Inspiration around the Web

I am addicted to faux painting and design blogs. I could disappear in them for hours. They are a great source of escape and inspiration for me. One of my new favorites is The Magic Brush. This is faux artisan, Jennifer Allwood's blog. She is very talented not only at painting, but also in expressing herself in her blog in a way that makes you feel like one of her girlfriends. I am in LOVE with lots of her work, but was particularly inspired by this cheetah print ceiling. Jennifer, is also willing to share her secrets. She posts step by step instructions for many of her projects. When I emailed her with questions about the cheetah ceiling she was more than willing to share her recipe and sources. Brooks just finished putting the finishing touches on his own cheetah ceiling thanks to the help and inspiration from Jennifer.

Another one of my favorite faux painting blogs is Fauxology by artisan, Regina Garay. Regina is a pioneer in the cyber world of faux painting. We have been friends on twitter for about a year now and I've got to tell you that Regina is the best cheerleader. She is always promoting other artists and bringing attention and recognition to their work. She is also very knowledgeable and helpful and always answers all my questions on blogging and painting. This is my favorite project by Garay Artisans. I want this on the stair well in my house.

A few of my favorite design inspiration sites are The Lettered Cottage Southern Hospitality Verdigris Vie and Cote de Texas. Drop a line and let me know some of your favorite blogs. I always have time to browse a few more.

Make Your Own Canvas

Brooks is creating a mural on canvas for our Make a Wish room at the Make a Wish Holiday Home Show that is coming up in Arrington, TN. It is a very large canvas, 4ft x 6ft. Have you ever priced one of these things? Well, let me tell you they don't sell them anywhere locally. And to order one online and have it shipped is a fortune. So, for less than $100 Brooks built one from scratch. First I ordered about twice as much fabric as we needed from Indiana Coated Fabrics. Then, Brooks went to Lowe's and picked up some poplar 1x4's and some L brackets. He cut the wood to size and attached the corners with L brackets. Here you see him in our state of the art workshop, (aka our garage). Then he rolled out the fabric. Laid the frame over the fabric and fastened the fabric to the frame with staples.
Voila, a beautiful canvas just waiting for it's subject matter.
Here is the master at work. This is a particularly nice shot of our art studio (aka the upstairs landing).