When our neighbors hung lights or festive flags and decorations on the house for holidays, my mom painted our living room window with big colorful pictures like a plump red heart behind a perfect "Happy Valentine's Day!" banner or a full yellow moon lighting the silhouette of a menacing witch on a broom stick.
She'd use a bar of soap like a giant pencil sketching her idea on the glass. And as she started to add color with her tempura paints, all lined up and mixed perfectly to the hues she needed, we'd run outside and in pointing and shouting, guessing what our big holiday window would be this time. It's going to be a dove! No, that's going to be a snow drift on a roof!
It's probably why my imagination runs wild when I see a piece of furniture like this that wants to come to life like a character in Beauty and the Beast. I have to paint it!
Of course, there's the breakdown phase where the piece is dismantled and primed, then the rough design starts going on.
Most of my 'Torn Landscapes' reflect the California scenery surrounding me, but this dresser needed something more fantastic. When I saw this image of Iceland I knew it would end up in my series some day... this was the day.
Truly, at this stage is when I'm at my happiest...
I get lost in all the quirky details (notice the door pulls intentionally off? this kind of thing always makes me smile) and the creative process of painting as I drift inside to those early days of posing so proudly for pictures in front of my mom's holiday designs, then out to imagining the home where this piece will go.
Will it go in a dining room under a tray of sparkling liqueurs and crystal topped decanters?
Will it welcome people in a bright white entry with a lanky coat rack standing nearby like a butler?
I used to think that my mom was magic- that she could just pull a beautiful idea out of her hat and make it be so. Now I know, the magic comes from doing the work; from using the brushes and mixing the colors and sanding off the layers that need to be adjusted until something beautiful emerges.