A nursery gets a little forest fantasy....

Earlier this month I was back in Montreal doing a decorative painting job for one my favorite designers Colette Van Den Thillart, it was a subtle wall finish in the hallway and grand staircase, so subtle that it actually didn't photograph well enough to even show you all. The homeowner is about to have her third child and had just moved into the home so decided rather than have me continue the finish down the basement stairs as planned, she'd prefer that I paint a little mural in what would become the nursery..

It started with the tree and the rabbit, the addition of the antlers was my clients idea (one which has taken me to a whole new series of paintings - more about that later...) After completing the bunny she informed me that orange was her least favorite colour so I painted them over in blue...

Next up was the addition of a few feathered friends and butterflies....

And finally a sweet fawn in the other corner.....

Usually when I've been hired to do murals of this nature there is a lot of back and forth, meetings over reference material and samples and colours to be worked out. This time because I only had a couple of days left in Montreal the entire project was really spontaneous, I had to switch gears from "so subtle it is barely there" to "colourful whimsy". Some may shy away from this sort of thing but I say bring it on! Having to go from one extreme to the other quickly like this is a great way to challenge yourself and an opportunity to grow creatively - as long as you're willing to make adjustments along the way once you've discovered your clients dislike of certain colours of course!

Like I mentioned this has lead me to am entire new series of "fanciful forest folk" that I am currently working on for the up coming Artist Project next month...

Stay tuned..

Kari