Magical Tree House

These are photos of a room I painted about a month ago. I had so much fun. I kept thinking that this would have been my dream room as a little girl.
My challenge on this project was to design a room within which a four year old girl and a two year old boy would both feel at home. In a year or two the boy will move out and a younger sister will move in... at which time the murals can be 'Girled' up a bit. For now the tree house and fairies are on the girl's side and there are a number of animals on the boy's side... including a moose which I didn't manage to get a good photo of. Once the brother moves out I will add flowers (both growing and as garlands - around the moose's antlers perhaps), more fairies and a bit more color.
You can see that I chose to again use my new tree technique. As with the Erie Goddard School murals I did the leaves in two layers. The first being very vague green smears over which I stencil leaves. More often than not I am creating these stencils using xerox copies of actual leaves. I am loving the effect.
I hope you enjoy the photos!

New Home, New Studio, New Projects

Ouch - I just realized that my Google status is dropping. Time for another post, even though I haven't had much work lately. I have moved.. home and studio and that is eating up all my time. However, time to get back to work!
I did a number of portraits in December and enjoyed them so much that I am hoping for many more commissions. I have created a separate blog for them. www.michellefrancesfineart.blogspot.com Please feel free to have a look and pass my info and the blog site on to any of your friends who might be interested in having one painted.

I did a new menu board for my friends up at Snowcap Creamery in Erie, Colorado. They have opened up a sports bar next door (share a kitchen) so I went up to do their beer list and have lunch. I have been looking forward to a meal there ever since I created the first menu board. AMAZING. I can't wait to take Dennis and Charlie up for lunch. Everything was superb but the sweet potato fries stood out - they were out of this world... I've been dreaming of them for weeks now!
I did paint one nursery a few weeks ago but never got great pictures (big mistake). It was great fun to paint and design. The centerpiece of the room is a large fairy tree. I will post some photos when I find my zip drive (my office is still half in boxes).
I have a few touch ups to do at the Aurora Goddard School (water damage) and, other than that I have been unpacking, chasing around a very curious one year old and trying to nail down a few potential clients. I am finding that the recession is making people greedy. There are many folks out there who have figured out that contractors are hurting for work right now and are using that to their advantage, even if they do not need to. Do not ask me to work for nothing if you have millions in the bank! I have a mortgage to pay now!!!! If you have not been hurt by the recession do not hurt others!
Okay, I will get off my soap box now and say goodbye. Thank you all for your continued interest in my work. Please remember to look at my portraits and pass my info on to anyone who you think may be interested.