LHJ Painting Away

Chicken Chat

2012-02-24T15:54:00.000-08:00

This is a mural I painted a few years ago for a very sweet lady that loved chickens. I think of them as just chatting about all the barnyard gossip. lol There are longhorns and horny toads(horned frogs) in the picture - for University of Texas and TCU for their grandchild that was going to go to one the schools when the time came.The other two on 6" tile-they were too busy to gossip.

2012-02-17T11:47:00.000-08:00

Although I think of all my murals as my babies, sometimes one just stands out as a favorite. I really liked the way this one came out- maybe it's the warmth that wood brings to a room or the different angle of the table. This has a vase that the customer owned along with wine label and sunflowers that added special meaning to the mural for her. I hope you enjoy it, too.

2012-02-10T11:25:00.000-08:00

Usually, when I meet with a customer for the first time- they have things they would love to see in their mural. Sometimes, it is something that they love like cats or roosters or a setting-like Italy. Sometimes it is a statement of who they are and what is important to them. My job is to put it all together in a way that works for them and looks nice at the same time. This mural was combining a bible verse, a cross, a stream, an urn,a bowl of fruit,vines, loaves of bread,maybe the wrought iron like in their new home...After talking a while, it seemed the best thing was to go with a window view including the stonework and the same arched window from their new home. This is what I came up with that combined everything. I was happy with the design and more importantly so was the customer.

Chumash Cave Paintings

2012-02-03T14:34:00.000-08:00

Okay-I'm really not great at keeping up with this blog-maybe someday I'll get better at this! lol I have several I want to share so maybe this time I will keep posting on it.

Not all of my paintings are fruit and wine -I get to make some interesting paintings for people that have different plans for their home to make it match things that are important to them - especially if you love the history and life of people from our past.this going.

This one is of some cave drawings that I painted for a lady in California building her home in an area that was where the Chumash Indian tribe had once lived. They were a small tribe and there is not a lot available on line about them. I was sent a book cover that showed some of their art that the customer really liked. I looked on line for more -and this is what I came up with to show their style and hopefully represent their culture. It is painted on 12 inch stone -3 high by 3 wide-I painted it to fit the area so the tile could be installed without cutting (but I did crop the picture). Here is the finished installation - I hope you enjoy:)

Texas Deco Tile

2011-06-26T08:45:00.000-07:00

Here are some 6 inch stone deco tiles that I paint in honor of this great state of Texas-my home. Of course, you have to have a star! I also have the armadillo, spur, and cowboy boots. Texas wild flowers are quite popular, too. I've been known to paint a cowboy hat w/ gloves,barbed wire, and even painted a ladie's tattoo of a yellow rose and horseshoe with barbed wire! I love this work-always a new adventure!

Mustangs

2011-06-14T09:12:00.000-07:00

I find that I'm not great at putting posts up on a blog-but I will try to do more:) This is a car that I recently painted for a graduation gift. As a person who enjoys cars-especially older ones, I think this new Mustang is a beautiful new car-and a lot more reliable than the old Triumphs that we enjoy!

China painting -the LHJ way

2011-02-18T16:14:00.000-08:00

To paint a mural for a shower installation, it was better to paint on porcelain or ceramic tile than stone. If the painting were on stone, it would not last as well since the stone is a soft material and the water from the shower would eventually erode the painting. On a glazed tile, it would be fired in a kiln and become part of the glaze making it more durable.
This is a mural that I recently painted for a shower. This is done in china paint on ceramic tile.

This is how the painting looked after the first firing. In this process the paint is made from ground minerals(china paint) that are mixed with oils and painted in layers that are fired in a kiln to become part of the glaze. This painting is 30" x 36". The tricky part of this kind of painting ,is that the paint does not cure and will wipe off very easily prior being fired.. So you start at the top and work your way to the bottom. Too much paint and it will pop off in the kiln. Too much heat and it burns off the color. Too little heat and it doesn't become part of the glaze.

This is after the second firing. At this point, I could add color to the wall and add a little more detail. The paint will still come off until fired, but it stays on a little better.

This is the mural after the final firing. I'm know some paint with more firings,but this is the way that works for me.

2011-01-10T10:45:00.000-08:00

This is a mural that I painted with lots of fruit and a large old jug. I like painting the pottery on stone because the natural stone gives an aged and weathered look to the pottery -it looks cracked, faded, chipped. It is fun to find just the right stone to give it the best look- and always a challenge to plan ahead enough to get it in the right place :)

Happy New Year

2011-01-03T09:12:00.000-08:00

I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year. I hope you had a great Christmas. I would say I have all these new year's resolutions for the coming year, if I set any-but I don't really do that . I do plan to paint more this year- the past year and a half had a bit of a bump in the road that slowed it down- well -stopped it for a while and then I just got a little bummed. All I can say is when falling-"Tuck and roll!" So I say when life gives you lemons - put them in a bowl and paint them! Here is a painting for a lady that wanted lemons and limes. This is on marble.
In the coming weeks,I plan to show my process of painting a ceramic tile mural . It is a process that consists of painting with a medium that doesn't dry- so you have to be careful to not wipe off the painting as you are doing it. It is fired in a kiln and painted in layers until completed. It requires a lot of planning-and is a fun challenge. This is something that I am working on at this time.
I also plan to paint some on canvas-I have several planned from old photos of people-mainly children that I may do in sepia tones in oils. I also plan on melting more glass-just because it is fun. So, call them resolutions, if you want-I just call it fun:)

Safehaven Estates

2010-12-05T15:25:00.000-08:00

This was a mural that I did with a bit of a challenge.I had to plan around a pot filler that going to be in the mural. The location of the filler was in the tile just above and to the left of the bread- pretty much in the middle area of the mural. But with carefull measuring and a little planning -it went in with no problems.

Manifolds on Main Street

2010-09-24T16:10:00.000-07:00

This is a trophy for best Sportscar for the Manifolds on Main Street Car Show in Irving, TX. I painted the trophy last year for this same event-just changed the car to last year's winner- a birdcage Maserati. Last year's trophy is on my website- page 6 of my stone gallery photos. I'll probably change that to this years some time. This is a nice car show to go to and is tomorrow-should be fun-if it doesn't get rained out!

New England covered bridge

2010-09-17T15:03:00.000-07:00

This is a painting I created for a lady that brought several pictures from a trip to New England. In her photos were lots of beautiful trees turning in the fall. The covered bridge was one they had seen and really loved. There were trees that had fallen that I also included for her. Lots of color and a fun painting to create. Enjoy.

Bluebonnets and Triumphs

2010-09-07T11:29:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, I received a call from a lady that was wanting to have a mural with bluebonnets in her new home.As we were talking, we were discussing the build. They were mainly building to upgrade the garage area. Laughing, I said I understood as we had old cars and in fact, had recently joined a car club for that type car. She said ,"Oh really-what type of car?" I said ,"Triumph". And she laughed-They had a Triumph TR7 and a Stag-we had a Spitfire and a TR6.They also had been in the club for a long time-so I do believe we were destined to meet!
This painting is mainly a landscape with trees and lots of bluebonnets, If you look at it closely you will see Jim driving his pageant blue TR7. It is such a small world:)

Ahhhh...

2010-09-03T09:57:00.000-07:00

This is a mural that I recently finished for a customer for a condo on the gulf coast. This was designed after looking at some photos from the New England area. Needing a southern feel to the landscape, I went with palms and made it a place I would like to go. I'm pleased with the finished painting-and I hope you enjoy it.

Margaritaville

2010-08-30T10:46:00.000-07:00

I had a lady call that loved my wine paintings on my website,but they didn't like wine. She laughed and said, "My husband likes beer!" I told her about a mural that I had painted of National Bohemian beer. I said I could do something with pretzels and beer. She said that was fine -but she didn't really like beer either-she like margaritas. I said let's go with salsa & chips with all the ingredients to make the salsa and the margarita for her and beer and pretzels for her husband. I hope you enjoy it.

Margaritaville

2010-08-30T10:34:00.000-07:00

Triumphs

2010-08-23T11:10:00.000-07:00

I'm a big fan of Triumph cars and belong to a car club with my husband, Rick. For the 2008 Regional meeting, I had the opportunity to design the trophy for the event as our club was hosting the event. We had a friend who had recently purchased a 1949 Tr2000. It is a beautiful car that has a different look than a lot of the Triunphs-a look that is one, I personally, love. I love the old '40 Fords,Chevrolets, Willys,etc
It also was a car that was going to be featured at the Nationals that year. So, to me it was the perfect choice to paint for the trophy.The event was going to be in Tyler, Texas, a city that is known for it's roses.
Keeping all this in mind,plus the fact that I wanted to see if I would like making tile as part of my business. I painted the following picture. This painting of the car is in the original color -which is a soft green metallic-almost a seafoam green. This color I thought was pretty unique for a 1949 car. I painted the car with a British flag background, combining the Triumph logo and the Tyler city logo. I later had to change the car color for the trophy-as it would be impossibe to match it in ceramic glaze and the cost for putting it on a t-shirt was another story.
I made a relief of the painting-with a space for the metal plaques that would describe the event the trophy was awarded underneath the relief. Then, the insanity started. From a mother mold, we poured well over 140 trophies. Members from the club would come over for painting parties-each trophy was painted 3 times in underglazes fired and then painted with clear glaze and fired again. This was a lot of work -not to mention pressing clay in the mold in the first place-and then pulling the piece-hoping it came out well and dried without cracking. This took weeks to accomplish-sometimes only to have the piece break in the firing process.
Needless to say, I decided I was not going to get into making tile! It was a learning experience and I was happy with the final outcome. Here is a link to the event-

http://www.redrivertriumphclub.org/regional2008_photos.html

Triumphs and roses

2010-08-23T10:34:00.000-07:00

Cowtown

2010-08-10T13:34:00.000-07:00

This is a mural I did as a display for a large tile store in Ft. Worth. We discussed about painting Cowtown and the Stockyards so that would represent the city. We talked about all the things that could fulfill that goal-Bass Hall, The "Tarantula" train, the Stockyards, the cattle drive mural in downtown Ft. Worth, and of course,the beautiful courthouse. This was painted on 16" tumbled marble. I painted it like you would see a sports posters-fading from one scene to the next. I loved the way it all worked out. After installing it in the front of the store-where it was the first thing you saw,the manager called and asked if I could add to it to spread it out a little more.

My daughter and I went to the store to add to it-thinking two artists would be faster than one. But it had to be a funny sight as my daughter was quite pregnant with her son and the mural was low and hard to get to paint. We added a windmill and the Texas flag,an armadillo,etc. We were happy with the finished product. Unfortunately, the tile store recently closed that location and moved to a Dallas store. The good news is that they did call and told me that they saved the mural and I now have it-I'll probably end up putting it in another Ft. Worth store. I have sold several variations of the mural-enjoy:)

2010-08-10T12:35:00.001-07:00

Lizzard Nest Ranch

2010-08-03T14:08:00.000-07:00

I had a customer call that loved lizzards, and was building a new home on the family's farm. On the farm were some old buildings that were falling down and a cissern that she wanted to include in the painting. She also had pictures of her iguana that she had for years. Going from pictures of the farm and the iguana, I came up with this landscape The dog was a neighbor's that was in one of her photos-she thought it would look nice in the picture-and of course it is looking a a lizzard:) The other picture is the deco tiles that I painted for the rest of the kitchen. This was painted on tumbled stone. After painting it, I sent her pictures,asking if I need to change anything. She said the only thing would be to make the buildings even more run down- which I did. Enjoy:)

2010-08-03T13:55:00.001-07:00

Lizzard Nest Ranch

2010-08-03T13:54:00.000-07:00

National Bohemian Beer

2010-07-30T08:24:00.000-07:00

This is a mural that I did for a lady in the New England area. She had call asking if I could do one for her bar area. There was a beer company that her father in law had worked for that was no longer in business. They had collected items from the company and thought it was perfect to put something in honor of this wonderful man. They also ate crabs and clams that they caught and wanted items to go with that. So in the picture is Old Bay and vinegar that they liked with the crabs, a mallet,clams, and a piece of seaweed in the crab's claw-along with the National Bohemian bottle and and glass.

National Bohemian Beer

2010-07-30T08:14:00.000-07:00

2010-07-28T16:53:00.000-07:00

Welcome to LHJ Painting Away.

First, I would like to explain the title of my blog. It's very simple I love Jethro Tull music and there is a song that says something like "skating away on the thin ice of a new day". So, I'm painting away ...on the tile of a new day.

A lot of times as I work with customers, I meet people who want something a little unusual that they don't want to be really all that noticeable to the outsider. Little things in their mural that makes it special to them and to them alone.

I had a sweet older man call one day wanting to do a mural like I had on my website(Lhjdesigns.com) that was wine,grapes, and some other fruit. Then he said ,"I would like to have this date on the wine label, also,Santa Barbara, California"(where met his wife of 50 years) -all perfectly normal requests.Then he told me that they really didn't care for wine and could I put Cherry coke on the label instead-that's what they had to drink on their first date. And he was more of a Miller Lite man-could I put that in there some how-in a can - not a bottle- cause that is how he liked them. I said,"Sure whatever you want I think I can work in the painting" He was so nice-He also wanted -4k-5gk on the label(for kids and grandkids) and the Sea bee logo-a bumble bee- not just any bumblebee-but a gun toting one! LOL It all sounded like a lot -I was more worried about making the can look metallic -as all this was on a porcelain tile and I wanted it to come out right the first time.

It was fired on the tile using China Paints. Here is the finished product.

2010-07-28T16:44:00.000-07:00