The Continuation Mural

This is a project that involved following another artist's lead. As you can see from this first picture, this began as a three-panel canvas mural - not my work - that was hung on a very large wall. The client asked if I would continue the mural onto the wall to better fill up the space.

Of course! I love a challenge.

And I really did enjoy this challenge. Matching colors and style of another artist was exciting. It was fun creating and dreaming of what the rest of the landscape held in store for us to see.

An additional challenge to this mural was that it was a second-story level painting. This meant painting on scaffolding; you'll see in some of the following photos all of my stuff.

This is the view from an upper level balcony.

My challenge was to match the setting, colors, and styles so that the scene seamlessly continued without an obvious line. I wanted to add a bit of whimsy, so there's a vested monkey on the right side. He's teasingly offering a piece of fruit to a nearby birdie.

Close-up of the peacock.

View of the mural from the doorway as

you enter the solarium.

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This gives you a view of the ceiling we previously painted (scroll down) and how they relate to each other. I hope you enjoyed this post, please feel free to leave comments.

Solarium Sky Mural

I truly enjoyed creating this ceiling; great clients, stunningly beautiful home... it was my pleasure to work here once again.

The ceiling of this solarium is roughly 30+ feet high and has quite a pitch to the center, which boasts a peaked sky-light. The room's decor features a New Orleans/French flair with wrought iron details throughout - which was the inspiration for the trompe l'oeil wrought iron supporting the 'happy sky.' Thanks for viewing - I always appreciate your comments.

Gina

Defiance Regional Medical Center - Oncology Infusion

Some of you may know about the murals I was working on for the Oncology Infusion center of the Defiance Regional Medical Center. The project is complete and will be part of a story on the Fort Wayne – 21 Alive local news Thursday at 6pm (February 7th).

I am so glad that I was able to do my part for such a great cause. I share this broadcast with my friends and clients to help bring awareness to the tremendous work they do. The project was funded entirely by the Hospital Auxiliary – their goal: To improve the care and treatment of cancer patients.

The murals were painted in the studio on canvas - then installed (much like wallpaper) at the Oncology center. The picture above is an 'in process' photo. I feel blessed to have a studio in which I can create and be as messy as I like! The beauty of this 'system' is that I'm not disrupting their center by painting on site and that many years from now if they want to rennovate again, they can remove the murals and do with them as they'd like. They can be remounted at another site as well.

Here are a few detail shots:

This little girl has found all sorts of interesting rocks along the shoreline. Treasure hunting to be sure!

This is just a small corner of one of the murals. This parrot always makes me smile when I see him - I hope he has the same effect on others as well.

This little boy has discovered a little green lizard after tethering his boat to a tree. (You can see the bottom edge of the canvas in the picture.)

Complete photos will be posted to the website:

www.finishesbygina.com

Introducing our newest creation - a concrete carpet - created with exterior grade materials specifically made for concrete surfaces - with an artistic approach - custom colors and original designs. Perfect for your home or business, consider a new treatment for your entrance, porch, or patio - the possibilities are endless. To read more about the process, scroll down to view the project while in process. Contact us at www.finishesbygina.com

Thanks for visiting! Gina

Elegant Finishes Studio introduces Concrete Carpets!

Whether it's faux tile, granite, slate, marble or a very intricate inlaid carpet, design options are endless.

Elegant Finishes Studio uses Faux Effects RS Crete products which are designed for exterior applications - providing you with many years of beauty for your home or business.

The following is a step-by-step progression:

Before -not very inviting!

Even the base layer is quite an improvement!

Several textural layers are added. This step gives depth and dimension to the finish and will look polished when complete.

The Modello masking stencil is then put in place. We centered the design with the center of the door rather than the center of the floor, as the door was slightly off center.

After the Modello is in place, stains and colorants are added. Custom tints are mixed on-site to ensure a perfect match to the brick, siding, and columns. Fine mica powder that glints in the sunlight and the element of green are embedded for added interest in the design.

When satisfied with the color patterns, we begin weeding out the masking material - it's a one-use stencil that is thrown away when we're finished.

Almost finished, a monogram is to be installed in the center.

Detail of finish. Once dry, several protective clear coats are applied to ensure durability.

Thank you for viewing our project. Contact information may be found on our website at: www.finishesbygina.com

Gina

This is one of the largest ceiling projects we've created. I have attached several pictures of the project during the process. Once the remodel construction is completed, I hope to take professional photos for the portfolio.

Elegant Finishes by Gina

This is a ceiling finished in custom colored Lusterstone, Venetian Gem, Composition Gold leaf, and Swarovski crystals. Dimensions: 28'10" x 18'6" Ceiling height: approximately 20'

Our ceiling process begins by floating out the knock-down ceiling - to save our arms, we sub-contracted this step. Thereafter, we troweled a mixture of Lusterstone to the entire surface which gave the ceiling a polished plaster appearance.

Work resumes the next day by applying the very blue 36 piece stencil to the ceiling. The stencil goes up like a puzzel with interlocking pieces - the diagram is very helpful!

The stencil is in place!

Once the entire stencil is in place, we begin applying our gold leaf and custom tinted plasters.

MaryEllen and Gina.

We begin removing the stencil.

The design revealed.




Swarovski crystals twinkle in the sunlight, however, they don't photograph as well. (654 crystals)

The ceiling is so large that we cannot photograph the entire ceiling in one frame.

The shimmer is lovely.

Thank you for viewing our project! Comments are welcome. Gina