The Ornamentalist

The Fantasy World of Edward Mordake

2008-04-26T21:29:00.000-07:00

Mordake, Erling Wold's latest opera, tells the story of the 19th century aristocrat, Edward Mordake, who was driven mad by his twin sister - a female face on the back of his own head.
I was asked to help visualize the setting- a suite of rooms fit for a Victorian gentleman.

I found plenty of inspiration at Richard Reutlinger's lovingly restored Victorian house in San Francisco, especially in the master bedroom, which features a Dresser-inspired frieze painted by my late friend and mentor, Larry Boyce.
I photographed some rooms, and made a Thurber-esque line drawing, as well as a simplified gouache painting of the bedroom (above) which are all to be computer- modified by Erling and German visual artist Freider Weiß, and then projected on stage to create Edward's world. The large mirror I left blank, as they will be adding some invented reflections there. The set will alternate between photos, video, drawings, and paintings, to create varying levels of reality and fantasy.
And I hope Larry won't mind that in making my paintings of this room, I filled in his rather glaring persian flaw, so as to leave room for some of my own.

Mordake by Erling Wold, a solo performance with tenor John Duykers, premiers May 22 and runs through June 7, 2008
as part of the San Francisco International Arts Festival
More information and musings on this subject can be found on Erling's blog.

Mordake is featured on the cover of Theater Bay Area this month!

Lynne Rutter Murals & Decorative Painting

Missa Beati Notkeri Balbuli Sancti Galli Monachi

2008-04-13T00:21:00.000-07:00

The off the hook baroque interior of the Cathedral of St Gallen.

After an incredibly lovely train trip from Milan through the Alps we arrived in St Gallen, Switzerland, for the premier of Erling Wold's mass, which he named for one of St. Gallen's most beloved monks, Notker the Stammerer.

Nearly 500 people attended the concert held in the choir of the Dom Cathedral. Erling's beautiful and moving music was brought to life by soprano Kim Brockman, whose voice really does remind one of angels, and the rock star of organists, Willibald, who handled the cathedral's 300+ year old instrument like it was a turbo powered sports car.
The applause lasted over 10 minutes.

A recording of the concert is here.

Grotesque obsession

2008-04-10T09:31:00.000-07:00

As an Ornamentalist (and posting this while currently traveling in Italy) I can't help but obsess just a bit about the grotesque ornamentation that covers entire ceilings and indeed whole rooms in some of the places I have visited recently.

Grotesque figures found in a window of the Gallery of Maps, Vatican Museum, Rome

I am also absolutely rapt with my newest aquisition, Les Grotesques by Allessandra Zamperini, a comprehensive and lavishly illustrated book that traces the history of the form, from ancient Pompeii to the bestiaries and drolleries of medieval manuscripts, to the discovery of the Domus Aurea in the 15th century that inspired Raphael and his contemporaries to create an entire system of "grottesche" ornamentation, which endured as a major influence in painted decor for centuries, including singerie, neo-classical, and 19th century revival interiors. I bought the French version of the book while in Florence and have only slightly minded its weight in my luggage this last week.

Rome: ground zero for Grotesca
In future travels I'd love to visit the Guila Romano, Palazzo Farnese, Villa d'Este and some of the other fabulous villas that sport this kind of painting.

This time, I did get to spend a long day at the The Vatican Museum:

Renaissance "grottesche" ornamentation created by Raphael and his team of decorative painters in 1517-22.

Vatican - Museo Pio Clementino: details of ornamentation
by Christoforo Unterperger circa 1776

Santa Maria dell'Anima, Rome: detail of a chapel painted by Francesco Salviati, 1548.

Florence: The Uffizi

Spectacular painted ceilings in the main corridors, many of which were painted by Antonio Tempesta and Alessandro Allori around 1580

Detail of above ceiling

A small spandrel ornament on the lower floor of the Uffizi

note: photography is not permitted inside the Uffizi, so my images were taken by stealth.
Some of the other stealth photographers sharing this work on the web:
groenling's flickr set
MikevV

All of the images in this post photographed by Lynne Rutter, April 2008.
Select any image to view at larger size.

Lynne Rutter Murals & Decorative Painting

dissolving/evolving facades

2008-04-03T08:15:00.000-07:00

Postcard from Rome...

Near the Campo de' Fiore there is a small building of some considerable age, bent and worn, the lower part covered in graffiti.
At the top of the facade, you can see a lovely frieze decoration that cleverly marries neoclassical and art nouveau styles: angel figures, fountains, and horses, and a vitruvian wave border, created from horse heads.

If you look very closely at the surface in the center of the building, you can see the ghost of an earlier decoration - a simple trompe l'oeil grid pattern that was all the rage in the 16th century.

The more exposed base of this facade has worn down to its bricks, and a new buildup of spray painted sentiments has begun.

Lynne Rutter Murals & Decorative Painting

Italian Painted Ceiling: work in progress

2008-03-28T18:41:00.000-07:00

Our current project is a large ceiling divided into coffers, for our client's home being transformed with a Northern Italian look. We are painting the panels in the studio on medium weight canvas (Sierra and Melka, pictured above)
The design takes its inspiration from a mix of Florentine paper and grottesca ornament, and uses a cooler palette of roses and blues from our client's fabulous oriental carpet.

As each of the ceiling coffers are slightly different in size and shape, I designed a simple and colorful foliate ornament which when repeated (112 times!) will help make the ceiling look more symmetrical.

We started by developing the corner element. This sketch was copied to a master drawing, and then separated into a simple stencil design. We used the stencil to transfer the basic shape or the ornament to the canvas using four colors of matte acrylic paint.
Each element is then hand-shaded with four more colors, and lined with burnt sienna.

The canvases are then overglazed, and some areas gilt with a fine line of 22 karat gold, for that little glint of a highlight.
We hope to install this ceiling in early June.

Faux Marquetry Ceilings: Rathaus, Vienna

2008-03-27T20:24:00.000-07:00

detail of a faux marquetry ceiling panel, Rathaus, Vienna

In September we traveled to Vienna, Austria, where Erling attended the ISMIR conference, and happily, a banquet organized by the city of Vienna for them in the Rathaus- the city hall built in the 1870s in the Gothic Revival style. It is spectacular inside, loaded with graceful arches, stenciled vaulted ceilings, and encaustic tile floors. A large number of rooms have stenciled wood faux marquetry ceilings.

<---dinner with ISMIR participants. there were other women there besides me, you know, waiting tables.

My enthusiasm for the ornament in the building must have been somewhat contagious, as a number of the banquet attendees accompanied me as I snuck from room to room shooting ceilings in the dark.

And to think, I was worried I'd be bored at this event!

These ceilings are made from a light colored pine, that has been beautifully stenciled with pigment or stain to give the look of marquetry; the wood looks richer and the room more grand. The ornament itself is relatively simple and repeated to give an opulent surface without looking too cluttered.

In this room, the lacunaria have been gilt on the edges, I believe with a low karat gold and tinted varnish.

Some of the stenciling appears to have been done in reverse- pigment is applied, and then removed through the stencil.

These are great borders which could be applied to wall paneling, floors, or furniture as well as ceilings.

More images are posted at my flickr account.

Lynne Rutter Murals & Decorative Painting

Gilt highlights

2008-03-15T00:36:00.000-07:00

I found this very sweet little trompe l'oeil molding with gilt highlights, in a small passageway of the Hofburg, next to the Empress Sisi's novel indoor convenience. It mimics the grander gilt plaster ornament in the adjoining apartments.

Click on the images to view larger.
This is very simply painted, and the highlights are gilt with a lemon-colored gold leaf. Notice the burnt sienna accents which create reflected highlights. In this tiny dim hallway, this trompe l'oeil is perfectly scaled and very effective.
photos by Lynne Rutter, 2007

Lynne Rutter Murals & Decorative Painting

Spring Forward

2008-03-09T14:13:00.000-07:00

Today really feels like spring. Having the sun out all day, and light well past 7PM
just makes me want to paint my toenails pink.

Miss March

2008-03-03T12:01:00.000-08:00

This month I have the honor of being the featured artist at "House of Faux"
a website dedicated to providing resources for decorative painters and faux finishes. The site is building up an archive of articles, blog entries, artist profiles, and information useful to the student as well as the professional painter.

Lynne Rutter Murals & Decorative Painting

Lace Doily Table

2008-02-16T00:26:00.000-08:00

It's here! my lace doily table, custom made by my friend Marcia Stuermer of Fossil Faux Studios.

The tabletop is acrylic resin, embedded with lace doilies, many of which were made by my great grandmother. The rest were collected from eBay as well as San Francisco's Chinatown. At 51" in diameter, the table is scaled perfectly to the room, and can seat 6 comfortably.

It has a different color and glow in varying light.
And it looks great with my late relative lyre-back chairs.

I could not be more excited about this. It's perfect!

Restoring a carved polychromed door

2008-02-13T21:18:00.000-08:00

This is a beautifully carved door in Newport Beach, California, by the artist and master woodcarver Mogens Abel, from Laguna Beach.

I remember visiting Mr. Abel in his studio in the mid 1970's; he showed me how he made this sort of work, carving it in redwood, or fir, or some other California native wood, and then "staining" the elements with thinned artist oils.

Everyone remembers this door as having been really brightly colored when it was new.
I sure didn't mind seeing it aged and darkened, but it also became filthy, especially after the recent fires in Southern California, and had a fair number of gouges. The wood has become so dry a large crack was forming up one side.

Last week, I cleaned and oiled the wood, and re-stained the ornament. Just cleaning the surface revealed a lot of the color and detail.

There were enough traces of the original paint that I was able to match the colors. I also mixed up a seaweed green to touch up the gouges and scratches in the door.
In the next few weeks much of the color will be absorbed into the wood.
Abel also carved these redwood gates. After some repairs had been done about 5 years ago, I recreated the polychroming and left it fairly rough. These have since weathered and worn nicely.

Lynne Rutter Murals & Decorative Painting

J.W. Bergl: a Bohemian Muralist in Vienna

2008-01-23T15:54:00.000-08:00

Garden murals by J.W. Bergl, Hofburg royal apartments, Vienna. photo by Lynne Rutter, 2007

During my most recent visit to Vienna, I visited the Imperial Apartments of the Hofburg palace, and I was thrilled to find there, two small rooms with murals by the Bohemian artist Johann Wenzel Bergl (1718-1789). They are painted on canvas, with a secco-fresco style, and a look that reminds me of papier peint panoramique.
As it turns out, photography is not permitted in the Hofburg, so shortly after taking the above picture, I was asked to leave.
I attempted to console myself with a schnitzel and a carafe of Grüner Veltliner in the nearby Burggarten Café. I mean, really, one would think I was some kind of sleezy paparazzo, shooting pictures of the Empress Sisi in her underwear.

The very next day I went to Schönbrunn Palace, hoping to get another look at the wonderful rooms of Bergl murals I has seen there a few years earlier. To my dismay, the Goëss Apartments as well as the other Bergl rooms, were all closed. I was told they are open only on special occasions and by appointment, and was directed to an office where appointments are made.
I should point out that this would not irritate me quite so much if there was a decent book on this painter's work available anywhere.

I screwed up my nerve and asked the management if they would be so kind as to open the rooms for me. This request was met with the usual calm Viennese disdain, which conveys a measure of blank shock at having been asked about something that is not allowed. Why on earth would anyone ask about something that is not allowed? Oh no, they told me. Es ist nicht erlaubt. I don't speak German, so I refrained from asking why.
Another day, Erling and I spent over an hour trying to gain entry to the Melk Stiftkeller in Vienna, which is reputedly adjacent to a chapel full of Bergl's paintings. More Grüner Veltliner at a nearby Restaurant was required to recover from our Failure.
Did you think you were going to read all this and go away with no eye candy? Would I do that to you?
Fortunately, I have the photographs I took in December of 2002, when the apartments of the Crown Prince as well as the Goëss rooms of Schönbrunn were open for a display of international-themed Christmas Trees.
These murals were commissioned by the Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa, and were painted between 1768 and 1777 in an enfilade suite of rooms on the garden level of the Palace. The artist used drawings of original specimens of exotic fauna and flora brought back from Hapsburg-funded scientific expeditions. Schönbrunn has extensive gardens and at one time boasted the largest zoo in Europe.
Shortly after the death of the Empress in 1780, the murals were covered over with wall-hangings, and not rediscovered until 1891. They remain in exceptional condition.
photographs by Lynne Rutter, 2002 Click on the images to see larger version.

J.W. Bergl was born September 23, 1718, in Königinhof, Bavaria. He was a student of the prominent painter Paul Troger, the artist who decorated the ceilings in the enormous library in the Benedictine Abbey at Melk. Bergl worked his entire career in Austria, and is best known for his bright- colored baroque trompe l'oeil murals, most notably those in Melk, and Schönbrunn.

I'm not the only one with a camera! Here is where to see more of J.W. Bergl's work:

The Bergl frescoes in the Garden Pavillion at Melk, photographed by Harald Hartman.
Schlosses Ober St. Veit: more of J.W. Bergl's exotic landscape frescoes by Helmut Jaklitsch.
The Goëss Apartments and other pictures of Shönbrunn, a Picassa album by Chris.
Flickr album by Ilja van de Pavert, with wonderful photographs of Melk.
My Bergl Flickr set to which I hope to add more photographs in the near future.
Some decent but small photos in this souvenir book on Schönbrunn.

Lynne Rutter Murals & Decorative Painting

Francophilia

2008-01-21T13:34:00.001-08:00

In addition to exploring Lacis, and while were in Berkeley anyway, Kathleen and I made a visit to Tail of the Yak on Saturday.

This has been one of my absolute favorite boutiques ever since 1982, when I lived across the street. Back then, I saved up my money to buy a pair of giant Thomas Mann hand earrings, (and of course,in those days, I only wore one of them at a time.)

<--- antique chinese hair combs

The boutique is filled with a gorgeous collection of antiques, textiles, glassware, ornamental paper goods, from all over the world, all with a decidedly French atmosphere. The work of local artists Anandamayi Arnold, Aimee Baldwin, and Lauren McIntosh has also contributed a fair amount to the aesthetic and look of Tail of the Yak, which has been an inspiration to designers and stylists (and other boutiques) all over the Bay Area.

<---Tail of the Yak window display featuring paper beetles and logs.

We made a stop at Bell'occhio on way back home, and found the log motif being repeated in their wood-grained walls and the sculpted "Woodsie" cake stands.

I picked up some absinthe spoons, which I hope to make more use of now that absinthe is legal, and more available than it has been.

Platial map "Francophilia" more things to do in San Francisco that make you miss Paris.
St George Spirits, Absinthe Verte is being distilled in Alameda
Bell'occhio 10 Brady St, San Francisco
Tail of the Yak 3632 Ashby Avenue, Berkeley

Needle Lace Exhibit at Lacis

2008-01-21T00:44:00.000-08:00

<---- 17th Century Gros Point de Venise lace border

Saturday Kathleen Crowley and I ventured to Berkeley to pick up corset supplies at one of my favorite places- Lacis, where one can get all those little necessities for costuming and beautful living, like chatelaines, patterns for period clothing, corset busques, pewter clasps, bone knitting needles, and of course, lace....

While there I got a tour in their small but fabulous Lace Museum. The current exhibit features some outstanding hand made needle lace from the 16th-19th century, that rivals the lace collection I saw recently at the MAK in Vienna.

this exhibit displays incredible examples of European lace, with photo-enlargements of pattern details, as well as illustrations of how it was used in collars, sleeves, etc.

punto in aria

a spectacular lace fan, and detail of its pattern

click on the images to see larger images and more detail.

Lynne Rutter Murals & Decorative Painting

signs of life

2008-01-17T12:54:00.001-08:00

false spring in the garden...

the crocuses are blooming!

seeing these little flowers pop up really cheered my week.

Gothic Ornament: Église de Saint-Germain-des-Prés

2008-01-13T11:49:00.000-08:00

How many different borders can you use in one springing arris?

There are few surviving examples of true Gothic decorative painting. Most of what we can see now is the result of the appreciation and revival of romantic and antique styles during the 19th Century.

Fortunately in the case of Église de Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the oldest church in Paris, there were significant amounts of original 13th and 14th century ornament to document, despite fires, the sacking of the church in 1789, and the ill use of the building during the next ten years which greatly damaged its interior.

The decorative painting as we see it now, was restored/recreated in 1845. It is remarkable how some of the oldest ornament looks the most modern. Those geometric borders (polka dots!) especially.
An interesting description of the history of this building can be found in this text of a 1921 guidebook.

While taking these photographs I had the pleasure of speaking with one of the priests in the church, who pointed out to me some of the better areas to photograph, and explained to me that areas of the interior had been scrubbed of its paint during more recent repairs. There is currently no plan for any restoration or cleaning.

photo by Lynne Rutter, 2007

Lynne Rutter Murals & Decorative Painting

midnight brownies!

2008-01-12T00:10:00.000-08:00

step-by-step brownies from scratch.

brownies from scratch!

we want brownies but don't feel like leaving the house. so we find a fabulous recipe on the internets, and fortune smiles on us. all the ingredients are in the kitchen; clearly, God wants us to have these brownies.

ultimate brownie recipe from Carroll Pellegrinelli via about.com

ingredients:

8- 1 ounce squares of unsweetened chocolate
1 cup butter
5 eggs
3 cups sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2-1/2 cups chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted

(we eliminated the nuts. erling does not like nuts in desserts)

preparation: preheat oven to 375 degrees F. [with a convection oven, this translates into 350 degrees] grease a 9 x 13" pan

melt chocolate and butter in a saucepan over low heat; set aside
beat eggs, sugar and vanilla at high speed for 10 minutes
the mixture will be fluffy and have peaks. it's worth having a kitchenaid for this step, even a very old one like mine.
then blend in flour and salt, and the chocolate mixture, until just mixed.

pour into prepared pan

tip: lightly "drop" the pan a few times to coax the bubbles out of the batter.

bake for 35-40 minutes. it's a good idea to check after about 25 minutes, to make sure the brownies are not over-baked.

how long must we wait???

cool before eating!

Art Deco Chinoiserie

2008-01-07T00:07:00.000-08:00

What gorgeous, romantic bedroom, recalling silver screen Hollywood glamour, bias cut silk lingerie, martinis and cigarette holders....
Interior Designer Paula McChesney, designed this master bedroom for the 2003 Coyote Point Decorators Showcase in an historic Hillsborough mansion.
An expert colorist, Paula was understandably concerned about the astroturf green carpet, which we had to keep. The rest of the room- well, it had some problems:

Before: a long rectangular room with green carpet, white walls and a low ceiling beveled on two sides, dueling chandeliers, and not-quite symmetrically placed anything.

The solution: don't fight with the carpet- go green! The walls were painted with Benjamin Moore "Harrisburg Green" HC-132. The ceiling was painted a custom mixed green-grey and the rest of the palette was kept limited.

We paneled the room with three levels of silver moulding, including each corner, and a picture rail which settled the question 'where does the ceiling start?' The moulding was gilt with aluminum leaf in advance at my studio.

For the insets of the panels I painted Chinoiserie murals, using restrained doses of brilliant color. The panels focus attention into the center of each wall, creating the illusion of symmetry, and balancing the architecture. And it was also just darn pretty.

Paula furnished the room all in ivory, like a splendid Jen Harlow gown.

After the showcase ended, the paneling and the murals were installed in one of our client's homes.

I've been collaborating with Paula for over 12 years now. I think this was one of our most challenging and successful rooms.

room photo by David Duncan Livingston

Lynne Rutter Murals & Decorative Painting

Trompe l'oeil bas-relief

2008-01-04T16:28:00.000-08:00

more ornament for the bank...

Schoenbrunn, Vienna: trompe l'oeil bas-relief and mouldings, circa 1750. This is painted into the curved corner a coved ceiling.

Detail showing brushwork.
There is the barest hint of rose and green in the shadows and highlights.

photo by Lynne Rutter 2007

Lynne Rutter Murals & Decorative Painting

Gothic organ case

2008-01-04T02:36:00.000-08:00

more for the ornament bank:

Strasbourg Cathedral: gothic organ case, circa 1385, with foliate ornament, carved ribs w/gold leaf.
Photo by Lynne Rutter 2007

Lynne Rutter Murals and Decorative Painting

Good Photography for Decorative Painters

2007-12-29T12:57:00.000-08:00

People say to me all the time "wow Lynne, your work looks amazing!"
Well amazing it may well be, but here is my beauty secret: much of the reason it looks so good is the quality of the photograph.

When you've just finished a great project, often all you have as a record of your fine work is the photograph. So it follows, the better that photograph, the better your work will look, and unless you are yourself a very skilled photographer, you really must consider getting professional help.

Learn what makes a Photograph work for you:

When your work is part of an interior design scheme, showing a picture of the whole interior, rather than just a shot of one wall, is very important, to show how your painting works with the room. It helps sell the work to the next client who wants to visualize what you do as part of the design process, to show the scale of what you painted; how you got the color to match surrounding materials, etc. This is very difficult to accomplish, even with a good digital camera.
Take some responsibility for what's in the shot. Ladders, tarps, construction paper, unfinished rooms with missing hardware or wires hanging down for lighting that has not yet been installed... is that a finished room or a construction site? is that blue tape part of the look? Do you want to give future clients the impression that you leave tape behind? non! Such pictures do not belong in your portfolio! Make it part of your contract, that you be allowed to return to the site to document your work in a finished setting.

Why you should hire a professional photographer

If you need to shoot something large, or a whole room, a large format camera with a lens that won't distort the room, and proper lighting, make all the difference.
You are far more likely to get your work published if you can provide a good high-resolution image to the editors.

To get the Lacemaker shot in this house in Corte Madera, CA, back in 1993, David Papas and his assistant had to haul their equipment up four flights of steep exterior fog-dampened stairway, rearrange furniture, spend two hours lighting the room to reduce glare and eliminate shadows on the mural, style the 10 foot wide Michael Taylor table using the homeowners own dishes, and the result is I got a 4"x5" positive transparency of a gorgeous room, which has really come in handy for the six times this mural has been published in magazines and books.

Establish a relationship with a good, professional photographer.

Work with the same photographer over a period of time, and consider that person part of your team.

Over the last 15 years most of my better work has been shot by my friend David Papas, who has not only made my work look great, but he's taught me a lot about photography in general.

David is also expert at digital photography, taking large images, correcting problems on the computer, and turning that image over for publication as quickly as possible.

This image of my Vintage Laundry room for the 2007 San Francisco Showcase House was taken by David Papas in two shots, seamed together on the computer. He also "airbrushed" out undesirable clutter like the extension cords and extra lighting that were visible in the shot, and then de-saturated the image to give it the look of an old, tinted photograph.

Factor In the Cost of Photography

Photographers cost money to hire, and with good reason: some of those large format cameras cost as much a luxury automobile, and it takes years to learn how to deal with the various problems of capturing the desired image, and to know how to make the most of what's there.
So, for a large project, I factor in the cost of the photo shoot in advance of making my bid whenever possible.

However, I know well, that the going rate for decent photography may be well more than the profit on some of those smaller projects, and sometimes you just can't get back to that site. So, here are some alternative solutions...

Some low-cost ways to get some great shots into your portfolio:

Often your project is going to be photographed anyway, so team up with the others involved! The contractor, interior designer, architect, drapery workroom, or carpet showroom, may already have plans to take photos of the finished job. Talk to them about sharing the cost of a photo shoot.
When working with an interior designer, for a client, or showcase house, ask about the photography of the finished job before you quote a price or do any work. Ask for a detail shot of your work that you can use in your portfolio. Often the cost of one extra shot will be nominal and/or can be considered part of your fee.
If your client plans to photograph the space when it's finished, ask to participate in that photo shoot. If you can't be there, talk to the photographer yourself to tell them what you need to emphasize.

My client, the David Allen Company in Raleigh, NC, had a photo shoot done of their headquarters and showroom, and the photographer , Jim Sink took an extra shot of the Nine Muses ceiling mural I painted there, and sent me a CD of this photograph:

which was extremely fortunate given the horrid "available light" shot I had taken myself - I simply did not know how to deal with a mix of halogen, fluorescent, incandescent, and natural light coming from the door.

Offer to trade services with a photographer. Your decorating skills might be just what [s]he need to make a backdrop, finish a room, enhance the studio, etc.
If your project might get published, ask the photographer from the newspaper or magazine, if you may use one or two of the shots [s]he took in exchange for a link on your website or some usage fee. Sometimes a photographer freelancing for a magazine or newspaper will even contact you.

This picture of an historic home in Diablo, CA, for which I painted the floor and faux bois woodwork, was taken by Bernardo Grijalva while shooting for an article in the East Bay Home and Design, which included some of my work, and he was kind enough to email me a larger format copy of the image to use on my website.

Credit where credit is due

Remember, whether you paid for the photo shoot or not, always give the photographer credit when you use one of their photographs. While you own the copyright on your work, the photographer owns the copyright on the photographic image, and you must have permission to use it.

Just like you, photographers like to have their good work seen and get their name out there to attract more business. Work with them, and they will help make you look good, too.

Lynne Rutter Murals & Decorative Painting

Gilt trompe l'oeil: Versailles

2007-12-28T00:41:00.001-08:00

Ceiling ornament detail, Châteu de Versailles: neoclassical style trompe l'œil ornament with gilt highlights; gilt panels with trompe l'oeil shadows. This gorgeous bit of painting dates from the Second Empire.
(click on image to enlarge) look closely, you can even see the brushstrokes.
photo by Lynne Rutter, 2007

Lynne Rutter Murals and Decorative Painting

New York: Winter Windows

2007-12-22T23:22:00.001-08:00

christmas on mars: extravagant macy's window

mixing business and pleasure, last week i made a short trip to new york, to work on a gilt ceiling with my friend bruce thalman.
my first night there i had a veritable holly golightly moment when bruce and john took me to herald square, to macy's at a somewhat late hour so we could get that midnight shopping experience. the windows currently have a splendid santa-in-space theme.

the following day, while waiting for some surface to cure, bruce and i spent an incredible afternoon at one of my favorite places - abc carpet and home.

their windows, as most of the inside of the store, are of an indian/world beat theme. thousands of crystals, and i mean the vingettes are packed with them, act as a snowy landscape.

i didn't have my camera on me for the fantastic tony duquette-inspired bergdorf windows, but fortunately racked.com posted some shots.

want to see more lovely window displays? check out the amazing vitrines of paris and london as reported at tara bradford's paris parfait.

Cluster Bomb Batik

2007-12-13T22:49:00.000-08:00

Daniel Gundlach designed this piece by incorporating the images of bombers and cluster bombs into a patten from an antique batik sarung.

A recent addition to my textile collection is this modern batik sarung designed by my friend Daniel Gundlach. At first glance it's a traditional pattern with marsh reeds and birds, in an unusual color of battleship gray with green and bits of orange.
And then you notice... the bombers... and the cluster bombs.

Unexploded devices still litter the landscapes of Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam. They have a high rate of failure to detonate on impact, and subsequently lie like tiny landmines, continuing to mame and kill children and other civilians dozens of years after the bombs were dropped.

Daniel got a nice mention in the San Francisco Chronicle this week. You can see more of his work and benefit from his excellent eye for batik and other Asian textiles at the Language of Cloth Trunk Show and Sale weekends now through December 24.