Pinch Me!

Just me.
Bare-faced.
Natural and happy.

I am fresh from a great adventure.  Life handed me a magnificent opportunity and I somehow, magically, divinely was able to step into it with grace...

What can I say?  In a nutshell, America's greatest living designer needed a painter.  And I was available.

Only one caveat (don't you know there's always a caveat?).  It was a "Top Secret" project.  And I am now limited as to what I can "Show and Tell." (Apparently privacy and discretion are paramount to the super-rich, super successful and super powerful.  Can't imagine why.)

That's all OK by me.... I'm an artist, remember?  We are specialists at creatively solving problems and managing loopholes!  "Allegedly..."

So here goes...

"Allegedly" there was a lavish wedding to take place on the grounds of a private estate in Bedford, NY.

A tool shed and maintenance house on the Estate.
Hmmm.... makes me wish I were a handyman.

The vast grounds are "park like" and "private" with both rolling
acres of open land and small nooks of natural enclaves.
Everywhere, the air was perfumed with the scent of blossoms.

The wide open space and blue sky was breath taking.
There were also ponds, a lake, bridges, a brook...
Guest houses, stables, garages...
Oh gosh.

As with all splashy affairs (ie, "movie sets") there are elements of custom made and hand-painted "props" to create the venue and anchor the ambiance.  I can't really show too many decorative pieces that were created, lest I give away a valuable piece of posterity not actually "mine" to show... but I can and will show you a very small, yet poignant piece of the puzzle... ("allegedly" innocuous is best!)

There was a pool.  And a pool house.  And some stone around the pool and pool house that needed to be duplicated in "faux" as "riser" for some decorative urns that would showcase some important flower pieces.

Pool

Pool House

Me, at the Pool House.
PINCH ME!
Am I really here?!

My work space...

My Ride

My set up (before)

Yes, those are bales of hay in the background.
Good thing foresight had me bring Benadryl.

After!  Pool Stone successfully duplicated.

Detail of "pool stone"
Taupe, grey 1, grey 2, grey 3, beige, cream, followed by taupe 2.
(all custom mixed...)
Rolled, Hand-brushed, Sponged, Sponged, Cheeseclothed, Brushed again,
Sponged again, and Cheeseclothed...again.

As I was working it occurred to me the easiest route would've been to use Ralph Lauren's River Rock.  This product is misunderstood and under utilized.  In the right hands it is a fantastic medium.  We adore it!  Amazingly, this product in one or two coats would've had the same effect.

A recent project using Ralph Lauren's River Rock
Hand brushed (cross hatched) over a rolled out coat.

Ralph Lauren's River Rock.  Can you imagine the the irony!  Ooops.  Did I just say that?!  I mean, "allegedly" that's very ironic!  ;)

xo,
AGP

P.S. - On my private Facebook I made the jokey-announcement to my fabulous friends that I witnessed and photographed many, many things that I am not permitted to publicly disclose... but that if you took me to dinner and liquored me up I would tell and show you "everything."  I had many offers, but one stood out.  Ha!  Love you Melanie!  Off to Barcelona, Spain on a special mission to do just that... and more!  See you on the other side of wonderful...

Getting Stoned

A Photographic Journal of Transformation

My client told me this fireplace reminded her of a Jack-o-Lantern!  Ha!
My reply: this fireplace needs to get stoned!  

Viola! A Fabulous Faux Fireplace.
Smokin' Hot!

Like a good plastic surgeon, I marked the stone shapes before committing to the sculpture.
The facade was cleaned and protected. The bricks were primed white.

I began by sculpting the "keystone" and worked out, right to left.

Work in progress, detail.
It's important to hold your vision.
Art in progress is often messy and unattractive.

The original bricks are buried under my "clay."
The sculpting clay is a special mixture of paper mache, clay and another binder.
It is sandable, paintable, lightweight and easy to work with.
We will soon find out how flamable it is!  (ha ha... just kidding Susan!)

With wet hands, I "surface skim" the stones to smooth
and level them, while carefully preserving the textured finish.

Done!
Now, we let it dry for 24 hours.  We will return to aerate the
special clay mixture stones by pricking them with a sculpter's pick.
This insures deep curing, not just surface set-up.

Spaces between are caulked and stones are individually painted.

Each stone is given 2 to 3 layers of custom colored,
tinted glaze washes for depth.  And sealed 3x with a dull varnish.

Stone details... (left)
The background was layered with a sand-additive mixed
with paint.  Then a top coat of Ralph Lauren's River Rock
was hand-brushed over that for additional fine texture.

Stone details (right)...

I wish this lovely family many beautiful moments as they celebrate life in front of a crackling fire!  (And I hope they invite me back to roast marshmallows.)

From my hearth to yours...

xo,

AGP