Artwork Archives - Leichsenring Studios

A Little Goes A Long Way!

by Sharon Leichsenring· November 01, 2018· in Artisan Finish, Artwork, Brick White Wash, Budget Conscious, Ceiling, Childrens, Fireplace, Headboards, Scrollwork, Trompe L'oeil·

One of the biggest misconceptions that people make about decorative painting is that it’s only something for mansions. That artists like myself are only interested in big, lengthy (read expensive) projects in high end properties. I’d like to use this newsletter to illustrate just how wrong that notion is. Many of these are smaller scaled design solutions that took only a day or two to complete. This first example is a simple, glazed finish for this kitchen in Darien, Connecticut. I didn’t want to compete with the gorgeous jaw-dropping countertops, so the glaze served as a perfect transition from the intricate patterning found in the stone. The grey has just a hint of plum that matches the same overtone in the cabinetry. Next, the windows flanking the fireplace in scenic Seymour, CT framed a view too pretty to block with window treatments. Instead, I used the lovely flowered branches and bird motifs found in the sofa fabric to marry the walls to the rest of the room. And when it comes to window treatments, simple panels soar to the next level with the addition of a painted border. Both of these designs were driven from the fabric patterns. The focal […]
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Tying up loose ends

by Sharon Leichsenring· August 31, 2018· in Artisan Finish, Artwork, Dogs, Furniture, Textured Finishes, Trees·

Some months, my newsletters seem to write themselves. It’s a project that has its start to finish completely falling within the calendar days of that month. I write my story, share my pictures and out it goes to you. Easy Peasy. And then there are those projects that have a life of their own, the last piece taking its time to fall into place. I made promises to share the end shots with you, so enjoy. My April 2018 newsletter (you can read it at https://www.leichsenringstudios.com/fit-for-a-queen-a-royal-powder-room-indeed/) was about one of my favorite powder rooms is in Stamford, CT and was completely muraled ,including the ceiling. My client asked if I knew someone who could take care of the final detail that needed to be dealt with: changing the existing casement window into one made of stained glass. Yes, I did know someone whose work would be a perfect match to my own. Enter Michael Skrtic. An extraordinary stained glass designer and maker. You can check out his work at www.theglasssource.com. I drew the scene in the window area that would have been painted had there been no window. I also saved my palette so Michael could see […]
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Hanging ’round the farm for inspiration

by Sharon Leichsenring· August 03, 2018· in Artwork, Dogs, Horses, Kitchen, Murals, Powder Room, Staircase·

It’s supposed to be the lazy days of summer, but time is flying here at my studio. I’ve got a darling little project that needs to be finished but this newsletter is not going to write itself waiting for me to finish it. So this month we’ll start with some progress shots. For sure I’ll be finished by next month. After visiting with my client, the initial direction to use her beautiful flowering gardens as inspiration. Then it changed as she thought the flowers and landscape could be minimal and a variety of farm animals take center stage. Here are the original sketches. I’m more than halfway done. Here’s one of the front panels and one side panel completed. I’ve been juggling deadlines to finish this, and you know I will. The farm theme also showed up in a painting I completed for Bella’s Café I (home of the best upscale comfort food in Connecticut) in New Haven. He’ll be hung as soon as Bellas’s reopens when the renovations are complete .Here’s the Rocking Rooster canvas I painted. Along with my dry sink, I’ll have more pictures of Bella’s next month. In keeping with completed […]
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Strictly by the book… not in my studio!

by Sharon Leichsenring· May 03, 2018· in Artwork, Birds, Furniture, Murals, Ocean, Trees·

I’m going to have to start being a little more careful with my words. I simply can’t start every newsletter by saying this project surely is one of my favorites. But is it true, each and every time, and the bookshelves in this project have been on my bucket list of things to paint for a long time, and I loved it even more than I thought I would. My client gets all the credit for the concept. The four plain panels on this built-in cabinet were calling for something, but what ? She saw bookshelves in her mind’s eye, so that’s where we started. The sketching of one panel with five shelves, meaning a total of twenty shelves total, seemed a bit much. So I suggested letting the upper portion of each panel acting as a window showing some of the beautiful vistas of her properties and we were on track. Included amongst the books were some meaningful possessions and a beloved pet. Once I had drawn the four panels to scale, I added them to the photo of the actual cabinets to see it clearly. Here’s what that looked like. Canvas cut and ready to […]
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Captured on canvas

by Sharon Leichsenring· February 01, 2018· in Artwork, People, Scrollwork·

I see murals, all the time. Even when they are not there. I see walls that could just be so stellar transformed by a mural. It creates a mood, an environment. But sometimes, there’s a different way of looking at the wall. And that’s finding the perfect piece of canvas art to do the same job as a mural. Which brings me to a recent commission. The inspiration photo for the piece captured so many things perfectly. The stance of the two sisters, intent on their hike; the feeling of independence, holding no adult hands! And for me, the protective gesture of the older sister guiding her little sister. I knew where this piece would be hanging, in a room filled with gray and bunny pink. So I chose to paint the picture in grisaille ( French for tones of gray ) letting the details come alive in light and dark shades of gray. I chose a 36″ x 36″ stretched canvas with a profile of 1 ½”. A circle within a square is a format that always appeals to me, and in this case, it gave me the perfect area to add the four scroll cornerpieces. At this point, […]
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The Paint Whisperer

by Sharon Leichsenring· September 05, 2017· in Artwork, Horses, Murals·

This project needs so many words to describe it. It was an honor being able to share in the magic of my client’s horses. It was far more difficult painting horse portraits than people because I had to try to understand a whole different way to visualize personalities. It was also a pleasure working on this huge canvas which measures 6′ by 9′ in my own studio. My husband would come in with a cup of coffee and say “the horse whisperer at work”. But horse whisperer I am not, but hopefully, a paint whisperer, yes I am. My client, the extraordinary Wendy J, offered me entrance to a very spiritual and grounding place with this commission. There are a total of seven horses in the composition, the smallest shown being a family favorite who has truly, no pun intended, crossed to greener pastures. It was so much more than just drawing them and getting their coloring down right. It was understanding their personalities and how they feel about each other that brought this to an entirely different level. Here is the original pencil drawing. From left to right, meet Moon and Esse . Moon is only a […]
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Coffered Ceilings on Property Brothers job

Thankful for the Side Dishes

by Sharon Leichsenring· November 17, 2015· in Artwork, Brick White Wash, Ceiling, Fireplace, Kitchen, Lettering·

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and once I got this title in my head, I couldn’t let the metaphor go. Certainly it is the turkey that is the centerpiece of the traditional celebration, but it is those side dishes that add the flavors and creativity. And so it is with my own portfolio. Yes, mural painting is the foundation of my work, but this month was a perfect example of those “side dishes” that don’t come around all that often, but when they do, what a treat! The first project was a brick wall in a red palette that was just completely unacceptable for the marvelous kitchen renovation. My client thought a simple whitewashing would tone the color down. I have her permission to show you her thought to see how it might look. It was ingenious. She used chalk, and literally colored the bricks to check out the effect. Not good. The result was dirty pink and coral tones. Below is the sample I created once the background had been painted. And here’s how lovely it looked when completed. Very believable and custom matched to her granite, flooring and cabinetry. I’ve also been doing quite a few canvas commissions. […]
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Trees For All Seasons

by Sharon Leichsenring· September 04, 2015· in Artwork, Staircase, Stairwell, Trees·

I just completed this project for one of my favorite clients. We have from an artist’s perspective, the perfect relationship. She’s very visual and we approach each scenario as a team. I love her input. Her home has a charming walkway to the front door, terraces of rounded brick steps. It’s beautiful for guests. However, family members generally come into the house from the garage and enter climbing up a most boring staircase. Climbing the stairs may be good aerobically but the view! It can’t get more boring than this. If one could see through the back door’s window to the right, one would be rewarded with a gorgeous sylvan vista. So a solution was born. A canvas of a good size (30″ by 40″) depicting the missing view. The transom window mimics those found in the home. I drew this sketch and we were on our way. I had to shift the perspective a little and drew it as it would be seen from a “worm’s eye’s view”, the opposite from looking downward like in a bird’s eye’s view. It may not be something the viewer is aware of, but it trick’s the mind to accepting it as more […]
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A Tale of Two Projects

by Sharon Leichsenring· August 06, 2015· in Artwork, Floor, Powder Room·

One of the best parts of my schedule is the wide scope of work that comes my way. Here are two projects that illustrate my point. The first is an elegant and sophisticated powder room. My part in it was quite small, a painted floor cloth. The cloth, a mere 27″ x 3″, was the perfect solution for the space. More importantly, it provided a vehicle to tie the palette of the room together. Here’s a picture of the cloth, the wallpaper and the fabric trims for the window treatment. Kudos to Linda Brencher Interiors of Branford for t the design found in this lovely powder room. The Anna French wallpaper in a light apple green sets the perfect crispness for every detail. Take a look at the floor cloth. This powder room is a busy place, so the protective topcoat will keep it looking like new for years. Here’s the finished project. The nightstand refitted as a vanity base with a new marble top and vessel sink is brilliant. The second project called for an entirely different direction. My client commissioned me to create a 24″ by 36″ painted canvas as a birthday gift for her husband. The […]
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Into the Woods… Yet Again

by Sharon Leichsenring· June 06, 2015· in Artwork, Columns, Commercial Space, Murals, Trees·

Few projects have touched a special place in my heart as the ongoing “Woods” painting at Fairfield Woods Middle School. Here is what things looked like when I saw the newly renovated lobby. My drawing was approved by the PTSA and in spring of 2013 I painted the center column and was invited back last year to paint the adjacent wall. It left the opposite wall looking quite needy and this spring, I came back to complete the matching wall. This is what the proposal looked like. This is what the lobby looks like today. What makes this project so remarkable is that in the two years since I started, there is not a mark on any of the work. No chips, no scratches and indeed, no graffiti. I deliberately do the work during school hours as I love the energy the feedback from the kids gives to me. Principal Dr. Rosato is always at the helm when at dismissal, some 925 students flood through that hallway, past me painting on my ladder. It is an awesome rush! On a serious note, though the graphic elements of trees is obvious in a school called for generations “The Woods”, I know […]
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