July 15th, 2008
Cool Canvases Series 1
When I started in this “pattern” business years ago (as in 25 years ago) I spent almost all of my time drawing and designing original stencils for Royal Design Studio. As that business evolved into two businesses I now find myself too busy “managing” things to actually have time to sit down and draw so have become more of what I consider to be someone who “designs with patterns” more than someone who “designs patterns”. There are so many gorgeous designs to pull from history and different cultures! Plus, I find so much creativity in combining them with different colors, paints, plasters and metallic mediums! Such was the case the last few weeks in creating these large canvases for a trade show to show off some new ideas and designs we’ve been developing. Most of these will get incorporated into upcoming classes and other educational materials. I LOVE having the ability to spark new ideas for other people.
This canvas incorporates one of my favorite mediums, Jasmine Portofino with metallic foil and antiqueing stain.
I was going to to this up very “Hollywood Regency” in a more simple graphic way (black and white, perhaps) but the color bug was just biting too hard.
Instead, I chose the black and white theme (plus a little silver) for this Art Deco panel.
The background is actually a really soft, organic plaster, which helps to soften the highly waxed Venetian plaster.
Inspired by my recent trip to Morocco, I had to indulge myself with a glorious blue and orange color combination.
I love the symmetry and geometry of Zellij tiles. In Morocco you will see numerous different patterns and colorways all used within the same space-but I chose to keep it simple here for American tastes.
I really didn’t know where I was going with this arabesque pattern, but like where it landed. I used polishing plasters and wax for this finish and it ended up looking quite Fortuny-ish, so I am looking forward to reworking this technique with a Renaissance damask pattern. More soon….
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July 15th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
Gorgeous,amazing,breath-taking…..
July 15th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
What an amazing talent, I love to see what ideas you are going to come up with next
July 16th, 2008 at 5:23 am
Melanie,
You continue to astound!!!!!!!
Just delicious. Great work!
July 17th, 2008 at 8:04 am
Thank you ladies! Thanks Mom/Jean.
August 10th, 2009 at 5:52 am
wow
Excellent madam realy your webpages,design and colors