Page 12 - The Decorative Painter Spring 2016

s
how & t
s
s
s
s
s
sh
h
h
h
h
h
h
h
h
h
h
h
h
h
t
tel
l
ll
l
l
Show and Tell
CREATIVE SPIRIT
C
C
made from Quikwood clay, and various ferns spilling out of the pots.
Since my daughter
loves books she thought
it would be nice to give
books away for her thank
you gift to the guests.
We spent nearly all summer scouring the thrift shops and used bookstores for nice used books. Then we had a book cleaning party to wipe all
the books clean and sort
them. At the reception they were displayed nicely with a collection of cute bookmarks for our guests to take home. It ended up being successful and even the little ones were able to find a book of their liking!
The photo booth was also
fun! One of our photographers
took fun shots of anyone with
silly props that went along with
the theme of the night. All in all,
it ended up being a lovely evening.
I found so much joy in spending time with my daughter through all the planning stages, shopping and hunting for just the right décor, and pulling it all together. These times come and
go like a chapter in a book, so it was
a pleasure for me to take part in
the creative process with her. I will hold this as a treasured
memory always.
T
Tr
ransforming a gym to a fantasy
w
wedding reception.
The story behind these pictures is ym that we were using for a wedding
by Erika Joanne
b
w
a a
g g
w
e
h
e
h
a
d
f
u
l
l
-
l
e
n
g
t
h
y
reception. It was large and a bit daunting to approach when
a
d
f
u
l
l
-
l
e
n
g
t
h
it came to decorating it. My daughter and I decided to create two willow trees on either side of the gym along with added lighted trees down the long tables. My daughter loves to read and collect books, and especially loves the fantasy genre, so we went with an enchanted forest fairy tale theme. You can see touches to the décor to remind you of various fairy tales (Drink me bottles and clock – Alice in Wonderland; the rose and mirror – Beauty and the Beast; etc.).
The large willow trees were a process to create. Of all things, we found fake stumps that we thought were meant for use in reptile exhibits. Anyway, we had a vision to drill holes through the tops of them and add branches. We had a windstorm that day, and were able to find some great maple tree limbs on the side of the road. We stripped them of their leaves and on the day of the reception we added willow branches to them to create a willow tree look. I think they came out wonderful and definitely added to the enchantment of the evening.
It’s funny how things work out. My experience has always been that you create a loose plan and then there is a process of creation that follows as you act on your plan. You need to be able to have some flexibility and then the creative process can flow.
For the dance floor, we strung various-sized lights from the ceiling to give that nice romantic glow. To create the smaller lighted trees, we found mossy branches (we live in Washington state, so that’s not hard to do; everything grows moss if it sits long enough – ha ha!) and stuck them in
large terra cotta pots using foam insulation to hold them in place. Then we covered the foam once it was set with more moss and finished it off with some painted mushrooms
10 The Decorative Painter • ISSUE NO. 1, 2016
DECORATIVEPAINTERS.ORG