Thank you Long Island !!

Once again the votes have been counted and the Long Island Press has tops in all categories. The Best Artist Honors have been bestowed on Arlene Mcloughlin Murals the studio is finishing in the top 3 and is very proud and gracious to all Long Islanders who took part in this voting process! To read more please look for the January 15 issue of the LONG ISLAND PRESS

Merry Christmas to all!

Happy Holidays to my friends and family from myself and the staff at Arlene Mcloughlin Murals .

MEOW

Kids rooms are a joy to paint. Some of my favorite commissions have been for childrens living spaces. The client is always thrilled, the child's wide eyed wonderment and enthusiasm is contagious! My most recent project in a three year old little girl's room is quite the sophisticated look! The mother wanted a chocolate brown and pink color scheme, she painted "shadow boxes" around the room, but they were missing something.... I came in and added the "leopard print" through out the room, the completed project is very dramatic, fun and the perfect balance of whimsy.

Using Plasters in Mural work

Lately I have been getting calls for an olde world look to my mural painting. I enjoy utilizing plasters in my mural work and there are several ways I go about this. Traditionally if I am using a lime based plaster I will paint my mural as a fresco using egg tempera, earth pigments and water. This method is time consuming, and more expensive ar far as products being used, but the results are quite stunning, and finished murals look like old Italian walls. I also use a method where I paint my mural using regular artist acrylic paints. I use very saturated colors, and then I apply carefully placed layers of synthetic plasters on top of the painting. This method produces a crusty old worn down look that is quite attractive. The plasters can then be sanded for even more age, waxed or left alone.

Long Island Press BEST OF 2009

Arlene Mcloughlin Murals has been nominated again by the Long Island Press as LONG ISLAND'S BEST ARTIST!! Please show your support for us and vote at http://www.votebestofli.com/ we are located under the "Arts and Entertainment " section. This is an honor for me and our staff here at the studio. We work hard for our Long Island clients , to bring new and exciting Mural looks as well as Plaster and the latest Faux Finishing looks to you! So thanks again for the nomination, and keep voting for us!

Illuminated Jack o' Lanterns

http://www.nassaumuseum.com/spookyhalloween.html This is a link to a great Halloween exhibit, at the beautiful Nassau County Museum of Art. I am looking foward to participating this year, and carving a Jack 'o Lantern for the festivities, I can't imagine how cool 3000 illuminated pumpkins will be at night! Halloween is my favorite holiday, and these kind of community gatherings really get people in the celebratory mood. There are also several really good Haunted Houses in the area, my favorite being the Bayville Firehouse. This Haunted House is definitely not for the little ones, but more for a date night or group of people. Go on a rainy night! The numerous corn fields on Long Island and hayrides, pumpkin picking and festivities are in abundance so go have some Halloween fun! And go ahead eat your favorite candy bar...I know the Grand will be in ,my trick o treat bowl

Redecorating for teens, and tweens

When kids get to a certain age, 11-12 they no longer seem to be interested in "characters" fairys or superheroes any more. I had this dilema recently with my daughter. We have muraled her room 3 times since she was born, her nursery was a circus theme, as a toddler she had Princess room , and then around 7 years old we did a Breakfast at Tiffany's look with Cats. She loves cats. So this year she will be 11, she has Jonas Brothers mania, and wanted bright colors, turquoise, fuschia and purple, How do we make this work? I came up with an India inspired theme. We used plasters in these bright saturated colors on the walls and furniture. The touches of gold, orange and fuschia accents really pull it all together , but the Taj Mahal type head board my husband and I cut from a sheet of plywood and upholstered really says "India Princess" Coming up with a color scheme is the easy part its finding the cohesive elements that make the story work. I look through magazines before I commit to anything for inspiration and ideas.Determining my theme helps too. Albeit India, sports, or just color. A scrollsaw and some good hand tools are helpful too.

Decorative Painting on vehicles??

Here is a fun little project I worked on over the summer in my spare time(ha) An artist friend of mine does these for hunters and fieldsmen in her area and gave a few of us the recipes that she uses for successful painting on an automobile or boat. So I ran with the idea, I figured my van was pretty nasty and a paint job would attact some attention as well as look a heckuva alot better driving up to a jobsite. The paint is all exterior grade latex, and the results are durable and so far holding up to some nasty weather.

How's Robb?: Word.

How's Robb?: Word.

A new Salon in Smithtown

My good friend Ryan Demarco has opened one of the first "Elements" massage salons oin the area. This salon specializes in therapuetic massage amongst others types of massage. He has built a beautiful, serene sanctuary for people to come and relax, or have the "kinks" worked out. The interior of the salon features murals in the bathrooms , metalic foil accents on all the interior doors as well as a custom built desk in the entryway. The monochromatic color sceme of the salon lends itself to the tranquil aspects found at every turn from the trickling water falls, to the aromatherapy infused through out. The attention to every detail is sure to entice your senses.

Ceiling Murals

As summer draws to a close , we can look back and say wow! We had quite a diverse and busy summer at that! between the school murals 18 in total, the renovation of a historical landmark home( which I will talk about later) and the cieling murals we have worked on we had a few very exciting jobs this summer. The cieling murals were done in 2 resturants and 1 private residence. All clients wanted very different and distinct looks for thier spaces. We atarted with a new resturant in Valley Stream , owned by Umberto Napoli this family style Iatlian resturant features a very large tray cieling in the ceter dining room. The walls have a beautiful shimmering plaster treatment, created by leslie Salka, of ACI. The cieling was painted with a large tropme style motife in soft gold colrs, decorative foliage, and a blue sky. The border is a Melanie Royals design that frames the mural sky beautifully. Our second cieling is in a residential home , this cieling is in an enormous great room. We painted a simple sky with warm clouds and bordered the sky with flowers and vines that matched the custom draperies. Our last sky is a study in perspective. We painted ballister, and a balcony from a "worms eye view" our ornament around the sky area is full color floral matching the clients bold upholstery. Cieling murals can be a challenge, preliminary sketches are important as well as scaffolding and well planned designs.

Chatterton School Murals

I recently had the pleasure of working with two very kind ladies. Lisa and Penny, chairladies of the Chatterton School PTA in Merrick. We collaborated together to create several murals incorporating the students curriculum and beautifying the all over appearance of Chatterton School. We came up with a colorful faux finish for the entry way collumns, decorative scrolls outlining bulletin boards, and several murals that will surly excite the children when they return in September. Among the themes of the murals were Charlotte's Web, an Aquarium, a Rainforest, and popular Childrens fairytales.

KEEP LONG ISLAND BEACHES CLEAN!

I spend quite a bit of time at the beach, I have loved the oceans all my life, and teach my children to love and respect the oceans. (10 people drowned here on Long Island in July alone.) The ocean beaches on Long Island are beautiful, but nothing like the Carribean. The Atlantic Ocean can be volitile and deadly, I get angry because I see so much disrespect for this wonderful gift , people do not appreciate. I go at least twice a week sometimes more, we own jet skis so I enjoy the water as a craft owner also, the waters are clean and thriving with marine life. What puts a bee in my bonnet is, that I am a swimmer, I never allow my children to just "jump in" with out checking the currents and I always sit up close or go in with them, I can not for the life of me understand how so many mothers do not go in, swim, or even glance up from thier conversations to see if the kids are being pulled out. I also don't get how these same people drive nice cars, live in well to do nieghborhoods, and spend money on recycling . but leave thier trash all over the beach. Every time I go i bring an extra garbage bag and fill it up. Today i picked up 26 empty bottles and cans. I felt like that crying Indian from those 1970's commercials on pollution. If we as a human race do not care about one of greatest natural resources than how can we expect to survive as a whole? I am not opening a political can of worms here, I just don't get it. Every where I look there are signs, movements about "going green" and these same people can't even pick up an a water bottle. My son was annoyed at me because I made him pick stuff up too, but I told him, these beaches our a little slice of heaven and if he wants to take his son out in the water like I swim with him, he better pick his stuff and the slob next to him stuff up too...sorry for the rant............just that I love the beach and I want it clean............

Mural Class at Convention

This years convention was held in South Carolina, and the new name "Idal" was unveiled! I taught a class for the first time at convention and the students were great. We painted an undersea mural on Roclon canvas, using Golden acrylic paints, the students transferred an image and used various techniques to paint the mural. We went over the use of dark underpainting, light source and blending methads as well as free hand drawing for smaller fish and plant life. The students all did a fabulous job and everyone left with a painting suitable for framing!

Long Island Muralist gives school a makeover

Camp Ave. school in Merrick has recently undergone a makeover. I had the opportunity of creating 9 unique murals through out the grammar school. The murals encompass the grade appropriate curriculum of the school, and are large , bright and colorful! We were excited to work on these murals because the characters in the murals were fun , and very identifiable with children and adults of any age. The children were so enthusiastic, asking for autographs and offering constant positive feedback and encouragement! There were 9 murals in all, and I tried to make each mural different -reflecting the grade, subject matter and feel of the painting. Some challenges were painting on brick and cinderblock, as well as having to complete these murals from concept to finish in onlt 1 weeks time! The murals were sketched in concept on paper first, then we painted backgrounds and large ares first. Our biggest challenge was the entrance to the school due to the high ceilings and stairwell. We decided on overgrown animals and characters to fill the space and bring an air of cheerful welcome to the entryway.

We love you grandma

I am writing this in hopes that some of my siblings , cousins and family members take a moment to look at some of the pictures and add to the great memmories I have of Grandma. I will miss her. The more I think of her these last few days the more I realize what a unique person she is. What a unique Christian she was, and how she really did live her life in a state of grace. I don't think I can say I know too many people who have been such admirable role models but as I sit here today one thought comes to mind, patience. I have yet to meet someone in my lifetime who epitimized the word, 40 years never heard her even raise her voice. Grandma came to every school play, dance recital and communion we all had. I even remember her and Grampa, mind you not small people, squeezing themselves into child size desks for Grandparents day back when I was in third grade. My most impacted memmory of grandma is when I was about 13, and all the smaller cousins broke the crib upstairs, Grampa was angry, and we all knew it, but she came up from the party basement and in her soothing voice, "its ok Chris, its Christmas, let them play" Yes I can certainly take a page from her book! Grandma, likes games and she was a Grandmother who never said no to a good game of cards, or a simple page to color. I love Grandma, she and Grampa were unique people, they tried to understand and bond with each and everyone of thier grandchildren, me in 5th grade having some growing pains and not fitting in, I recall telling them that the kids in school called me a fagot because of my sneakers, I laugh now as I remember Grandma getting the dictionary and Grampa looking puzzled as the definition said a bundle of sticks! I missed those Christmases in thier basement before the extended family got too big, I missed playing bartender with my sister, and those funky flowered Christmas lights. Grandma has always reminded me of Mrs. Claus, especially after her hair went white. She has always had a smile, and a kind heart for each of us. I will miss her, but she will be in my mind, like Grampa is whenever I see a pink sky. His made up crayon "sky blue pink" that I could never find! I will think of Grandma when I eat a peanut chew, or when I see someone drink scotch. I will think of Grandma when I see those cheesy polyester pants advertised in the back of the Sunday paper. The pink lipstick that somehow got worn down flat? How that happened will remain Grandma"s mystery , but I will think of her. And of course a really good chocolate chip cookie will make me smile as no-one really ever made them like her. I hope she finds her peace soon , and is laughing , traveling, bowling and drinking with grampa, crocheting, and happy with Auntie, and her parents...I will still miss her

Puglia... a new look, a new resturant...

A new resturant in East Meadow Long Island, Puglia of Little Italy. The warm , cozy atmosphere was achieved by colorwashing the walls in the main diningroom with a soft terra cotta glaze. We then transformed what felt like miles of mouldings from white semi gloss to a warm Faux Mahogany , for a rich and classic look. The restirant is located on Hempstead Turnpike and is a well known establishment in NYC's Little Italy.

New Class

I recently taught this beginner trompe style fruit bowl at the Art League , We hade 5 students in the class. We used Faux Effects paints and transferred our images onto cambric cloth. The concepts of light and shadow were covered in the class. I think the students did a great job, and we had alot of fun! The next class i will be teaching at the Art league will be Venetian 101 , this class will cover proper techniques for application, surface preparation, differences between synthetics and lime. Students will complete 3 sample boards.

Up coming Art Classes

I will be teaching several classes at the Art League in Huntington. The classes are a Trompe L'oeil niche painted on canvas, the niche will hava a bowl of fruit in the center. This class is in March. The other 2 classes are "Venetian Plaster 101", this class is in April. The class will focus on proper troweling techniques, different plasters, and decorative applications. Students will see demonstrations of the plasters as well as hands approach. The last class is a "Basic Faux All You Need To Know" this class wil cover different applications of glaze techniques used in Faux Painting. Students will create several boards , This class is in May. For more info visit the Art League or click the title of this post

Painting on Pellon

Cieling murals are particularly difficult to paint areas. When appraoching a mural on a cieling I like to take several factors into consideration. Are there multiple techniques needed for the background, are there figures, and what the height is. Height factor is important because scaffolding slows you down, being careful is a prerequisite, and cautious painting while up there is mandatory! I recently did a cieling mural with quite a few figures the faces were done on pellon which made the mural install very painless. Literally. Looking up for long periods of time can be quite stressfull on the neck muscles . Using pellon is a welcome alternative. Pellon can be found at craft and sewing supply stores, I used the mid weight. The fabric takes paint beautifully and the mural melds together seamlessly.

Textured Plasters

I really like working with plasters, I prefer Lime for smooth and polished applications, the benefits of Lime are durability, mildew and of course the "green" factor. I also have alot of fun with synthetic plaster applications. I do alot of crackled looks, the plaster gives a very old, and leathery appearance. I have also done a variety of stria'd looks with plaster. The look can be nubby and shimmery like raw silk, or more rustic like a grass cloth. Stenciling on top gives even more dimension!

Faux Marquetry

The look of a fine wood floor is classic and beautiful, add to the floor a marquetry pattern or inlay and the results can be stunning, timeless, and a fortune! So the art of a "faux" inlay is quite affordable and looks very convincing. I did this floor with the help of "Modello" a decorative masking pattern that makes staining these types of floors a breeze. The preparation of the floor should be left to a proffessional floor person. This means sanding, base staining is needed and the polyurethane topcoat. I cut the Modello to size and used gel stains , which gaurd against"bleed through" Voila! a faux inlay!

Thankyou Long Island!!!

Long Island Press Best of issue 2008 ....Thankyou to all of my friends, clients and family that voted us "Best Artist" on Long Island!!This is very exciting, the Long Island press features businesses all over Long Island each year in their annual "Best Of Long Island " issue. We are featured under Arts and Entertainment section with a link to our web site. Just in time for this weekends Home Show, come see why we were recognized for our excellence! We will have a booth featuring our Murals, Italian plasters and our unique Custom finishes! The show is in Farmingdale on route 110...Hope to see you there!

Texture on Walls

I am involved in an amorous love affair with textures, I love walking into a room and wanting to "feel" the walls. My portfolio is filled with different textures, plasters, rough and smooth, tissues, sand finishes and relief stenciling, but my favorite of late has been "crackling" I love the look of thick crackled synthetic Venetian Plasters. The statement is indeed bold, but oh so dramatic. When these finishes are glazed or stained they look very leathery and rich. I like pairing them with gilded finishes and or smotth walls.