Back in the spring, a funny thing happened. I found out that my second cousin (my grandpa and her grandma were bother and sister) and her family were moving to the base where we live. She and I exchanged emails about the base and the surrounding area and I was excited to have some family living nearby soon. Little did I know, they would be two doors down form us on our street! If that's not God at work, I don't know what is! When they first moved here over the summer, my cousin Laura, was expecting her third child. She was definitely in the nesting stage, which was tough considering they had tons of unpacking to do and she was eight and a half months pregnant! Nevertheless, she along with her husband and two boys, managed to get settled before the baby girl arrived. I was so honored when she asked me to do some artwork for baby Liesel's nursery. Laura loves the idea of monogramming so we decided to do three canvases with baby Liesel's monogram and some other fun details. I started with the middle canvas, a giant letter "B" with one of the butterflies from the nursery bedding. This was an interesting color to mix. It ended up having a lot more orange in it than I'd expected!
Once the background colors of all the canvases were in, I used a sort of glazing technique to give them a pearlized finish. I mix metallic off-white paint with water and them paint a thin layer over the dried color. This way, I can mix the perfect color first and give it a very unique finish!
Next, I started on the letters themselves. I have recently perfected the woodgrain effect with my paintings and I thought it would be a nice contrast against the plain background. I have always loved the natural beauty of woodgrain. When I used to work as an interior designer, I loved to study all the different designs made by the various types of wood. Yes, I'm a nerd. I'm ok with that! Totally comes in handy sometimes!
I completed the "L" and the "R", painted in shadows, highlights and the whimsical little curls on each of the letters. I also painted the sides of each canvas with the same woodgrain effect as the letters.
The finishing touch to these paintings was the thick, satin ribbon to hang them by. Laura even let me hang them above the crib to ensure that they were perfect!
The best part about this project, is that I have the privilege of getting to know the tiny little client that I painted them for! Up next, more kids art!
