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Entry hall sky: This vaulted passage room could only contain a sky. The feel of the open blue expanse greatly lightens the room and completes such an elegant feel that the entire home contains. One end possesses the rising sun, and the other end holds a waning crescent moon and evening star, between clouds.

 

 

Design

DOUG DANFORTH

MURALS

PORTFOLIO:


Bamboo computer cabinet: A ‘do-it-yourself’ purchase, this one took all of a day to put together. But to make it her’s, the client desired a bamboo forest with mountains in the background, done in Oriental-style application. Inside was painted persimmon leather and black to match a leather chair in the room.


Kids room park sky: A spring day in the park. Kites, birds, clouds and a butterfly. I’m feeling a nap coming on.


Dining room secret garden: Performed in a triptych, it was requested to do a crumbling French garden. So here’s the storm-covered Pyrenees Mountains, a forgotten ‘wild’ garden, and her beloved kitty in the irises, all lightly framed in a silver band. 


Big sky: The request words were: 'A Texas sky on a clear day, with eight columns holding up a circular architrave.' That left it pretty open to interpretation, but here it is.


Jungle room: The clients loved the wild outdoors, and asked me to paint all their family room walls in a jungle motif. With deference to Rousseau, a beloved master, I spent a great deal of time filling that request. I wanted only the eyes first on the tiger, and hid various reptiles, insects and flowers within the greenery. Even the HVAC controls were included, and home greenery melted into the wall art. The ceiling was a dusk-to-dawn expanse, with peach skies at the entry, and a full moon just rising in dusky blue at the other. 


Lake house heron: The lower cabinets were painted to celebrate actual ‘visitors’ to this family getaway. The upper cabinets were the sky part of the presentation, with the sunrise over the sink end of the room, and the moon over the opposite end of the room, at the refrigerator. This cabinet door was next to the fridge, about three feet high; and here is one regular visitor, saved for posterity under the moon, dining in the rushes as he did every evening out their back door.

 


Hacienda ‘mini-mural’: Even a small mural can work wonders for conveying another realm. This entire wall was part of the illusion, with colored plaster applied and ‘beam ends’ protruding from the wall. The window ledge is dimensional, as is the arched surround. On the ledge sits the family cat, carved in strong construction plaster, and duplicated 'down to the dot' while he lay at my feet.


Waterfall entry: I think running water is such a strong emotional influence. Painting it is very difficult, and I’ve seen horrible renditions. I decided to create the image as if it had been photographed, and the water was softly blurred and out of focus.


Nursery enchanted forest: I painted this room while the client was still pregnant. The child’s gender was not known, so the original request was to paint bunnies and birdies in a band around the middle of the walls of the room – which sort of hit me in the middle too. I asked to do a mural that would last the child’s years – perhaps to high school. And they graciously allowed me the favor of creating this view, with the animals in and about the tree watching the child, whose crib/bed rests just under the tree between the bunnies. The family lives in a part of town where deer and other animals regularly visit the yard, so this mural introduced them to her early. The two deer in the background by the waterfall were actually in the yard one day when I returned from lunch, and I ran in and painted their exact postures before the image fled my memory. The child (now 5) had all the animals named, and her mom told me she’d catch her chatting to them regularly.


Playroom castle: What lucky kids! This two-story play space was created in plywood and two by’s by their father. I was asked to make it magical for the kids.I think I had more fun painting it; the kid in me had a great time. The wall behind has a lake and forest, with deer and bears. The sides of the castle have more deer and rabbits, but in the front were my favorites: The raccoon trying to get in, and a fat bullfrog jumping after a dragonfly. The shadow line across the front is painted on, to complete the inset at the sides created by their dad.  Banner standards, made of doweling and glass doorknobs, now hold felt banners made by the children.

Site Photo Credits: Danny Warner, Carlos Flannery, Andrea Heitke, Doug Danforth.