Vermillion
Vermillion columns, deep charcoal gray roof tiles, white plaster walls, deep malachite green shutters, accents of canary yellow. I love this palette.
Labels: color, photography, travel
Labels: color, photography, travel






Labels: decorative painting, murals, ornament, travel
After bidding my companions not to wait for me, and after further hours of careful ceiling-gazing, I was still stopped in my tracks by two small chambers of the Salette Borgia, whose early Renaissance ornamentation is noticeably different in style than the majority of the palace. Ironically these rooms are the entrance to what is now the Collection of Modern Religious Art, which many visitors nearly run through on their way to the Sistine Chapel.
painted wall drapery with the Papal coat of arms of Alexander VI
worn tile floors: evidence of hundreds of thousands of visitors passing through.
A wall paneled with stenciled patterns, and a trompe l'oeil window.
Labels: decorative painting, ornament, travel, Vatican
Excellent landscape murals surround the "frieze" level of this room. Note the perspective in the paintings, which are all viewed from below.
Detail of the ceiling: I just adore that lace edging, and the border of little pavilions.
These fantasy buildings remind me of San Francisco's Chinatown, whose architecture was designed in 1906, to reflect the western impression of ancient Chinese buildings. Obviously not a new thing.Labels: chinoiserie, murals, orientalism, ornament, travel
Ms Fujimoto added my card to the guest artist book. The drawers behinds her are full of bamboo handle brushes, and trays of watercolors.
Here is my lovely new set of handmade watercolors, each in its own little ceramic tray. What a gorgeous palette, just as it is.
A display of sumi-e paint brushes at Kyukyodo.
Labels: art, decorative painting, japan, travel
No, I am not talking about Gothic-Lolita fashion!
Yeako-san gave a thorough talk about the possibilities and advantages of faux painting. I especially liked that she had 5 unique samples all made with the same stencil, to demonstrate how different a pattern can look depending on the materials or colors used.
I was then treated to an amazing sushi lunch, and we spent the rest of the day talking shop and taking care of business at the large and busy FAD studios. What a wonderful day with an inspiring, energetic, and accomplished woman!
Labels: decorative painting, idal, japan, sali, salon, travel
One of my favorite anime films is the 1988 Hayao Miyazaki classic Tonari no Totoro. I spied this "20th Anniversary Commemorate Fan" in a shop in Tokyo and was overcome with glee. If you look closely, you can see in its design soot sprites, and even the cutout shapes of little totoros in the spokes of the fan.Labels: fans, japan, textiles, travel

Labels: Erling Wold, music, travel
This image has been on my mind lately.Labels: murals, travel, trompe l'oeil
Labels: Erling Wold, music, travel
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.


Renaissance "grottesche" ornamentation created by Raphael and his team of decorative painters in 1517-22.
Spectacular painted ceilings in the main corridors, many of which were painted by Antonio Tempesta and Alessandro Allori around 1580Labels: decorative painting, grotesque, ornament, polychrome, travel



Labels: decorative painting, ornament, travel