Floral Archives - Leichsenring Studios

My Garage Doors Have Murals

by Sharon Leichsenring· June 01, 2020· in Artwork, Birds, Floral, Murals, Trees, Video·

This is a project that has been back-burnered for years. I’d contemplated painting murals on my garage doors for several years but every time I thought about actually beginning the work, I’d rethink the entire situation. Would I really want to start something that would take me months, squeezing it in on weekends and being at the mercy of the weather? That start and stop approach would probably suck the joy out of this. Would my neighbors really want to wait who knows how long for me to get this done? And then Covid 19 arrived and life changed for all of us. If I could sew, I’d have been making masks, but I don’t. I needed to keep finding projects that would keep me focused. And did I have a beauty sitting in my pocket! No excuses to prevent me painting my murals. I had a new job. Here are the sketches I started with. And I should show you my canvas. I started the first one by sketching it in charcoal. Remembering that I was now dealing with outside weather, I went over the charcoal with a thin outline of paint. I had made myself an outside coloring […]
Read More

When One Door Closes…

by Sharon Leichsenring· May 01, 2020· in Artwork, Floral, Murals, Trees, Trompe L'oeil·

Week 6, maybe 7 of stay at home because of the virus. It has been truly a time of doors closed to us. It’s been difficult for all of us, reduced to telephone and facetime conversations. My granddaughters have been especially on my mind. So when I got the idea to use a door to absorb my energy (and no, not by slamming it a few dozen times, tempting as that might have been), I couldn’t undo the thought. I picked a door that is part of the core space of our open kitchen and dining area. I’d paint this door to fill that void in my heart. While deliberating which photo I’d use, top choice became an older picture that captured my two older granddaughters perfectly. It’s three years old now. Harper was just a few months shy of her fourth birthday, Darcy was two years and three months. I loved their sturdy little legs and Harper’s protective arms around Darcy’s shoulders. My son Ryan had caught this perfect moment. In fact, I liked this photo so much, I’d painted it once already on a 3′ x 3′ canvas for their bedroom a few years ago. But this would […]
Read More

The Second Time Around

by Sharon Leichsenring· April 01, 2020· in Artwork, Closet, Floral, Video·

There are times when my head just hurts…so many ideas and no time to get something selfishly done, for myself, for just the joy of painting it. Enter corona virus. The world as we knew it has changed. Each of us looks for a way to preserve our sanity. For me, I find solace where I always do, in painting. This time, I could use this time to indulge in painting something that had been floating around in my mind. Months ago, I sketched three options for a bedroom focal wall mural. I loved the one my client chose. It was perfect for her space. But one of the ones she didn’t pick? I fell in love with its possibilities. I knew a place for it. I could see it done in my mind’s eye, but when would I steal the time… Heads up on the closet doors in my bedroom. It’s one room where I just had played it safe, neutral. Beigey. So vanilla. One day, there would be time to bring this room alive, and now, here was the time. Warning to the husband. I’m painting the closet doors. Don’t ask what, just trust me. Perfect answer from […]
Read More

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 […]
Read More

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 […]
Read More

Painting Dogwood Blossoms

by Sharon Leichsenring· August 01, 2019· in Artwork, Floral, Murals, Powder Room, 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 […]
Read More

Here a robin, there a bluebird

by Sharon Leichsenring· January 01, 2019· in Artwork, Birds, Budget Conscious, Ceiling, Chinoisierie, Floral, Powder Room, Video·

I keep calling it a lovely powder room,but actually, it is a full bathroom. As the shower area was completely tiled and not part of my project area, it’s remains one of my favorite powder rooms. The why of that is easy; it required no construction and relied simply on paint to get a dramatic transformation and embraced all of the owner’s favorite things. Best of all, it employed a brilliant twist on the part of the designer, Eileen Segalman. Pure genius on her part. To get to know more about her, find her at www.eileensegalmaninteriors.com More about the twist later. This is the powder room I first met. A lot going on, a dated color and nothing to invite you into the space. The first thing Eileen recommended was a new color for the walls. She chose Benjamin Moore’s Quiet Moments. I suggested painting the ceiling the same color. Transformational, giving the room a very spa feel. Never be afraid to paint the ceiling the same color in a small space. It does NOT make the room feel smaller or the ceiling closer. In fact, it does just the opposite and leaves the four walls and ceiling as a […]
Read More

Good Fences Make Good Neighbors

by Sharon Leichsenring· June 01, 2018· in Floral, Murals, Trompe L'oeil, Video·

If it’s true that good fences make good neighbors, then this recent project will be making the whole neighborhood happy. I was contacted by Jan who began as a student and client years ago and has become a dear friend. I met Jan over a decade ago at the school of Anything but Plain Decorative Finishes in Houston where I taught workshops in mural painting, trompe l’oeil and perspective drawing amongst many other classes. Jan took a class and at the end took me up on the request I make of students: stay in touch, send me pictures. She did exactly that and then one day asked me to come to her newly built home in Grapeland, Texas to paint a mural. It would be the first of many murals I would come to paint there. A treat every single time as I fell under the charms of the peacefulness of East Texas. Here’s a picture of Jan and me at the Blue Bell Creameries, home of arguably the best ice cream in the country. This project brought many aspects of my Texas connections together. Amongst my visitors while working was Janie Ellis, founder of Anything But Plain, […]
Read More

Fit for a Queen, a Royal Powder Room Indeed!

by Sharon Leichsenring· April 04, 2018· in Dogs, Floral, Murals, Powder Room, Scrollwork, Trees, Video·

Sometimes, I simply need to pinch myself. A project is presented and I know how fortunate I am as an artist that the path has brought it to me. And what a challenge this would be. A small powder room, 58″ wide, 84″ long and 7 ½’ in height. Fill this space with images of one my client’s favorite places, the Gardens of Versailles. Challenge accepted. Here’s the white walls that I first saw. I drew scaled drawings suggesting different vistas, knowing I would have to seam them together. I started on the wall with the sink and toilet because it also had the one small window in the space. A stained glass window is being created to continue my vision and so as to keep the stained glass artist on schedule, this was the best place to start. I saved my palettes from the that area so that not only would he have the acrylic colors I was using but he could see the blending that took place for the best color accuracy. When it’s installed, I’ll share pictures. A few tricky areas getting behind the mirror and the sides of the toilet, but my world was […]
Read More

Wrapping up 2016

by Sharon Leichsenring· January 02, 2017· in Childrens, Commercial Space, Floral, Murals, Powder Room, Staircase, Stairwell·

December seemed to absolutely fly by and I am hard pressed to pick just one single project to showcase. So without further ado… I finished the hallway for the mural a Tree Grows in Tarrytown, featured in December’s newsletter. (By the way, the remarkable Pat Marlin of Business Technology Solutions who created my spanking new website, has made it easy if you just want to revisit an older newsletter. They are listed in the tab “Projects” on my homepage at www.LeichsenringStudios.com). Continuing the theme of the staircase part of the mural, using elements of the home’s landscape, the hallway captures the gentle rolling hills in the property’s perimeter. There is a stone cottage that was a caretaker’s residence when the property adjoining was part of one of the former Rockefeller estates. Seems perfectly at home in the Sleepy Hollow attraction of this area. Take a look. I wrapped up a lucky little boy’s nursery. Elegant as always in design by Linda Brencher Interiors of Branford, CT, the sailing theme is educational as well as fun and colorful. So for my darling granddaughters, the perfect wardrobe for dress-up ! As much fun as they will have playing with it, the joy […]
Read More