Undersea Marine Life Mural in Whitestone N.Y

I have a wonderful client in Malba , New York, a little "hub" if you will of the lovely Whitestone , Queens. This area is beautiful, overlooking the Whitestone Bridge filled filled with fantastic old Tudors, Colonials as well as massive new stucco and brick mini mansions.I am very familiar with the area as I have been coming here since I was a baby , my "Nana" lived there as well as my entire family has migrated back there now. I met this client about a year ago and developed a very nice relationship with her. My first job for her was a Faux Finish in her kitchen that has since snow balled into a finish or mural in every room of her home. When she started chemotherapy about a year ago I decided to surprise her and do her bedroom for her while whe was in the hospital. When she came home she was very pleased and has since called me back to do 3 more bedrooms. The room I am focusing on here is the boys room. I did a panoramic undersea mural depicting mammals, fish and marine plants, the mural posed a few challenges as it is on a deep slant, and all over head. The finished mural creates a soothing environment fro a kids room and adds color and interest to a large area of ceiling space.

A fine Faux Finish in Brookville NY

Finally finished photos of the Brookville Mansion featuring 13 rooms of faux finishes, murals, venetian plaster and gold leaf. Please watch the attached video to see a virtual home tour of this magnificent home located in the heart of the Gold Coast of Long Island.

Designer Showcase 2011

The 2011 Designer showcase featuring fantastic design trends, interior decorating and artists, is opening Saturday, September 10, 2011 at Chestnut Manor in Brookville. The mansion is filled with great design ideas, artwork, and beautiful wall treatments. All proceeds are non profit and benefit the Millneck school for the deaf. I am very happy to be amongst the vast amount of talented professionals participating this year. My areas are the first floor powder room which I transformed into an ultra feminine panoramic escape, and the back first level stairwell, that leads up to the athletic wing of the house. If you are in the area, and would like to spend a pleasant afternoon perusing the mansion or, if you are decorating your own home and need ideas and professionals to help you stop by and you will be very glad you did!

A busy summer!

This summer has been perhaps one of the best we have ever enjoyed here on Long Island. The weather has been fantastic, hot, sunny and mostly dry. The beaches here have been crowded and beautiful! A summer to enjoy and take in the many exciting sites here on the island. We have enjoyed the many delights the Great South bay has to offer, from boating and jet skiing to a terrific meal at the Singletons seafood shack at Tobay. Painting during these hot summer months can be very inspiring taking in the vast amount of beaches, boardwalks and beautiful scenery at the beaches. We have done some plien air painting as well as taking some fabulous sunset shots from our very own John Burns Park. One of the best days we enjoyed this summer was a nostalgic visit to Lido beach, i remember taking the free beach bus there as a kid, and the fun times my friends and i had there were all but stored away in my memory. I met my brother's family there one Sunday 2 weeks ago, we enjoyed the beach, and the "mushrooms" and after had a great dinner at Jordan lobster farms. They have newly expanded the out door dining area, a very affordable and delicious way to enjoy the sea;s king of the dinner plate! No trip to Lide is complete with out a cone from Marvel, in business since long before I was a kid, this place never gets old, and the ice cream just tastes better!

Allover stencils in Faux Finish treatments on Long Island

The latest installment in my on going coverage of the "big house" project is the use of stencils through out the home. The use of pattern in general was very important to the clients - as it reminded them of their home country of India. We incorporated many stencil patterns through the decoration of the home, picking up the exquisite rare stone floor inlays and the general lines of the home. The master bedroom and foyer/ great room had floor to ceiling patterns of all over stenciling. With high ceilings of over 24 feet the all over pattern is a wonderfully subtle choice in decorative painting. By adding the use of a simple color wash, strie, or simply using a semi gloss paint over a flat or matte finish can yield lovely results.

Raised Plaster Faux Finishes

My next installment in my ongoing re-cap of a project I recently had the pleasure of working on is the Formal Living room , and Dining room . These two rooms are directly located off the main entry way and kitchen area, The rooms had to have a "flow". The color palette and design elements had to work together and compliment each other. The design elements and faux treatments also had to be able to stand alone. As I stated in the previous installment the clients vision had to be reminiscent of his home country. The walls, and designs were selected to evoke a feel of home for them when they walked through the doors. We did utilize many stencils, but each stencil was applied in such a manor that it became so much more than a stencil. In the formal living room we used fantastic stencils from Victoria Larsen. The room had a surround of raised panels, each was painted with Sherwin Williams matte finish paint in "Antique white" We then painstakingly centered each of the 15 stencils in each box, the stencil was plastered with a custom mix of Palette deco and gold paint for a very bright and brilliant gold raised look. The ceiling moldings were hand detailed with gold paint. The dining room also had lovely raised panels, these were octagon shaped and each one had a round stencil, some were from Royal Design Studio , Victoria Larsen and The Mad Stencilist designed our corners for us. These stencils also were treated with a bright gold plaster. The magnificent cofered ceiling had a hand painted gold leaf application on all decorative moldings

Faux Finish, Stenciling, and Mural extravaganza on Long Island

I was recently commissioned to work in a grand home in Brookville, Long Island. The clients and I worked together for approximately 8 months on 12 rooms in the home that would have decorative painting in some capacity. Much of the inspiration came form lovely ornate inlays the clients had imported from India. The inlays adorned floors in bathrooms, foyers, great rooms, and contained fabulous marble , lapis, mother of pearl and other various beautiful stone elements. I used stencils for much of my "back ground" wall work . In the entry way foyer and great room , which boasts 22 foot ceilings and a lovely round "rotunda" style architecture, we used a very soothing color palette of warm shades of white and tans that coordinated with the marble floors. The wow factor in the rotunda comes from the 9 foot diameter dome that is directly above the round entry inlay. We chose to paint this a red velvet faux finish with gold leaf stenciling and hand applied jewels to each individual flower. The columns flanking the balcony in the foyer and great room were faux painted to look like marble and have lovely gold capitals.....My next installment I will cover the formal living areas, Dining room and Living room...

Tropical Murals

Bling in the Faux painting!

Going forward in 2011, I have noticed through out 2010 the request for Bling!!I have had more commissions this past year including bling than I have had in my entire 15 years as a decorative artist, and 25 years as a paid artist. Let m define BLING , here on Long Island I think we are getting bit by the in flux of reality tv. The tv shows that air homes of the rich and famous have inordinate amounts of marble, crystal, jewels, gold leaf and opulence galore. So my "BLING" filled commissions have included a lot of leaf this year. Gold leaf, copper, or aluminum, used as accents or entire walls or ceilings. I have used more crystals than when i had my bridal gown business 20 years ago! The crystals have been used in faux painting, as well as murals and kids rooms. I have also used more metalic paint this year than any other paint, so I think the desire and appreciation for all things shiny will comtinue through the new year. I look forward to 2011 and all it will bring, wishing all of you a Happy and Healthy BLING filled New Year!

Ceiling Murals on Long Island

Lately I have been getting an abundance of requests for ceiling murals. From Merrick, to Montauk and Hewlett in between. Murals on the fifth wall seem to be very popular this year. I did a ceiling mural with gold leaf and Sworavorski crystals on a dining room ceiling in Merrick,a week later a ceiling design with ornamental scrolls , floral's and pearls in Dix Hills. The most popular ideas for ceilings used to be cherubin and sky scapes, recently I finished a Victorian home in Rockville Center with for different ceiling treatments all with variations of stenciling work. True murals on a ceiling are even transpiring into kid's rooms. In Massapequa Park I recently finished a fun compass rose mural for a nursery. So when designing the decor of your rooms remember to take into consideration the ceiling, be it a tray, recessed, coffered, cathedral or flat - Murals on the ceiling add an unexpected element to any room. To view photos of many of the works mentioned please visit www.arlenemurals.com