Pearl Finish on Walls An Assisi Cafe

pearl finish on sage green

Here is a project I did in Assisi.

It is a chocolate store and bar/cafe Cafe Santa Monica right in the heart of down town Assisi down from the Main Piazza if you ever get to tromping around Umbria everyone wants to go to Assisi because they associate the city with Saint Francis.

nice with the gray marble cafe tables

I'll tell you a really quick cool story about St. Francis.  It was actually here in our main Piazza della Republica in Foligno that St. Francis got in a big fight with his father about his life and what he wanted to do with his life.  His father was a rich textile merchant and St. Francis took off all his beautiful clothes and walked through the piazza, away from his father and denounced the rich life of materialism.

the cafe is set on two levels since all of Assisi is a hill

I had so much fun doing this project because you can’t park in the center of Assisi so I would wake up early drives the back roads from Foligno and park outside Assisi and hike in, looking at views of Medieval towers and walking a long road columned by tall cypress trees.  At the bar there were always cappuccino and ice cream available so it made going to work a holiday.

the owner Paola is a joy to be around

Here we wanted to update the space and make it cleaner looking.  We decided to use cool tones greens and blues and then a pearl finish on one main wall.  This was a nice contrast to all the other stores nearby done in the classic yellows and oranges.

i love blue and green together

For the pearl finish all I did was paint the wall the sage green a couple times and then later I dragged a wide paintbrush in diagonal brush strokes down the wall.  I used a long extension pole that the brush connected on to and a tall ladder at times.  The only hard part was making sure the brush strokes were straight and blended evenly.  Up close it is a really pretty finish, looking a little like silk from Thailand.  On another job I did one wall in a kitchen the same pearl finish but over white and it came out subtle and a soft vanilla colored really looking like raw silk.  Here the same acrylic paint over green looks more platinum more of a contrast.

high ceilings and the smell of chocolate - heaven

Does it make you want a cappuccino or a chunk of chocolate?

Natalie

A Fun Valentine

love

Valentines

I love a craft project to be easy.

I guess when I paint interiors I work so hard physically that when it comes to crafts I want them done in a moment.

Here’s what you need for this project, but you can take the idea and simplify it or change the materials easily.

I used:

Wire, paper, ribbon, paint, chocolate and aluminum foil.

no wire  - a coat hanger bent up can work

I formed a wire heart, tying the middle of it together with a ribbon, then extending that ribbon to hang it.

red paint watered down and then some pearl high light

I painted a piece of paper with a love note. 

To be honest first I tried rubbing a tea bag on a piece paper to antique it, it looked so dirty and bad you would have laughed at me.  Even my daughter Lucia said, “What’s that?”   

the chocolate wrapped in velvet could be sumptuous too

I wrapped up a couple of pieces of dark chocolate (over 70% cocoa makes it a super food and therefore healthy) in aluminum foil.

i like the am of AMO showing - visually intriguing 

Then I tied them all together like presents with pink and red ribbons.

It actually looks even prettier in reality then the photos.

love hanging around

Do you think my darling is going to like it? Ten days and counting till  it is Valentines.

Happy San Valentino!

And to all my beloved readers around the world.  I send you some sweetness.  Remember to spread it around...

Natalie

linking to:
http://thededicatedhouse.blogspot.com

Just One Photo

pure

Today just one photo representing my life (and maybe yours).

Crazy intersecting points.

Arches that stop and break.

Then begin again on another plain.

Space moving up.

Unadorned and treasured, precious and unversed.

A small framed window of hope and light.

Buona Weekend

Natalie

Linking back to:

http://www.soulemama.com/

http://www.commonground-do.com/

Can We Talk Pink

fiat 500

My sister and older daughter Lucia hate pink, it must be some kind of intellectual aversion, they are both proclaimed bookworms.  I am starting to love it, haha!  I think people who hate pink are sort of proud to hate pink, what’s up with that?  But wait didn’t I earlier in this blog claim that yellow was just generally no good, then I back peddled tremendously and said vanilla was o.k. and ochre too.

So this week while out and gallivanting around, I came across a pale-pink metallic Fiat Cinquecento.  I stopped in my tracks with my mouth agape.  It was just stupendous.  And thus I became inspired to talk and think about pink.

the pink brick from Assisi

my favorite velvet and pink silk robe, throw blanket from ikea

evening pink street, o.k it' kinda lavender

Since living in this country I have come to love pink, Italy knows how to do pink, from the men who casually and sophisticatedly wear pink scarves (think black hair, olive skin) around their necks, pink pants, pink palazzos, pink brick (famous and from Assisi), beautiful old terra cotta pink floors.

my daughter elisa's natural pink lips

soft pink palazzo with dark taupe - yes!

trick of the sunset, palazzo is yellow, my kitchen is grey and white

sorry i cut off the arch - bad girl
dark wood reflected pink

Back when I was young and I lived in Brooklyn, NYC going to art school.  I lived in a gorgeous brownstone.  The owners, previous architectural students, becoming misguided architects painted our inner curving staircase walls wedding cake pink, Barbie pink! They claimed it was historically correct, but my point back then was it didn’t look good, it seemed off, big time.  We were in the ghetto in Brooklyn it looked like a brothel.  You can’t ignore that there is a ghetto outside your front door.  What I am getting at here is that where and how pink is used is important.  It is a color that there must be some consideration behind.  I don’t believe that the Fiat Cinquecento originally came in pale-metallic pink.  I could be wrong but, slim chance it was a historical color for that car.  Now doesn’t that car look fantastic, courageous, funny.  Don’t you want to know the driver of that car.  And what’ cool is since we are in Italy, it could be anybody, an old man, a young hipster, a nonna.  Whomever it is they have style and they understand pink.

fiat cinquecento, it even has a sun roof

Natale

Thinking About Wood -Staining Sub-Flooring

picture the beautiful little ballerinas dancing on this!

Recently I was staining a dance floor studio on my hands and knees for a couple of days and it got me literally in touch with wood.  Living here in Italy for so many years I really miss the wood floors of America.  There are wood floors here but they are installed right over hard tile or concrete so there isn’t the air underneath of the subfloor.  Here’s what I love about wood.

It’s warm.  It's alive.

It feels good to walk on.  It is better on the body.

It is easy to stain or paint or change, update whenever you want.

I grew up in a house with an in closed front porch, it was all windows and glass doors at both ends of the house.  The floors my mother painted high gloss white, they were wood, long-wide boards, just heaven.  And with all the muddy running shoes that tracked over them they were actually easy to clean.

I believe a stenciled motif or hand painted design over dark wood or painted floors looks fantastic and as it ages even better.

here's the before

Here is this project at the dance studio.  The point I want to make here is even though it is just sub-flooring, even with the football shapes in certain areas, it still looks great.  It was so easy to do.

i use a big thick natural brush

All I did was brush on a wood stain in a chestnut color 1 to 1 1/2 coats.  I always brush in the direction of the wood grain.

I worked on one project where other workers snapped in the plastic laminate fake wood floors in one weekend.  It was impressive.  The client spend 1600 euros (about $2,000) on supplies, it was a huge two story palazzo.  Her home looked incredible right away.  But it wasn’t wood.  It did not have the same feeling as wood. 

Sometimes I worry that we are filling our homes and lives with plastic.

imagine sub-flooring painted in stripes of gray and white

Maybe painted sub-flooring is better than laminate just because it is still natural.  What do you think?  It is so hard as design oriented people to choose what feels good over what looks good. I saw another project in the country in America where they cut up the sub-flooring in wide width boards and installed them like classic wood floors, painted them all white.  It was a lot of work, yet inexpensive and looked great.

Natalie

Keep Warm

medieval wall

Nat’s tips for keeping warm.

At this moment as I write it is raining slushy snow and sometimes hail out there on the wet, black cobblestoned streets.

If I had a fireplace I would do nothing all day but sit by it and write.  I am a heat monger.

Instead I wear wool and often put a shawl over my shoulders like an old Italian woman.  I choose one of velvet to keep the glamour up, plus velvet is heavy and warm to boot.

Recently I have been heating up a hot water bottle “borsa della aqua calda” hot water purse (glamour up again?).  Then the last unglamorous thing I do is jump rope.  Jumping rope completely gets the circulation going and heats me up fast.  Velvet shawl, hot water purse and jump rope and I am good to go.

On a more intellectual note, here are a few quotes from Helen Keller.  For my international readers I will briefly say she was an American author, lecturer and political activist (1880-1968). Who after an illness when she was just 19 months old became deaf and blind.  This first quote always makes me weepy.  She is an inspiration to me.

“No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to uncharted land, or opened a new doorway to the human spirit.”

“Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light.”

“The best most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart.”

Now go make a cup of tea and think about that!

Natalie

A Little Color Inspiration For These Dark Days

Tangerine is a pretty good word too!

Tangerines are called CLEMENTINI in Italian.  Isn't that a pretty word.  It's just like it sounds, like most Italian, no tricks.  The clementini possibly have the most perfect leaves of all.  I love to paint tangerine leaves.  My girls and I take off the shiny leaves and put them in our pockets to bring good luck, all day long.

It's been stormy here.

everyone wants gray walls and furniture it looks good with bright color

The sky often looks like this.

Monte Pale dusted white

These last few days it snowed all over the mountains, but still not in the valley like I wish.

Foligno

Isn't Foligno pretty.  Foligno is a hidden secret, there are too many other famous hill towns around like Assisi.  In Foligno the people are cooler also.

oh delicious tones of red

clementini with perfect large leaves

shades of green with unfinished wood

and pink with bright green

love the purple and pink

paint or bake or eat raw?

Does it make you want to paint an apple or think about cooking an apple pie?  I make a really good apple cake with raisins, walnuts and tons of apples - it's addictive.  I'm supposed to get in my studio but it makes me want to bake instead.

My studio is a bit big and cold recently see above photos for verification.  I think I better warm it up with a hot cup of tea and some music played loud - always.

Carry on.

Natalie

How to: Shabby Chic Furniture

shabby chic furniture - i love orange and pink roses together

Note to Friends and Readers:  Anyone interested in my Painting Techniques Course for Interiors, Art and Furniture click the Image below.

Here in Italy I paint lots of Shabby Chic furniture pieces, here we mix it with modern furniture and also beautiful antiques.  The pieces that work best are the old solid furniture that have some nice detailing.  It is definitely in fashion to "fare chiara" make it light.  A big dark armoire really controls  the feel of a room.  If I paint it light it opens up the space and allows for more play with modern pieces, highlights what is put inside and just gives it new life.

sorry i forgot to get the true before shot

First I start by washing down and sanding (a bit) the piece to clean it up.


Then I paint it a pretty creamy color.

shabby chic already a big improvement

It usually needs about three coats of paint.  Let them dry completely in between coats and after, before sanding it.

i use a rough sand paper and the work goes fast

Then I sand the edges or moldings.  I put on 1 or 2 coats of water based clear coat.

shabby chic - here comes the fun part!

I like to add brown wax with a paint brush because it highlights the dark wood underneath.  Then I rub it in, not letting it get too much on the cream paint (or it looks yellow). If the furniture is not dark wood you can go so far as to stain the sanded off part, paint in the dark stain with a small brush.  I believe what makes the Shabby Chic look good is the dark wood underneath.  It adds a contrast.  The brown wax is painted on, then rubbed off, then I wait about 20 minutes and rub the wax vigorously with a piece of wool (cut up old sweater) to make it shine on the edges.

notice i didn't sand it too much,

Isn't it pretty.  I was happy with how it came out and the clients too!

do you like it?

A project like this might just help us survive January.  The hope of spring around the corner.  I'm dragging along here.  How are all you out there?  Slowly, slowly in Italy the days are getting a tiny bit longer.

Natalie

Link Party:
I'm linking to:
http://MissMustardSeed.com

Snow Quilts - Simon Beck

Simon Beck snow art

Artist Simon Beck plods though the snow in snowshoes creating these sensational patterns of snow art.  Working for 5-9 hours a day, each final piece is typically the size of three soccer fields!  The geometric forms range in mathematical patterns and shapes that create stunning, sometimes 3D designs, when viewed from higher levels.  How long these magnificent geometric forms servive is completely dependent on the weather.  Beck designs and redesigns the patterns as new snow falls.  Sometimes unable to finish a design due to significant overnight accumulations.

“The main reason for making them was because I can no longer run properly due to problems with my feet, so plodding about on level snow is the least painful way of getting exercise.  Gradually the reason has become photographing them, and I’m considering buying a better camera.”  - Simon Beck

The above is the information I got in an email from a friend.  I tried to get a hold of Simon dreaming of getting some kind inspirational quote about design.  I confess I am not on facebook, much to the displeasure of some of my friends! Anyway he is a busy guy.  My mother suggested I put up his art on my site with out his knowledge because “all artists want exposure.”  I would love to know what he thinks about as he works.  So there you are just breathtaking, stupendous, words cannot even describe.    I do understand that he uses an orienteering compass to create the perfect geometric designs, sometimes even a head lamp while creating at night and that he studied Engineering Science at Oxford University.

Go Simon you have a fan in Italy.

Natalie