Blog - Page 3 of 13 - Leichsenring Studios

The day I knew what I wanted to do for the rest of my life

by Sharon Leichsenring· January 02, 2020· in Artisan Finish, Ceiling, Clouds, Columns, Dome, Historic, Murals, Trees·

It’s the end of the year as I’m writing this newsletter. A time to reminisce. It seems only fitting to share a project that convinced me becoming a decorative artist was truly my future. This work predates the onset of my newsletters. Although I’ve grown as an artist, I feel his work has withstood the test of time. You let me know after you walk through it with me. My client made me laugh showing me the first area I’d be painting. A dome on the second floor. From the windows spread the lovely Bantam Lake in Connecticut’s town of Morris. He commented, ” I know there are all those theories saying that painted clouds are so much more than white on blue. That is you look closely, you’ll find the whole of the rainbow. Pinks, yellows, gray. Maybe so, but I want to see what I see when I look out these windows. I see pure blue skies with white clouds. Give me that, Sharon”. And so I did. Here’s the finished picture. Work moved to the wine cellar. The brick work, including the ceiling, had been completed. I needed to make my mural look integrated with the space. […]
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Molding painted green with wax and gold gilding

Invite me to your wedding

by Sharon Leichsenring· December 02, 2019· in Artisan Finish, Events, Lettering, Places·

So, when you think of some of the projects you might contact a decorative painter for, a number of things might come to mind. Paint a mural, create an artisan finish, add some clouds to a ceiling. But here’s a request that was as much unexpected as it turned out to be great fun. I was contacted by a mother of a bride to be. Might I consider handling some of the “more artistic” aspects of her daughter’s wedding? You betcha! It’s a great feeling to dig deep into the bag of skills one collects as a decorative artists, and pull them out to use in a new and unexpected way. The bride shared her palette, which I converted to Benjamin Moore colors I’d be able to use. She also requested, a touch of gold. Oh yeah, we are in business now. So I’ll walk you through some of the items I handled. The bride’s Dad was going to be constructing two large frames on which strung wires would hold the seating place cards. Here is the sample I created. I used a molding Dad had found. It had a simple leaf pattern that tied into the elegant leaf motif […]
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Garden Bedroom part 2

by Sharon Leichsenring· November 04, 2019· in Artisan Finish, Artwork, Ceiling, Fireplace, Floral, Murals·

Last month, I had just completed the garden mural in this master bedroom. Recently, I finished the rest of the room and wanted to share just how much was going on, and how it all came together. I am very protective of my clients, and in this case, even more so. This project started after the loss of my client’s beloved husband. However, it had been in the making before that. His opinions were noted, his choices honored. When we encountered a stutter in progress, we acknowledged his presence. We have laughed and cried in this room. The trim color was picked by him for the master bedroom suite. Benjamin Moore’s Simply White. It showed the moldings to their best. My job was to come in, then, with neutrals that’s could hold their own and pair with the Simply White. My best find in this project was a newer Ben Moore color, Ice Milk. It was used on the ceiling and then I mixed its match in Lusterstone. Ah, lusterstone, my favorite plaster, with its shimmer of mica. Perfect for the reflections the chandelier would spread. Before I share pictures of that, I need to backtrack and show how all […]
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Partial garden shot with door and gate and flowers

Take a walk with me in the garden

by Sharon Leichsenring· October 01, 2019· in Artwork, Birds, Brick White Wash, Floral, Murals·

I was just more than a little excited to start work on this particular mural. It was challenging in scope and detail and it had to completely set the mood for this entire master bedroom suite. I started with three drawings, knowing that I was so in love with one of them that I thought I could never do justice to the mural if it wasn’t to be the layout I wanted. “Pick me, pick me”, I probably not so silently whispered. But my client and I were so both in tune to what we were looking for that it was no contest, and the already chosen became official. That done, revisions took place. The gate to the garden was modified to include a pattern from the scrollwork that exists in the home’s foyer. Flowers were listed to be included. We would have hydrangea, roses, lilacs, shasta daisies, black-eyed susans, pussy willow, lavender and bee balm. Irish ivy for the brick wall. Artistic liberty indulged here. Our garden blossoms with no regard to the season of each particular flower. Here they grow in unison, in vibrant color that so suits my client’s personality. Each flower chosen in deference to a […]
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Love Letters to Lusterstone

by Sharon Leichsenring· September 03, 2019· in Artisan Finish, Bathrooms/Powder Room, Ceiling, Property Brothers, Textured Finishes, Trompe L'oeil·

My love affair with LusterStone plaster started in the early 2000s. I had left my first career as a commercial sign painter behind and was starting to be comfortable defining myself as a decorative artist. I wasn’t ready to lead with the word muralist yet at that point. So, some glazing and stenciling, ornament detailing. Sure. Small murals to get my feet wet. But I never considered myself a plasterer. A superbly rebuilt right thumb shied away from heavy plasters. A definite No! to the tedious labor of burnishing Venetian plaster. And then came the phone call from Janie Ellis, friend and mentor, founder of Anything But Plain in Houston. “I’ve got this new stuff you absolutely have to try. And I’m sending some to you.” To know Janie is to know that ” uh, I don’t think so” is not going to be a possibility for an answer. So my containers came, and it was love at first sight. LusterStone, a product of Faux Effects International, is a luscious, creamy plaster infused with mica that produces a shimmer when troweled smoothly. In its early days there was a more limited palette but now it sports fifty color choices. I […]
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Painting Dogwood Blossoms

by Sharon Leichsenring· August 01, 2019· in Artwork, Bathrooms/Powder Room, Floral, Murals, Video·

Some designs for powder rooms come together so easily, it’s as if they almost paint themselves. From the word go, I could just about see this finished in my mind. My client and her designer had seen a powder room I did a few years back with oversized magnolias. A few variations, this powder room would feature dogwood blossoms and only the f ocal wall would be dark. I met with my client and her designer, Lea Shulman (read about her and her method, “In my work, my goal is to bring fun, lightness, and ease to the design process”. She does just that, perfectly. You’ll find her at www.leashulmaninteriors.com. What started as a “pretty powder room”, neutral beige walls with a branch painted with blossoms and leaves, quickly escalated to high sophistication with my client’s vision to get the drama my black and white photos inspired, and then pull in a hint of color from the surrounding walls with a punch of one of my favorites shades of blue-green. Oh my. First I sketched several options for blossoms, branches and leaves. Next, I painted a color sample of a leaf, a piece of blossom, with the wall colors and […]
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I swear the walls are growing at night

by Sharon Leichsenring· July 01, 2019· in Artwork, Commercial Space, Murals·

When I received the first inquiry about painting a mural at the soon to be opened Seaquest at the Trumbull Shopping Park, I must admit, I was intrigued. For two reasons: The size (the wall measured just under 200 feet in length and was 15 tall) and the location (a chance to work in my hometown of Trumbull). I took a ride to see it, and literally, driving into the parking lot with the wall looming in front of me, my heart just got stuck. Was I crazy for even considering this? “Oh no, not you” hollered that distinctly crazy side of my brain. “You’re not afraid of anything”. I walked up to touch possibly the worst surface I’d ever been asked to paint. “Be afraid.” Said that grounded, sane part of my brain. “Be very afraid and walk away.” I considered that option for a few moments and then crazy kicked in. “I can do this.” I resolved, but not alone. I turned to fellow Trumbull resident Dino Tetu, owner of Paint Smart, a full- service painting company. (learn more about Dino at www.Paintsmartnow.com). We have worked together over the past two decades. We’ve recommended each other and worked […]
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Painting Furniture 101, the rules

by Sharon Leichsenring· June 03, 2019· in Artisan Finish, Artwork, Bathrooms/Powder Room, Fretwork, Furniture, Headboards, Textured Finishes, Trompe L'oeil·

From where I sit, there is only one rule to painting furniture: have fun with it. Believe in the power of color, indulge in your whimsical nature and do not be afraid to desecrate a “real” wood finish. First case in point, my own dream project. This idea had been living in my “have to get this done someday ” part of my mind for such a long time. I could almost see it finished, but I admit, I was intimidated by the time I was going to have to put into this cabinet. I’d envisioned my own interpretation of a MacKenzie Childs creation, filled with patterns, stripes and detail. Did I say detail? The plan kept getting more involved. The starting point-two innocent resin bumblebees, given to me by my cousin Nancy as a thank you for helping her on a fireplace redo. Actually, she gave me four, so I still have another project calling me. But I digress. The bees in turn, called for a bee and thistle motif. I couldn’t find a scroll pattern I liked, so I designed my own. Recently, the designers at MacKenzie Childs have added other color palettes, particularly to their black and […]
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Calling All Colors

by Sharon Leichsenring· May 01, 2019· in Artwork, Budget Conscious, Childrens, Murals, Trees·

A call from Ridgefield, CT designer Eileen Segalman (whose wonderful work can be seen at www.eileensegalmaninteriors.com) always means something exciting is heading in my direction. This recent project was no exception. We visited the office of Pediatric Associates of Western Connecticut in Danbury, CT. I was taken at once by the vitality of the front welcome desk area. Architecturally crafted trees with dimensional canopies promised a happy visit to this practice. I was impressed by the staff, the physical surroundings and most importantly, the warm and at the same time, professional atmosphere. On to site one. The waiting room had one of the wonderful trees already in place, a welcoming fish tank and vinyl animal graphics on two of the walls. What is was missing was a big shot of color. (OK, I promise no more poor puns.) Here is the waiting room before, and a view of the existing decals. My task, to finish the third wall in a manner that complimented the existing artwork but at the time to add vibrancy. Here is my sketch. I painted the new animals as silhouettes and kept the other elements as solid blocks of color. Mission accomplished. Here’s the new wall. […]
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A Tale of Two Commissions

by Sharon Leichsenring· April 01, 2019· in Artwork, Birds, Closet, Gifts, Ocean, Trees·

Sometimes, it’s truly a pleasure to take a break from flinging paint and plaster at walls and sit down before a canvas on my easel. I recently had two such projects. My first commission went as smoothly as any artist could wish. My client has a vacation home on Long Beach Island and was looking for large canvas pieces. After discussing the size of the walls, we settled for gallery wrapped canvases, measuring 30′ by 40″. I would paint the edges, eliminating the need to frame them. What to paint? After reviewing literally hundreds of photos, the choices narrowed down to a particular stretch of beach and another view of the bay area. The dunes were easy to find reference pictures, but the advantage of having an artist design the scene is that it can easily encompass all the particulars that were important to my client. No one photograph could do that. These clouds, these waves, this angle of the bay where small ponds caught the reflecting blue in the sky. Add a slight touch of impressionistic painting, and voila! We have arrived. Here are the two paintings, still at home in my studio. It was really hard parting with […]
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