterse!