Little Girls' Rooms

This is a commission work for two young girls rooms. They wanted "princess" type rooms with a view of a castle and little things to feel as though they live in a castle. After seeing the rooms and talking with the mother we decided to have a painting of a castle on canvas so that it can be taken down and saved after they out-grow it. I also suggested adding a mural of a topiary to coordinate with the paintings. If you'll notice, the castle paintings are almost just alike. There are only a few differences. Also, the mother wanted an element of fun and mystery in the murals of the topiaries. So, I added three hidden inchworms on the topiaries and I hid the girls names somewhere in them as well. Here are the pictures of the paintings.

I thought I would share some pictures of my first commercial business mural job with you.

I painted this mural in 2004 at a local day care.  It is operated by Friendship Methodist Church.

They wanted the hall-ways of the day care to be bright, friendly and inviting.

They also use these rooms for Sunday school.

It was quite a challenge to paint on cinder block walls and took a lot more time than I had expected.

But you live and learn, and hopefuly take notes, so you won't make the same mistakes again!

This was an exhausting, yet exciting project to work on.

I think the end results speak for themselves.

The children still enjoy the mural today.

New Canvas Paintings

I have recently decided to paint some of my own works of art. Something that reflects my tastes and inspirations. I've been painting for others for so long I haven't had a chance to test the waters of my own "style". I have so many ideas and passions that it's overwhelming. I'd like to experiment with abstract art even though I'm drawn to painting realism. By doing this I hope to find a better understanding of what my true style is. Once I've found my niche I hope to start a new collection of canvas paintings that I can someday put in a show. Wish me luck.

Here are a few of my new paintings that I painted just for fun. The abstract reflects my love of peacocks and the color turquoise. I used three different metallic colors; gold, siver and copper. The first picture is with a flash to reflect the metallics and the second is with no flash.

The beach picture is from a photograph I took while on a trip with my husband to the beach near Eglin Airforce base.

The fairy painting was just for fun because I love tinker bell and Disney.

Safari Painting

This is my most recent work. This was commissioned by a long-time client and friend. This is the first of three paintings that I will create for a little boy's room. This painting is being mounted to look like a real window which will be hung flush with the wall. The next two paintings will be hung as canvas banners. I will add new pictures as I finish them. Please return later to see the completed room with all three paintings.

Second Painting: Giraffe - Painted on loose canvas banner.

Latest Project

This summer I was hired by Cowart Elementary to paint a mural for their lunch room. They had won a grant from Hidden Valley Ranch to improve their lunch room and incorporate more fresh fruits and vegetables. We decided to do a farm mural to reinforce the theme. They received new appliances, the mural, new curtains, and colorful new lunch trays. The new lunch room looks great.

I designed the mural from many different farm landscapes photos, as well as animal and produce photos. I then drew a grid onto 4 foot by 8 foot sheets of thin wooden luan. It took 7 sheets to make this mural. Then, I drew the design onto the grid and painted the mural with Sherwin-Williams indoor flat latex paint. Sherwin-Williams was very kind to offer the school a great price for the paints to help keep us within our budget. It took seven weeks and the help of my sister Amie and my husband Tim to complete the mural. On installation day it took Tim, Amie, her husband Thomas and myself to put all the boards in place. Not only did I paint the mural above I also painted 5 smaller panels for the food line.

Thanks to everyone involved with the project from start to finish. And thanks most of all to Hidden Valley Ranch who provided the funds to make it all happen.

"Blue Paws" Pet Food Mat

"Black Cat" Cat Food Mat