Furniture as a Canvas
The shape of a piece tells me where color can go. On a low cabinet, paint can lead your eye across a seam and around a corner. On a carved bookcase, a single color can draw attention to details you might otherwise pass by. These two projects explore both approaches, from the whole piece to the brushwork and carving up close.
Chromatic Convergence
I painted two separate units as one continuous composition. Broad strokes of midnight blue and turquoise cover one end, then give way to yellow, magenta and red. The diagonals run across the tops and fronts, so the line your eye follows shifts as you move around the piece.
From the front, the palette reads in bands. From the side, the open compartment interrupts them with a deep red interior and a yellow shelf. The close-ups show where thin, precise stripes meet the looser marks of the brush.
Mixed media on wood ยท 2026
The Art of Living in Turquoise
I brought the open shelves, drawers and glazed doors of this vintage bookcase together with a single shade of turquoise. The color runs across the separate sections, drawing attention to the proportions of the whole piece while the books add their own small bands of color.
Up close, light catches the raised edges of the floral carvings and leaves the recessed lines in shadow. The full view shows how the bookcase anchors the room, and the detail photograph lets you follow the pattern from the cabinet doors to the drawers.
Painted vintage bookcase
