Work in Progress - Tropical Island

The light is at the end of the tunnel now - there is still a lot more I want to do but it is at least looking finished.

I've added some gentle waves to the foreground and softened the horizon - I have also added a reflection for the boat.

I have also added some rope for the roll-up blind and have also painted some highlight details on the wooden shack.

It does feel quite bizarre painting such a theme when the actual weather outside is the complete opposite.

Tropical Island - Work in Progress

Here are some more photos of the tropical island mural I am currently working on.

I have started to introduce some greens now - makes a nice change from all those blues.

Work in Progress

Here are some more photographs of the tropical island murals I am currently working on.

I am gradually introducing more colour - as well as some more wildlife.

DIY SOS 'The Big Build' - another pic

Here is another picture I forgot to upload yesterday - it has me in it I'm afraid but it does show how effective the Tardis mural looks with one of the doors open.

I've now decided that I want one of these when I re-decorate our bedroom - just how do I sell the idea to my wife : )

DIY SOS - Kids in Crisis

If you blinked then you missed us : )

At least our Tardis wardrobe and star ceiling got a little bit of airtime - here are the photos as promised.
I will be appearing in the new series of DIY SOS next year helping out in a project up in Norfolk - watch this space for further information.

DIY SOS 'Kids in Crisis'

It's on tonight on BBC1 at 8:00pm - hopefully we didn't end up on the cutting room floor.

I'm sorry - I cannot divulge what it was we painted - Auntie would have me shot : )

Work in Progress

Here are some update photographs of the tropical mural I am currently working on.



I have decided to paint the door but not the architrave as it is my intention to have an exotic bird (feathered one) perched on top.
I have also added a boat, some more palm trees and a distant island.



I have also started to paint a very blue looking scarlet macaw which is perched above where the bed will be.
These chaps can grow to about 33 inches long so as he is perched right on the picture plain I have painted him life size.

Work In Progress

I thought it was about time I posted some photographs of a work in progress.

I have started painting a tropical island theme mural to cover all four walls and ceiling of a bedroom. Around the bed I am painting a driftwood shelter in the form of a four poster as well as a distant island, beach and a few palm trees.





I have also started this in a slightly different way to how I normally work - as you can see from the pics I have painted the entire room in blue and have then planned out the details in monotone. As I flesh the mural out I will gradually introduce the colour in tints - this should help unify the entire piece.
I will also have some wildlife dotted around including some parrots whose colouring will provide some wonderful contrasts to the cool blues.

The palm trees are always a challenge to get right - I have very loosely sketched the basic form in pencil and then just used a paintbrush to fill out the details.

I will keep posting the pics as I progress

Surprise Ceiling

I have been painting a glow-in-the-dark star ceiling in Middlesex today.

The project was a birthday surprise for my clients sister who was barred from her flat, had her front door key confiscated and was unceremoniously dumped in Starbucks for the day with her laptop and a dodgy Wi-Fi connection.

Her bedroom was then cleared so I could then proceed to cover the walls & floor, block out the windows and paint the stars, nebulae and a passing comet on the ceiling. There was also a picture rail in the room so I decided to continue the effect down the walls to meet this.

Once the bedroom was completed, all the furniture & nick-nacks were returned using photographs taken of the room that very morning to ensure that everything went back in exactly the same place.

I hope the surprise was well received and that the day spent in Starbucks was worth it : )

The only downside to the day was that heavy rain and roadworks on the M25 meant that a 50 mile journey home took me nearly 3 hours !

DIY SOS 'Kids in Crisis'

Just to let you know that the transmission date for the extreme edition of 'DIY SOS' has been moved back to Thursday, December 10th at 8pm.

Make a note in your diaries as you are set to be impressed : )

Cosmic Ceiling

I have spent the last couple of days creating a cosmic ceiling for a child's bedroom in Essex.


The effects you can see in the photos were built up with layer upon layer of paint -applied by flicking a toothbrush & nailbrush. Half the paint made it up on the ceiling - the other half ended up on me : )

I do not normally paint this way and was pleasantly surprised at the different effects that can be achieved. It was my original intention to use an airbrush for this ceiling but opted to tackle it this way instead.


To add another dimension to the mural I have also used some glow-in-the-dark paint so when the lights are turned off - the stars carry on shining.

DIY SOS 'kids in crisis'

Just got back last night after a 300 mile journey from Anglesey in north Wales. I was up there with my associate, Gordon Collett, where we were both painting some murals and trompe l'oeil for another DIY SOS makeover. We actually painted two murals although one of them doesn't look all that great in daylight ; )

Unfortunately I cannot reveal any details about what we painted as you will need to watch the show to find out - I will post up some photos of the murals and the gang once the show has gone out.

This episode was a special one and will be broadcast the night before 'Children in Need' on Thursday 19th November (to be confirmed). The scale of the project was phenomenal and involved an army of helpers from the local community - it should be a fantastic show.

Julia Kendell has been busy Twittering about the project at twitter.com/JKDIYQUEEN

I also found out that the show that I was involved in up in Norfolk will now be shown in the new year.(never mind)

Anamorphic Playground Art

I have been up at my children's school today trying my hand out on a large scale anamorphic chalk picture. I went with the Rubic cube design to keep things simple - this is still new territory for me and I have a long way to go before I can produce anything remotely close to the quality of work by Mr Julian Beaver.



I spent the morning planning it all out with miles of string and in the afternoon I had about 25 children (5 at a time) to help me colour it in. Most of the chalk ended up on them and I'm sure their parents cursed me when they saw the state of their school uniforms : )

It didn't take the children long to figure out what the artwork was about - they appreciated that it only worked from one fixed view point and with one eye closed.

I may have some more news soon on the television front. The new series of DIY SOS will hopefully be starting in a few weeks time in which I filmed an episode up in Norfolk. There is also something else in the pipeline but I will say no more just in case.

Studio

Work has now started to convert our integral garage into a studio so hopefully it won't be too much longer until I can start doing my trompe l'oeil workshops again. It will be fantastic to get my own working area back again
It will also have a lot more space compared to my old home studio and will be at ground level rather than up two flights of stairs.





Work is also still going on around the rest of the house - every room has been affected and the dust looks as if it will continue settling for the next few months. I am still putting my daughter's room back together which is taking longer than I intended. I may also be plastering this weekend if I can fit it around my daughter's cinema party.

Masterpiece (sort of)

OK - the photo doesn't look like much, in fact it looks exactly like some newly plastered walls which is precisely what it is.



As you know our home is in the middle of a renovation at the moment. In anticipation of this I put myself on a plastering course a few weeks ago as I knew it would be a useful skill to have on board. The two walls in the photo are of our utility room and they needed plastering urgently so that our plumber could install a new boiler and hot water system.

I spent all of my Sunday morning on those two small walls - a long time I know but this was the first time I had plastered since the course and I didn't have my tutor to point out where I may be going wrong. Luckily the plaster has stayed on the wall - well it's lasted over 24 hours so far - as you can appreciate this is a big deal for someone who, up to a few weeks ago, had never picked up a hawk & trowel.

I did the course with a company called Capital Goldtrowel Ltd - they also do courses in tiling, bricklaying, rendering and Venetian plastering. They are based in Stapleford Abbotts, Essex and I thoroughly recommend them.

Building Work

Work has been going on at our home now for over a week to remodel the downstairs and put the numerous steels in place for when we eventually add a first floor extension (once we can afford it).



As part of this first stage of works we will be getting our integral garage converted into a studio with pitched roof & velux windows to capture that Northern Light that we artists so insist upon : )
That part of the build is a few weeks away yet - in the meantime there is just lots of drilling, demolition, rubble & dust to contend with.

Also the roof of our kitchen & dining room will soon be taken off so a scaffold with a tin roof is being put together to protect it from the elements. The weather has been fantastic of late but it's destined to unleash a tropical downpour as soon as that roof's removed : )

I am also trying to work on some designs for a swimming pool wall amongst the debris -I have designed a nice peaceful classical English landscape which is the perfect antidote for the present upheaval.

Community Mural

I recently got myself involved with some community artwork when our local library was adorned with a mural depicting aspects of Wickford Towns life & history.
The library itself is of the New Town Modernist architectural style which was all the rage in the 50's & 60's so a dash of art to the outside wall panels went down very favorable with all the passers by.





Lisa Temple-Cox from Colchester designed and organised the painting of the artwork and got quite a few schoolchildren involved including my own son & daughter. My son even got his picture in the local newspaper of which he is immensely proud and is now insisting that he wants it framed for prosperity.

I helped out in a small capacity for a few days - it was actually nice to be able to work on a mural with somebody else calling the shots : )



Please have a look at Lisa's website at www.lisatemple-cox.co.uk to see more details of her work including pictures of her numerous community murals.

The National Gallery & Tate Modern

My wife & I took our two children up to London this week to soak up a bit of culture at the National Gallery & the Tate Modern.

They had been studying various works of art at school so to actually see them in the flesh was quite an experience for them.
Their favourite painting was 'The Ambassadors' by Hans Holbein the Younger. My son immediately laid on the floor to the bottom left of the painting so that he could look up to admire the anamorphic skull. It is reckoned that the painting was originally displayed over a staircase so that those climbing the stairs would be able to view the skull from the correct angle.



After climbing the lions on Trafalgar Square we took the tube to St. Pauls and from there made our way to the Tate Modern via the Millennium Bridge that my son fondly recognised from the recent Harry Potter film.

The Tate was a completely different experience for them - we got hold of some of the family activity worksheets and tried our hands sketching some sculptures and making our own with bits of cardboard and string. We also spent what time we had left in the day browsing round the galleries although my son's reaction to some of the pieces probably ruffled a few feathers : )

As for myself I feel that the greatest piece of art at the Tate Modern is the building itself - it is a fantastic example of Art Deco industrial architecture, almost cathedral like as if built to worship the power it would create in its original use.
I also have a soft spot for Battersea Power Station (also one of Sir Giles Gilbert Scott's creations) and whilst I was at art college I photographed the building and produced a series of screen prints.

Optical Illusion

I have been experimenting recently with anamorphic perspective. This is when a picture, when viewed face on, looks very distorted - but when viewed from the correct angle looks perfectly normal.

It can also create some very bizarre optical illusions like this.



Here I have painted a very crude Rubic style cube on a piece of board. By placing the two cup & saucers on the painting it creates the illusion that one cup is greatly larger than the other even though they are both the same size.

The only drawback is that these type of effects can only be viewed properly from the one, very precise, angle. They are great fun though and I will be trying out some more soon.

Florida

It's been a while since my last post but I have been away for a couple of weeks dodging the storms over in Florida.

It was purely a pleasure trip as opposed to business which unfortunately means I am unable to offset it against my tax : ) It's probably the last place on earth to visit if you intend on a relaxing holiday - we did have a wonderful (& exhausting) time though in the Disney & Universal parks and had a drive to the Kennedy Space Centre on the east coast.

My son & I tried out as many roller coasters as possible and found the best one was the 'Manta' in Sea World. The wettest ride has to be the Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges at Universal's Islands of Adventure - make sure you ride it on a hot day as it took hours for all of us to dry out.
The Tower of Terror at Disney's Hollywood Studios is also worth a go.



Also, the Islands of Adventure had one of our favourite restaurants - the Mythos, which looks as if it has been carved out of the side of a mountain. If you ever eat there try the salmon which I adore and thoroughly recommend. The prices are also quite reasonable (compared to other theme park restaurants).

Driving was great fun and it was the first time I have driven in the US - it took me nearly two weeks to get used to turning right on a red light only to quickly get out of the habit once back in the UK.



We had a Dodge Caravan which probably did about 17 miles to a gallon. This meant that, although the fuel was a lot cheaper, it was still more expensive to drive around. Having a toll booth every few yards (or so it seemed) also totted up the costs especially when I got lost driving from the airport to the hotel and went though the same toll twice.

Now we just need another holiday to recover : )

Trompe l'oeil Butterfly

Here is the picture that Billy (DIY SOS) asked me to paint. It is for a charity auction in aid of the Keech Cottage Children's Hospice near Luton. Their website can be found here.



The trompe l'oeil has been painted onto a small canvas 30 x 40cm - compared to what I am accustomed to that is microscopic : )
The butterfly depicted is a Peacock and the background is a simple aged stone effect with lots of paint splattering from a toothbrush - apparently they also brush teeth : )

I also promised Billy that I would get my children to paint a butterfly each as well which they duly did.

Billy popped round this evening on his way to the next DIY SOS shoot to pick up all three masterpieces. I will keep you posted as to how they all fare in the auction.

Provencal Window Mural Video

Here is the finished video as promised - I had a lot more footage to edit down this time but managed to get the video time to just over 4 minutes. Hope you enjoy it.

There was one slight mishap during the filming - I accidentally knocked the camera tripod and had to re-position it. I nearly got it back into the same position.



I also quickly put this video together.

In order to paint the Provence scene I had to first roller over the crumbling wall effect I had painted a few weeks ago.
It would have been criminal 'not' to film it.

DIY SOS

I have been painting some trompe l'oeil up in Norfolk over the last couple of days with BBC1's DIY SOS team.

I cannot divulge anymore information about what it was I painted and the nature of the overall makeover that Julia Kendell designed - you will have to wait until the show airs which may be towards the end of the year.
The Gosport show that I did with Gordon Collett was filmed in the March and broadcasted the following September so I'm guessing around six months.

I can say that it was a more extravagant piece than I painted at Gosport where I painted a simple stoneblocking effect. Although most of the credit for the Gosport show goes to Gordon who painted the fantastic trompe l'oeil statuette and the dinosaur. Gordon was unable to the make the dates for this show - hopefully there will be other opportunities.

It was great to meet up with everyone again- Julia, Nick, Billy, Chris, Julian, Mark & Mat. They all really work hard on these projects (including Nick) and put in long hours to ensure everything completes on time. The two days I was there we finished around 9pm which suited me as I had about four days work to cram into two. I could have done without taking a wrong turn on the way back to Essex though. Fortunately I managed to get home just before midnight !

Billy has also set me an artistic task in aid of a charity he supports - I may even rope in my daughter Hannah to help me.

Provence Window Trompe l'oeil Mural

This is a picture of the latest trompe project that I have filmed.

I tried something a little more involved this time with more use of perspective techniques - especially for the louvre door. It was also a bit more time consuming and took a little longer than anticipated.

I had an empty bottle of Chateauneuf-du-Pape which I had polished off months ago. I had been meaning to use as a reference for a while now and seeing as it hails from Provence this seemed an ideal opportunity to paint it within the mural.

It may also take a while before I get the time to edit all the raw footage as I have another daunting project this week which I will write about soon.

Yet More Salespeople

Those sales calls are coming thick & fast - I had yet another telephone call from a company who (surprise surprise) claimed they were part of Google and offered to get my site listed higher up the index - for a fee of course.
As we were both sat in front of our computers I also opened up Google so I could check my listing.

The conversation went as follows -

Me - I've opened up Google

Salesman - OK

Me - I'm using Firefox, what browser are you using ?

Salesmen - Google

Me - No, what internet browser are you using.

Salesman - Google !

Me - What, Google Chrome ? (this is Google's new browser by the way)

Salesmen - No, Google !

Me - Google is a search engine - what internet browser are you using ie Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari etc..

Salesman - Oh, er Internet Explorer.


The conversation went downhill from this point.


It also transpires (as if I could not have guessed) that the company were not part of or owned by Google.
But then again why let the truth get in the way of a sales pitch : )

Salespeople

I have been receiving lots of sales calls of late regarding getting my site to page 1 of Google. The most recent one I had was quite revealing as it indicates to me how little knowledge some of these salespeople have about the product they are selling and the industry they are in.

The salesperson this time was from a company affiliated to Google (don't they all say that) and guaranteed to get my site on page 1 of Google for a monthly fee. After talking with the salesperson it transpires that this would be through the Google Adwords scheme and not by means of improving the organic placement of my site which is something I am always keeping an eye on and trying to improve as this is of more value.
I tried to explain this to the salesperson but she kept interrupting to ask questions like " What do you mean by organic listing " !!! This is a basic term when referring to search engine placements and is something she should have known. I'm not saying that such terms should be common knowledge but if you are in the industry you should at least know the basics. It's like a car salesperson who doesn't know what a steering wheel is for : )

She also didn't realise that different internet browsers give different results when searching on Google - I don't know the reason for this but I am aware of it. She wasn't too worried about her lack of knowledge here as she was using Internet Explorer which, she confidently states, is used by over 95% of internet users. I'm sure that users of Firefox (like myself) will beg to differ here but what do we know : )

At the end of the phone-call she signed off by saying that this obviously wasn't something that I was interested in. She had finally got her facts straight : )

Julia Kendell - New Website

Julia (from DIY SOS) has finally got her new website up & running and it can be found at www.juliakendell.com.

There is also some DIY SOS fact-sheets on the site which gives more details & photos of the programs Julia has been involved in so far - including the Gosport show featuring Gordon Collett & myself.

Children's Murals

I have just posted up a new video. This one is a slideshow of some of my favourite murals that I have painted for children's rooms.

They include my Peter Pan mural, the safari and jungle scenes and the Doctor Who Tardis, complete with my son dressed up as a Cyberman terrorizing his sister : )

Venetian Window Mural Video

Here is the video as promised. I was up into the early hours editing this - hope you like it.

Venetian Window Trompe l'oeil Mural

I finished painting this mural today - it is one that I have been itching to paint for some time now as I have always been fascinated with the eclectic facades and contrasting wall textures of the city of Venice.



As with the crumbling wall mural I recently painted - this will also be a short stage-by-stage film shot from a static camera.

It took me about ten hours to paint over a couple of days and I now have nearly an hour & a half of footage that I need to edit down into about 3-4 minutes.

Unfortunately about ten minutes of my initial footage was corrupted - luckily the rest survived intact (to my relief). It just means that I have no film of the very start of the mural when planning out the lattice work.

Hopefully I should have the film edited and uploaded to YouTube within a couple of days.

Crumbling Wall Mural - the video

This was the main reason for painting the crumbling wall effect that I wrote about in my last post.



I have been meaning to put together a video of my mural work for ages now. I have done a lot of video editing for my family over the last few years - ever since we ditched the old PC and got an iMac about four years ago - yes, I am one of the converted : )

The bundled iLife software also included a fantastic video editing suite and now every year I produce a DVD of all the family footage I have shot.

The actual painting itself probably took about four hours to paint over a couple of days. I then had about an hour & a half of footage to edit down into about three minutes. This process has taken an awful lot longer than actually painting the thing in the first place : )

Hopefully this will be the first of many - if any of you have any suggestions for a video then I'd love to hear them - no lewd suggestions though ; )

Crumbling Wall Mural

I've been working on one of my favorite paint effects - The Crumbling Wall.

I first tried out this effect about 15 years ago in my old office. At the time I was not particularly proficient in effects like stone blocking, marbling and rag-rolling so my decision to paint a derelict wall was almost like a reaction against those type of effects.

Marbling has an elegant and luxurious feel whereas a crumbling plaster effect looks like a wall in bad repair. I enjoyed this stark contrast - it's my rebellious paint effect and over time it has become my signature piece.



Over the years I have painted this effect many times in my customer's homes and also in a few Italian restaurants where the effect unselfishly lends itself to painted Mediterranean views and the odd trompe l'oeil glass of wine. It also works especially well in sun-baked conservatories.

I have also featured the effect in my first book, 'Trompe L'Oeil Interiors', as a step-by-step project. Since I wrote the book nearly seven years ago I have slightly evolved the way I paint it - to be honest every time I paint it I do something slightly different.

It is also quite a relaxing effect to paint as it requires minimal planning - I just start with a basic idea of where I want the exposed brickwork to be and then just sketch it out loosely with a paint brush and build it up from there. This ensures that the effect is kept as natural as possible - there is a danger that too much planning will reflect in the finished piece looking too contrived.

My main reason for painting this project will be revealed soon - it is something I have been meaning to try out for some time.

Watch this space - all will be revealed soon.

Stargazing

Had another trip up to London today for a belated birthday meal. My wife & I booked a table at the Gaucho Canary in the London Docklands where we enjoyed a fantastic sea food starter followed by their renowned Argentine fillet steak with plenty of sides and of course some red wine to wash it down.
I thoroughly recommend a visit to their restaurants - we have also tried the Gaucho Broadgate in the past which is also worth a visit if just to admire the fantastic design of the restaurant .

After our meal we caught a train to Greenwich as I was keen to pay a visit to the Royal Observatory. The walk from the station across Greenwich Park and up the hill to the the observatory was just what we needed after such a filling meal.

On the way up I took a quick snap shot with my mobile of the view down to the Queen's House and National Maritime Museum with the Docklands in the background.



By the time we got up the hill it was getting on for 4:00pm so all we had time for was a show in the Planetarium. The last time I visited a planetarium was when I was a child. We intend to bring our two children back here as I'm sure they will love the experience, as we certainly did.

We bought my son Adam a telescope for his birthday a few months ago as he had expressed a keen interest in the stars & planets - especially after I painted his room with glow-in-dark stars.
It is a Newtonian reflector, and at first it was a bit daunting as I really had no idea on how to use the thing properly.
Luckily I had a lot of help from Andy from my wife's side of the family.

Andy is a keen amateur astronomer and showed me how to align the telescope's axis to the North Star Polaris amongst many other things. Before then had no idea where or who Polaris was or how to identify the myriad constellations that surround it. I am a bit better now and whenever we are out with the children on a clear night, I pass on some of my limited knowledge.

My daughter Hannah can now identify the constellation of Orion by finding the three stars that make up his belt. She can also point out Venus which is very bright in the sky at the moment and you can usually see it before it gets dark.

The weather suddenly changed on our trek home from the observatory and as I type this the snow is pilling up outside. The snow means lots of cloud cover so unfortunately I will not be able to venture outside this evening with the telescope : (

As a consolation I can always stargaze on my children's ceilings which comes a close second best : )

An Association of Professional Muralists

Today was the first meeting in 2009 of the APM - An Associataion of Professional Muralists.

We try to meet up about two of three times a year and we have adopted 'The Chandos', just off Trafalgar Square, as our meeting place. To be more specific, we venture upstairs to the 'Opera Rooms' where we can relax on leather sofas by an open fire and have plenty of space to lay out our portfolios.

I thoroughly recommend a visit if you are in the vicinity. You will find it on St. Martins Lane opposite the National Portrait Gallery and a stones throw from the National Gallery. The drinks are very reasonably priced as well - in case you were in need on any more persuasion : )

Four of us made it to the meeting today - our 5th and newest member Richard Bagguley is busy painting across the pond in Los Angeles. You can see what he is up to by reading his blog www.art-richardjbagguley.com/blog.html.
Of course he was missed by all, but on the plus side we did have more room to slouch on the comfy sofas.

I felt it was about time we had a group photo and here it is.
The usual suspects are - from left to right - yours truly, Anna Smith, Gordon Collett and Denise Cliffen. You can see their websites and find out more about their work by following this link - APM.



But what, you may be asking, are the APM about ? - well in a nutshell -

We are a self monitored group of independent artists with our own unique styles, clients, methods and cost structures.

Our aims are -

* To promote the use of murals in both public and private spaces, for both decorative and architectural use.

* To advocate a pursuit of excellence in the art and to conduct works in a reliable and highly professional manner by encouraging standards of good practice.

* To foster an environment of goodwill for the sharing of knowledge and experience and thus encouraging the development of the professional and artistic interests of our members.

* To provide the prospective and established client with over 50 years experience, a wide choice of styles and techniques with the assurance of a professional approach and to assist in sourcing an appropriate muralist for works considered.

We do find that the social aspect of our meetings is a welcome bonus as generally our work can be quite solitary.
We have also worked together occasionally on various projects - you may have seen Gordon & myself, frantically painting as if our lives depended on it, on "60 Minute Makeover" and "DIY SOS".
I have also worked with Denise on commissions in Essex and Gordon likewise with Anna.

I also hope to be helping out (in a small capacity) with some Venetian plastering with Richard when a suitable opportunity arises. Don't forget me Richard : )

Hopefully our next meeting in the summer will be a full house - fingers crossed.

Murals Revisited

Hello again and Happy New Year - I know its February but better late than never. I could wish a Happy Chinese New Year in which case I'm still a week late : )
I have been meaning to get back into the blogging for the last few weeks - hopefully I will make up for lost ground over the coming weeks.

Anyway - I digress

I revisited two of my clients last week for whom I painted a Peter Pan theme nursery for their expectant baby to be. The baby is now a bouncing eight month old boy and the room I painted for him last year is now furnished to a very high standard.

The clients were very keen for the room to be relaxing so I kept the colours quite muted and with the addition of a colourwash to the surrounding walls it gave a subtle parchment effect. The dimensions and positioning of the two murals were designed around the furniture that was to go into the room.
I worked with the furniture manufacturers specifications because the actual furniture was yet to be delivered when I was working on the murals. The furniture itself has an ivory finish so again it was important for me to the get the colours of the walls right to ensure that everything looked right together. I was quite taken back to see the room furnished as when I last saw the room it had bare floorboards.

The mural has also been a great help, so I am informed, with the baby's bedtime routine. He now says goodnight to all the characters on his wall before turning in.
I have also painted a rather voluptuous Tinker-bell overlooking his cot which I'm sure he will appreciate more as he gets older : )