Decorating with Cast Plaster

A bit of paint, a bit of plaster and a masterpiece emerges!

 In our on-going efforts to get our new home outside of Sandpoint, Idaho ready for our arrival in 2009, I've tackled a very large and very plain master suite to begin to crate a room of elegance that we will enjoy not only sleeping in, but using as our personal escape.

Outside the large double doors to the deck, the scenery is of exquisite evergreens. But inside, the walls were plain and bland.

I cast our new plaster column tops and created columns on the walls, each 8 feet apart from the other to give me a "framed" area for my mural idea.

I started with the background of far away trees and added the woody portion of what would become a weeping willow.

Once I had painted the background, I "dry brushed" over it with wall paint to mute the background severely.

(Dry brushing is dipping your brush in to paint, wiping off ALL excess, then with a light touch, go over your design to mute it).

I then began adding elements to the garden in the foreground. Upright flowers in the background of the stone pathway, a stone urn filled with plants and flowers, tulips around the base of the willow and a lilac bush to the left.

Little by little I built this mural as if it were a house. From the ground up....

I stared with the background and then began adding elements to the foreground. My vision kept changing and so did the mural.

Sometimes, the simplest strokes of a brush can create the most beautiful and realistic effects when it comes to murals.

For instance, simple "blobs" of paint become the willow leaves. They were nothing special, just "blobs" on long, thin, painted lines:

Now, when you wake in the room in the morning, no matter what time of year, you wake to a refreshing and colorful garden staring you in the face and inviting you to wake up and "smell the coffee.... smell the roses".

Click Photos to enlarge.

For those of you who are afraid to try a large mural by hand, or don't have any painting experience at all, this is the very reason we designers create the elements you need in stencil form.... "stencil" your tree! "Stencil" your tulips, "Stencil" your urn filled with flowers.... you too can have a mural to be proud of.

Remember: stenciling is like coloring in a color book. You just don't get outside the lines!

Exciting News!
Victoria's husband Dana has finally released his fabulous "Smooth Jazz" CD that includes Victoria's single "Gravity".

Give a listen for free at
cdbaby.com
today!
Click here!