Blog - Page 2 of 14 - Leichsenring Studios

Little ballerina putting on her toe shoes

A Tale of Ballerinas

by Sharon Leichsenring· April 01, 2022· in Artwork, Childrens, Murals, Trompe L'oeil·

I literally just finished the topcoat on this mural and it’s truly special. I am so happy to be sharing it with you. The request sounded relatively simple, something ballet themed. Ok, but notice we’re talking the real thing here. Check the picture. There’s a mirror in place, with a ballet barre. The carpet has a section in front of the mirror that can be removed revealing a wood floor was practice. Though the child whom this room belongs to is a little shy of five years old, the request for the design is for something that she will enjoy now and will continue to like as she gets older. Hmmm…not so simple. And a composition that would open the imagination to many stories of the ballet. It did take a little while to get to the final design. I really enjoy this part of the process. It gives me an opportunity to share my client’s dream for this mural. Here they are. And might I add, it got a little more complicated when my clients said include the area with the closet door on the right side of the mirror. Yep, just paint over it like it’s part of […]
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My Own Camelot

by Sharon Leichsenring· March 01, 2022· in Artwork, Clouds, Murals, Trees, Video·

It started one night I couldn’t sleep. It was back in October. I was staring at a corner in my bedroom, an outside corner that puzzled me until I realized why. I’d painted murals around corners that turned inside a room, but this corner turned outward into a small entrance into the bedroom. How would a mural translate going from one side to another? And then there was no stopping the thinking process that had started. I’d have to paint something. Something (how selfish!) that would be just for me. Trusting my husband Hans would love whatever it might be as much as I would. Turns out, I am a very difficult client indeed. I wanted everything. I wasn’t sure. The possibilities were overwhelming until I got a request from someone who had seen a mural I’d done years ago, that was a border of acanthus leaves. (I do hate to leave loose ends of a story. That request is on hold until the potential client decides she will purchase the property she’d had in mind.) But the seed was in place and I had a direction. I love painting acanthus leaves but this time I’d go one step further. The […]
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The Unmade Bed

by Sharon Leichsenring· February 01, 2022· in Artwork, Murals·

Once in a blue moon, or so, I get a request that leaves me fumbling for an easy answer. Most mural projects have a sense of direction. This recent one was quite the exception. My client had been to Metropolitan Museum in NYC to see a collection of 250 drawings done by Paul Cezanne. There was just something about the sketch entitled “The Unmade Bed”. It resonated with her and she wanted to use the image in her own home. I’m clicking while I’m talking to my client, and nothing is coming up on google search except for this image. And a definite and determined client that wants it on her wall. And a perfect wall in her loft bedroom, flooded with light. I’ve gone through all my artbooks and find no mention of the Unmade Bed. All I have is this notation from the Met Collection. “Paul Cezanne’s The Unmade Bed (c.1885) is a drawing made in the artist’s own room. At this time, Cezanne often drew small details of his everyday surroundings. This drawing demonstrates Cezanne’s philosophy: Drawing and painting are not different things. To the degree that one paints, one draws. The more the color becomes harmonious, […]
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Sail With the Vikings

by Sharon Leichsenring· December 31, 2021· in Artwork, Bathrooms/Powder Room, Historic, Murals, Ocean, Trompe L'oeil, Video·

I can’t say it enough. The opportunity to create a mural in a powder room makes my heart smile. It’s a chance to create a contained world in a very small space. In this case, the powder room is a scant 61” square but my painting area was 85 square feet. My heart is more than smiling here, it’s doing jumping jacks! My client, a woman of extraordinary vision is requesting pure, undiluted magic. Bring a Viking village to life! Challenge on. Here are the first two proposals. Did I forget to mention the magnificent mirror driving this concept? A carved dragon wrapped around the mirror. More about this mirror later. Suffice it to say, the dragon carvings will appear on the ships, on the long houses and on the high seat in the mural. Also, it is paired with draw dropping dragon sconces. Here is the final approved drawing. I’ll show you photos of the entire mural, but let’s just set the mood with this video. Here are the four walls. I’ve included the wall with the mirror before the mirror was hung so you can see it without the sconces and mirror. The high seat was added at […]
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My best friend’s kitchen the second time around

by Sharon Leichsenring· December 01, 2021· in Artwork, Kitchen·

It was the perfect solution, this backsplash I painted for my best friend almost ten years ago. Just perfect, well, until it wasn’t. As much as we love something, it works in the moment, it reflects our taste at the time until it all changes. Quick trip down memory lane, here’s a shot of the “ best backsplash in the world” It’s whimsical, loose, colorful and if you want to know more about it, check out the post at www.Leichsenringstudios.com/my-best-friends-kitchen/ But I digress. It was going to be a major change in the kitchen. The cabinetry was going to be repainted, a subtle off-white color. So before I fill you on my contribution, let me show what’s involved in what is arguably the best painted cabinet work I’ve seen. Huge shoutout to Brennen Zaborowski at www.classicrefinishers.com (203-731-0838). The prep work and taping was meticulous. These cabinets are forty years old, in excellent shape. The finish is layers and layers of rock hard lacquer. Here’s the kitchen taped and contained, ready to be sprayed. The frames were sprayed on site, the doors and drawer fronts on his shop. Now take a look at what the surfaces look like when finished. […]
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My Home Away From Home In Texas

by Sharon Leichsenring· November 01, 2021· in Artisan Finish, Artwork, Bathrooms/Powder Room, Ceiling, Columns, Dogs, Floral, Gold Leaf/Silver Leaf, Lettering, Murals, Trompe L'oeil·

There are times as I think about the subject for my next newsletter, that I remember, I’ve been doing them every month for thirteen years. Blatantly directing you here, almost all of them are on my website, under the tab “Projects”. What’s not so apparent is my connection with Texas. The late nineties saw my goodbye to my career as Sharon the Sign painter. It was not quick, or painless. One doesn’t sell a sign painting business. It is a matter of walking away, or moving on. For me, it was to the world of decorative painting, mostly murals in my case, but also some really satisfying work with plaster and glaze. I spent a three year period in both worlds until the Studios’ demand for murals was in position to shut down the sign painting. In weeks that I typically worked at least 60 hours making that change, I also needed to go back and take classes to fine tune my skills. Trompe l’oeil classes for starters in New York with the legendary Pierre Finkelstein, and then on to San Antonio at the atelier of the esteemed Nicola Vigini. My quiet little plans were pretty much dashed to the gutter […]
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What’s with the trees?

by Sharon Leichsenring· October 01, 2021· in Artisan Finish, Artwork, Ceiling, Childrens, Headboards, Historic, Staircase, Trees, Tropical·

I’m working on a mural design right now. It’s a tricky one, more of a puzzle at this stage. I’ve got to weave in my clients’ favorite Central Park NYC locations, and in a very natural way, add in the Eiffel Tower and a pair of European landmarks that have a great deal of importance. I’ll be sharing more about it when I start painting, but that won’t be happening til spring of next year. But. Right.Now. This is the most challenging part, to make the transitions from vista to vista feel effortless. Not contrived at all. My magic elixir, add trees. In this case it will be winter branches, heaped with snow. I know it will work, as I’ve used trees before for just this solution. Trees, actually, (besides clouds or maybe scrolls, but we’re not talking about that right now) might be my favorite thing to paint. Pictures say it better. So, this mural which is in a private residence in Branford, CT, portrays many historical vistas of the now bygone Branford Driving Park, first used for horse races, then automobile in the early 1900s. Check out just how elegantly the trees frame each vignette and bring your […]
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I’m in a Brick State of Mind

by Sharon Leichsenring· September 01, 2021· in Artisan Finish, Brick Treatments, Fireplace·

The only thing that has finally stopped surprising me in the roster of types of work I do is the vast differences of tasks I’m called on to do as a decorative painter. From the intensity of designing tightly composed murals, to free fall painting clouds and onto the hardier workload of plaster textures, I have learned to shift my focus from all, and concentrate on the task at hand. And right now, it’s bricks. Bricks, bricks and more bricks. And what to do. So let’s just get this technique out of the way. Whitewash. Diluted paint (just thinned with water). Apply and rub off. Many thin coats til you get the look you want. I must confess, I’ve never actually EVER used white paint to white wash. I like a dirty gray or taupe. Use white on red brick and there’s no getting around the pink overtone. Here’s a section in progress. There’s little use discussing it. I’m not a great fan. I still see pink. Not as bad diluted with a dirty color white, but it’s there. Pink. So time to move on to some fun stuff. You want to change the look of that brick you just […]
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Paint is the best medicine

by Sharon Leichsenring· August 02, 2021· in Artisan Finish, Artwork, Budget Conscious, Lettering, Murals, Scrollwork, Video·

I’ve told you all, dear readers, that I am beyond fortunate to have found the field in which I work. Very seldom are my days not creative and filled with challenges that stretch me as an artist. And then along my path comes this hallway! It’s well appointed with molding, easy on the eye colors and flooring. But it’s a residence. And it’s boring, though my clients are anything but. So what to do? It’s not really a place for a mural, it’s a walk through. The answer had to be contemporary, colorful and could we add fun?? Oh yeah, indeed we could. It’s times when I know I going to go quite a way out of the box that I like to make a 3D model to show my client the design. And I might add, I just love making them. Here’s the finished model in actual color and scale. At home in the studio, I started the makeover for the mirror. Sharing a little trick here with any DIYers out there. Using playing cards is a great way to protect from paint getting either on the mirror or under the edge of the mirror, where it shows. The trick […]
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It seems I have painted a lot of furniture

by Sharon Leichsenring· July 01, 2021· in Budget Conscious, Chinoisierie, Fretwork, Furniture, Gold Leaf/Silver Leaf, Lettering, Murals, Scrollwork, Textured Finishes, Trompe L'oeil·

When I’ve been asked, do I “do” furniture, I mostly think, a little, now and then. But as samples started for yet another piece, I realized, I “do” quite a bit of furniture.Sometimes it’s truly a cost effective method to transform an existing piece to fit into perhaps new or recently redesigned surroundings. Sometimes it’s to add that all important dash of whimsy or elegance-both staples in my repertoire- to a new or old piece.So here we go…A coffee table was treated to a tissue finish for texture and bold zebra striped graphics A very traditional piece got an art deco uplift in black and metallic gold, brush applied. Another traditional piece got star treatment with stried plaster, tissue, metallic paint and glaze with razor sharp accents in black enamel This bathroom vanity had wicker painted in trompe l’oeil. You can see my source inspiration on the printed paper on the lower shelf. It looks so real. These two pieces were lovely when first purchased but the wood finish no longer fit the space. Painted in a deep burgundy, depth added with black wax and just the slightest tough of pewter metallic wax for accent. The buffet pictured here is […]
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