Blog Archives

Faux Finishes, Part B: Isabel O'Neil Studio

1/30/2023

ISABEL O’NEIL
Isabel O’Neil (1908-1981) was an acclaimed authority in the field of decorative arts. A New York-based conservator, teacher, and inventor of painted finishes, she was often called upon to restore painted finishes on antique furnishings. She found great inspiration in the techniques and materials used by European craftsmen.

Isabel’s early curiosity in replicating Old-World craftsmanship led her to study at Skidmore College and Yale University, where she researched the historic origins of the painted finish. Then she traveled to Europe to observe the working methods of skilled craftsmen. Upon returning to her New York studio, she replicated the historical European methods she studied and introduced modern materials to her process.

Isabel dedicated her life to teaching and perpetuating the Art of the Painted Finish. Throughout her teaching career, she accumulated a body of historical information, contemporary resources, and innovative procedures. Using 20th Century materials, she formulated new methods of achieving faux and fantasy finishes to simulate precious materials including marble, rare wood marquetry, tortoise shell, ivory, shagreen, lapis lazuli, and malachite.

The publication of her 1971 book, The Art of the Painted Finish for Furniture & Decoration, gave her further acclaim as an authority in painted finishes. Featuring more than one hundred and fifty finishes, it remains the standard for the most comprehensively-written reference and instructional guide on the subject.

Her Studio
Admirers of Isabel’s work persuaded her to teach and in 1955 she founded her eponymous studio workshop. In Europe she discovered the method of instruction she used as a model for her school: the guild system of the Renaissance. In this system, novice students learn through apprenticing under master craftsmen. Skilled apprentices, in turn, instruct new students. This method of teaching and adherence to the recommended curriculum ensures that every student has the same training and each student understands and maintains the exacting standards of the Studio.

Since its inception, the Isabel O’Neil Studio has grown into an internationally-recognized art school, with works exhibited at The Museum of the City of New York and a curated collection featured at Tiffany & Co. Today the Studio remains true to its founder’s vision, and includes a cadre of Studio-trained instructors who are dedicated to maintaining the highest standards and traditional methods of the Art of the Painted Finish. The eagerness of students to continue in this craft has encouraged the development of additional finishes and workshops to teach the process.

Her Mission
Isabel O’Neil opened her Studio in 1955. A visionary teacher, conservator, and inventor in the field of decorative arts, once called, “the grande dame of American painted finishes,” by House & Garden magazine, she inspired many students to dedicate themselves to the continued teaching and preservation of the art and craft of the painted finish.

Today master artisan-teachers at the Isabel O’Neil Studio carry on the legacy of Isabel by guiding students through a traditional journeyman guild system that encourages creative innovation.

The curriculum, taught in person in New York City, is an exploration of painting techniques that build upon students’ skills and creativity as they acquire the confidence to execute finishes of the highest historical and contemporary quality on furniture and objects. The Studio is more than a school; many who have completed the program remain connected to the community it fosters, often returning to teach.

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Miami’s Museum of Graffiti.

1/23/2023

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The World’s First Museum Dedicated to Graffiti!

Mission Statement
Throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s in large cities all over the United States, children invented a new art form that started with writing their names on walls in their neighborhoods.

Local governments launched cleaning campaigns and mandated that young writers be arrested for their vandalism, but the movement could not be stopped. Unrelenting young people forged ahead at a feverish pace with creative innovations and inspired generations of new practitioners.

In no time, the wall writings quickly developed to become more elaborate and decorative. Taking on unique and distinguishable signifies like arrows, crowns and other innovations through design and color, this became the blueprint for tags, throw-ups, masterpieces, and the elaborate works seen today.

Fifty years later, the Museum of Graffiti was formed to preserve graffiti’s history and celebrate its emergence in design, fashion, advertising, and galleries. The Museum experience includes an indoor exhibition space, eleven exterior murals, a fine art gallery, and a world-class gift shop stocked with limited edition merchandise and exclusive items from the world’s most talented graffiti artists.

Museum Programming

SPRAY IT LOUD
GRAFFITI CLASS FOR BEGINNERS
(Every Saturday @ 5PM)

KIDS’ GRAFFITI DRAWING CLASS
LED BY LOCAL ARTISTS
(Every Sunday @ 10AM)

Featured Exhibitions

From Vandals To Trend Setters...
There is no complete story for the graffiti world as there are thousands of participants
in the past and the present.
We are students as much as leaders in this global movement, sharing our enthusiasm
as we present this exhibit.
Graffiti–the act of writing on walls–is an old practice traced back centuries to churches in England, visitors' names in the catacombs in Paris, and lewd jokes in Pompeii.
Humans have a need to leave public messages, always have and always will.

This exhibition celebrates the graffiti
of our lifetime, the type of graffiti that has become a global movement and culture started by American children and teenagers.
Style writing or just plain writing is what
we call it from within the movement.
Today, writing can be found in just about
every corner of the globe,
from Helsinki and Berlin to Lima,
Melbourne, and Miami.
Cities have their own indigenous styles
and passionate practitioners,
working daily to be seen and heard.
Social media carries the names
beyond the national barriers,
but it wasn’t always that way.

Two cities can claim bragging rights to
the birth of this new graffiti movement: Philadelphia and New York City.
In the late 1960s both cities were home to teenagers who saw public walls and trains as a perfectly natural and acceptable place to sign their names, breaking the law but adding a new spin on the typical gang graffiti
that was already present in the streets.
These teenagers were bold, adventurous, and sought fame and recognition from their friends.

The global expansion of New York City’s
graffiti style caused a stir in just about
every city it appeared in.
Trains and walls were covered, spray paint was stolen from shops, teenagers adopted the new cultural import, and adults had a hard time accepting it, leading to strict laws,
arrests, and severe punishments.
Of course, the writers suffered...
but they also adapted, innovated,
and changed to thrive and survive.
Writers plotted and transformed the culture
to their favor. Some took to graphic design, tattoo art, fashion design, and murals,
while others turned to hidden walls
or freight trains to pursue the writing tradition, and a few continued to paint trains
accepting the risk of more severe penalties. These artists influenced the world and continue to impact popular culture today.
This is a small part of the story.
__________________

OLÉ
A body of works by
ISE, FINOK, THIAGO NEVS, & SKOLAS
of Sao Paolo's VLOK Crew.

Ise, Thiago Nevs, Finok, and Skolas,
while individually being studio artists,
are all graffiti artists from São Paolo, Brazil.
The artists have come together as a collective, embodying four different generations of graffiti artists, to present a body of work that is not representative of their traditional graffiti
but rather communicates their shared life experiences as artists in their communities.

Their paintings depict self-portraits, street landscapes, and average citizens in an effort to highlight their deep love for all aspects
of the graffiti art movement,
not just the letters themselves.
The paintings, steeped in culture, present artifacts and symbols that are inherent in the fabric of both current daily life and history
in Brazil. Soccer balls, Bahia bracelets, religious shrines, tags, and flying kites are all integrated in a way that convey
an admiration for a city rich in personality
that serves as their inspiration.

The artists tap into folk art traditions and use colorful patterns, fabrics, found objects,
and assemblages to transport you to
Brazil and share some of the widely unknown and indigenous aspects of their nation
while also calling attention to the daily economic and social issues
that are present today.
__________________

Writers on Wax:
The Sound of Graffiti
An exhibition that pairs
the beats, basslines, imagination,
and expression of graffiti writers’
who make both music
and visual studio work.

Graffiti has historically been interconnected with certain types of music like punk rock, techno, and Hip-Hop. Commonalities like the use of public space, themes of rebellion and angst, and the “do it yourself” mindset are threads that run through the fabric of these art-forms. These congruities and the urban environment from which they originate have naturally led graffiti writers to experiment within these musical genres and vice versa.

Writers on Wax is a project created by Ruyzdael Music, a group of Dutch graffiti writers and creatives who saw the importance of compiling the music created by graffiti writers. Their vinyl-only project, Writers on Wax: The Sound of Graffiti, is a series of albums that feature exclusive tracks created by today’s leading visual graffiti artists from around the world – some who have alter-egos in the music world. All three of their vinyl music releases are on installed along with old-school turntables for your listening pleasure.

In the visual portion of the exhibition,
graffiti reigns supreme.
BLADE (Steven Ogburn, New York, b. 1957) via photographs by Martha Cooper,
DELTA (Boris Tellegen, Amsterdam, b. 1968),
NUG (Magnus Gustafsson, Sweden, b.1972), Paul Du Bois Reymond (Amsterdam, b.1974), and
PURE (Aindriais Dolan, New York, b.1969) each draw on their deep roots in graffiti
to present a wide range of styles
from pioneering lettering,
to using the spray paint medium
for abstraction,
to addressing the landscapes in which graffiti and their practitioners occupy,
and using the ornate aspects of graffiti
to create a composition.

Collectively, the pairing of the visual works
with the artist’s musical creations
provides a holistic snapshot of the
collective urban inspiration and output
of these multidisciplinary artists.

This program is supported as part of the Dutch Culture USA program by the Consulate General of the Netherlands in New York.
__________________

The Museum of Graffiti exhibits, educates, and celebrates the thousands of graffiti artists who have transformed walls in our public spaces into vibrant masterpieces.

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A Purple Party… and a Princely Mural!

1/16/2023

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Murals On The Street!
"Many times I come across some really nice mural, or a hand painted sign out there that I want to share with you!
This one is from my dear friends Daniel and Lois who were back home in Minnesota last May and they sent me this great photo of the street party and unveiling of Hiero Veiga’s new mural of TAKAPrince Rogers Nelson-(TAFKAPrince!)" -RQ

Mural by 33-year-old Hiero Veiga, a Florida street painter known for the rendering on the exterior wall
of Miami’s Museum of Graffiti.
Organizers say the $500,000 Minneapolis project
has been in the works for seven years.

June 3 2022
Purple party: Prince fans celebrate mural completion in downtown Mpls
By Tony Kiene
On the same day that the Queen of England celebrated her Platinum Jubilee in London, Minneapolis honored its very own monarch: His Royal Badness, Prince Rogers Nelson. A 100-foot-tall mural of our favorite son, painted by internationally renowned artist Hiero Veiga, now looks out over the city’s entertainment district and the legendary music club that Prince established as an international landmark almost 40 years ago.
Last night’s event, billed as the “Purple Block Party,” saw throngs of people descend on First Avenue North, including many Prince fans from out of state and around the world, here for this weekend’s Celebration 2022 at Paisley Park.
A little after 9 pm, the dynamic duo behind the mural, also known as the “Crown Our Prince” project, graced the stage for the first time. With the blessings of Prince himself, it was Sharon Smith-Akinsanya, CEO of the Rae Mackenzie Group, and public art expert Joan Vorderbruggen, that conquered a multitude of roadblocks to successfully carry out this seven-year project “across the finish line.”
Things became a little emotional when they introduced two of Prince’s sisters, Norrine and Tyka Nelson, each of whom spoke to the crowd.
Tyka mentioned some of the many ways downtown has been important to their family through the years, recounting how she and Prince would often catch the #19 bus over North, and then, with transfers in hand, make a pit stop at Shinders bookstore on Hennepin Ave. before continuing on to their destination.
Norrine Nelson spoke to the crowd, promising not to cry. She closed by telling those gathered to honor her older brother, “Thank you for loving him. He loved you.”
Smith-Akinsanya and Vorderbruggen then returned, and after acknowledging the major sponsors, additional contributors, and the three photographers whose images served as the basis for the mural, further hyped up an already electric crowd, before introducing artist Hiero Veiga,
The unassuming and soft-spoken muralist did not address the audience, but no doubt felt its love and appreciation as he embraced Vorderbruggen and Smith-Akinsanya.
Finally, as the opening chords of “Purple Rain” reverberated through the nearby streets and skies above Minneapolis, Veiga’s masterpiece was doused in brilliant light, officially dedicating the mural and fulfilling the promise to 'make Minneapolis shine purple.'
DJ Mickey Breeze closed out the night with a more adventurous set the second time around consisting of a couple of classic Prince B-sides, including “Violet the Organ Grinder,” in which Prince repeatedly declares, “I’ll die, but I won’t go away.” That certainly rings true to all his fans. And though he didn’t end with it, Breeze’s inclusion of “It’s Gonna Be A Beautiful Night,” recorded live in Paris on the 1986 Parade Tour, proved to be the perfect depiction of the night’s festivities.

Hiero Veiga
a Florida street painter known for the rendering on
the exterior wall of Miami’s Museum of Graffiti.

Bio
“I am obsessed with the practice of my craft.”
Hiero Veiga grew up in the small boxing town of Brockton, MA
and has been spray painting since he was 12 years old.
With over 21 years of experience, Hiero has evolved from writing graffiti to curating hyper-realistic pieces ranging from portraits, natural scenery, and psychedelic art.
Hiero’s unique perspective and experience of light and color is reflected in his distinctive compositions. His current personal work style involves abstract backgrounds and kaleidoscopic designs with Groucho glasses, chattering teeth,
and rubber ducks.
Hiero has participated in countless mural festivals and collaborated with numerous artists in his community. His most prominent works were done in participation with Pow Wow! Mural Festivals, including a mural displayed in the
Bishop Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Hiero is based in Florida, but you can find his work in the streets, businesses, and galleries across the United States, Jamaica, and Canada.
If you are interested in working with Hiero,
please fill out the contact form or directly send an email.
© 2022 HIERO VEIGA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Article By Tony Kiene
Tony Kiene’s experience in the Twin Cities nonprofit and entertainment industries includes work with Minneapolis Urban League, Penumbra Theatre, Hallie Q. Brown, and Pepé Music.
He welcomes reader responses to
tkiene@spokesman-recorder.com.

Related Stories:
Artist Hiero Veiga now painting Prince mural in downtown Mpls

Honoring Prince: community reactions to new street sign and mural

“This all reminds me...
of the work Christina Rosenthal and I did
for Prince’s nightclub ’Glam-Slam’ in L.A.
and at his Paisley Park Studios in MN.
Here’s a link to that project…" -RQ

Glam Slam and Paisley Park Studios

www.ChristinaRosenthalFineArt.com

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Faux Finishes, Part 1

1/9/2023

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Here is another one of my favorite books from my library...

“The Art of the Painted Finish
for Furniture and Decoration”
Antiquing, Lacquering, Gilding & The Great Impersonators
By Isabel O’Neil

'The Art of Painted Finish for Furniture & Decoration: Antiquing, Lacquering, Gilding & the Great Impersonators' comes with 38 color plates, including 80 life-style samples,
and 100 how-to drawings.
Painted finishes can be applied almost everywhere -- on furniture, decorative objects, even the walls of rooms.
This book rescues and re-creates this nearly lost art
and does so with the realistic and practical use
of modern tools and materials.
Generously illustrated, this is a reference book,
studio manual, and art book all in one.
It is indispensable to professionals -- architects, interior designers and decorators, artists, art teachers and students, and furniture designers -- and to all those interested in arts, crafts and antiques.

Table of Contents:
Preface
Acknowledgements
List of Color Plates
How to use this Book
Historical Background
___
Part I) Painting, Antiquing & Distressing: Mediums and Methods
Color
Preparation of Surface:
Basic Tools & Methods
Paint
Antiquing
Varnishes
Distressing
___
Part II) Glazes, Lacquer & Casein:
Old Techniques Updated
Glazes
History of Lacquer
Lacquer Techniques
Casein
___
Part III) Leafing, Gilding and Burnishing: Traditional Techniques
Introduction
Mat Gilding
Antique Patina for Leaf
Burnishing
___
Part IV) The Great Impersonators:
Faux Finishes
Introduction
Bamboo
Porphyry
Faux Marbre
Faux Tortoise Shell
Lapis Lazuli
Faux Bois
Malachite
Six Fantasies
___
Subject Outline
Craftsmen and Students workin the Color Plates
Suggested Reading
About the Author

"Decorative painting is any painting that serves to adorn or embellish a surface with design motifs, decorative accents, trompe l’Oeil and/or painted faux finishes. The techniques of decorative painting are complex and require years of study and practice to master.
This book is based on the course of study devised through years of detailed instruction, research and experimentation at Isabel O’Neil’s Studio/Workshop. This well written book can take an absolute novice through the many levels of skill required for the creation of breathtakingly beautiful finishes.”
-Roberto Quintana

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Murals in LA Lift the Voices of Iranian Protesters

1/2/2023

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Mural by Katrine Karimpour (photo Matt Stromberg/Hyperallergic)

Article by Matt Stromberg
December 14, 2022

Murals by Iranian-American artists across the city are inescapable reminders of the regime’s ongoing brutality.
Drive north on Main Street through Los Angeles’s fashion district and a striking new mural is visible just past Interstate 10. Against a backdrop of green, white, and red — the colors of the Iranian flag — the faces of 13 women who have lost their lives at the hands of the Iranian regime are depicted in stark black and white. Below them, their names, and others, are written on the palms of outstretched hands. Most of them were killed during the recent protests in response to the September death of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini, who was detained by Iran’s morality police for not wearing her hijab correctly and died in custody. “Women, Life, Freedom,” the originally Kurdish slogan that has become a rallying cry for the protests, is written in English and Farsi.

The mural is the work of Katrine Karimpour, who was approached by her friend Mojgan of Mona_E_Arts with a concept for the mural and a connection to the owners of the building at 1605 S. Main Street. Karimpour created the image on her iPad and it was then printed on two large panels of weather-resistant paper and hung on the building’s southern facade on November 27. The mural is just one example of Iranian-American artists in Los Angeles showing solidarity with the protesters in Iran.

For Karimpour, it is also a way to express a connection with family, despite the tumult of revolution and emigration. Her late grandfather and mother fled Iran just before the 1979 Revolution. “When it started, they said they would come to the US for a week til it died down,” but they ended up staying,” she told Hyperallergic. “[The regime] took all my family’s belongings, everything my grandfather had worked for, everything he owned.” She says her grandfather wrote poetry; however, she couldn’t read it, since she was never taught Farsi. “Doing this, I thought about my baba the whole time,” Karimpour said of her work on the mural.

About 10 miles northwest of Karimpour’s mural, a nearly three-story-tall image of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini graces a wall in Fame Yard on Melrose, a hotspot for street art. Her hair, colored green, white, and red, spills out from her hijab, while the chains covering her head break apart.

Mural by Cloe Hakakian and Todd Goodman
(photo by and courtesy Impermanent Art)

Cloe Hakakian
https://www.instagram.com/cloehakakian/
https://beyondsquarefootage.com/beyondsquarefootage/2020/5/14/cleopatra-by-cloe-hakakian

Todd Goodman
https://todd-goodman-art.myshopify.com/

“I used to stay away from everything political, but this is personal for me. This is not political, it’s about basic human rights,” artist Cloe Hakakian, who created the mural with Todd Goodman, told Hyperallergic. Hakakian was born in the US to parents who had emigrated shortly before the revolution, “Otherwise I could have easily been one of those girls,” she said, referring to those killed in the recent demonstrations,
who are in the hundreds.

Iran has already executed two people involved in the protests, with 25 others facing the death penalty, according to the Guardian. On Monday, Majidreza Rahnavard was publicly hanged from a crane in the city of Mashhad. He was accused of killing two members of the Basij militia. Last week, Mohsen Shekari was executed after he was convicted of “waging war against God” by a revolutionary court. He had been accused of blocking a street and injuring a militia member. Today, the United Nations announced its decision to remove Iran from its Commission on the Status of Women, thanks in part to campaigning by activists in the diaspora.

Since the mural went up in early October, Hakakian has shifted gears, connecting artists with building owners willing to offer up their walls for murals in support of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement through her “Murals for Freedom” website. The site lists murals across the globe, in San Diego; Washington, DC; London; Paris; Berlin; and Sydney, Australia. “Not all the artists are Iranian,” she notes. “It’s inspiring a lot of people outside of the community.”

Mural by Rashin Kheiriyeh (courtesy Farhang Foundation)

Further West, in Santa Monica, the side of an office building now bears Rashin Kheiriyeh’s mural of a woman’s silhouetted head in profile, her hair rendered in sinuous, turquoise Persian calligraphy. Kheiriyeh created the mural before the death of Amini for a mural competition sponsored by the Farhang Foundation, a nonprofit that supports Iranian art and culture. After Amini’s death, Kheiriyeh posted an image of the mural to social media and added the slogan “Women, Life, Freedom.”

According to Alireza Ardekani, executive director of the Farhang Foundation, the group has other murals planned in Los Angeles in support of the movement, but has run up against a troubling issue with one artist selected for a mural at 1031 South Grand Avenue in Downtown LA. “The artist just informed me he’s under surveillance in Iran and being threatened. I offered to have the art anonymous, but his work is quite iconic,” Ardekani told Hyperallergic. “Murals are big in Iran. Before the uprising, artists had learned how to dance around red lines and go under the radar. Now they’re cracking down.”

Through these public artworks, artists in the Iranian diaspora are able to speak to — and amplify — those whose voices are being stifled.

“Culturally I felt very in the middle. This was something that could feel so personal to me, but this isn’t about just me. It’s about all the women who are fighting for their future and future generations,” Karimpour said. “What art can do is amplify those who are not being heard. We are their echoes.”

by Matt Stromberg December 14, 2022
https://hyperallergic.com/

Murals for Freedom
https://www.muralsforfreedom.org/
https://www.muralsforfreedom.org/gallery

Murals for Freedom aims to amplify the silenced voices in Iran through art. All over the world, artists have painted murals commemorating the victims of the Islamic Republic of Iran's brutal regime. This project is about promoting freedom and spreading awareness.

Get Involved
There are multiple ways to get involved!
Email muralsforfreedom@gmail.com to:
▪ Paint a mural.
▪ Offer a wall as a canvas.
▪ Volunteer.
▪ Inquire

Submit a Mural!
If you have painted a mural and would like to submit it to the website, please fill out this form.

Mural by Rashin Kheiriyeh

Related

Artists Worldwide Demand Freedom for Iranian Women September 28, 2022
Iranian Activists Stage “Die-In” at Met Museu December 5, 2022
Artists Stage Mahsa Amini Protest at New York’s Guggenheim Museum October 24, 2022

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...to Roberto's Blog!

  "Duit-On-Mon-Dai"

  Roberto has been pestering the ‘Marketing’ staff here at Art and Soul for some time now to get together with ‘Research and Development’ to come up with a fun way for him to share all the great work out there of all the many other talented muralists and artists he's been "influenced by" over the years. ‘Sales’ was totally against the idea! ("How could that possibly improve the bottom-line?!"). ‘Marketing’ remains split, as usual ("We need more data"). ‘R&D’ thought it might be a fun way to "show off a little", and to showcase all those great ideas they keep finding out there on the internet. ‘HR’ said it might be a good way to keep 'The Crew' distracted ("Since they are all so bored since Covid hit, and Roberto is spending more and more time in his studio working on all those silly little easel paintings").
'The Crew' said: ’'Sure, We've got nothing else going on …but only if we get to share stuff about technique, materials, and equipment." ‘Receivables’ said: "It obviously won’t make more work for us, so why not!". 'Legal' said: "No Way! You are NOT going to reveal where you steal all your ideas from!" (Although Roberto values their legal advice, He rarely listen’s to their hysterics anyway). So... here we are! Welcome to Roberto’s new blog:
  "Duit-On-Mon-Dai"
     "As the title implies, I will post once a week (on Monday, more or less). Feel free to leave a family friendly comment. Dialogue and praise is encouraged. Creativity, passion and wonder should be expected. Politics and personal grievances hopefully kept to private emails. And please… no Whining! and no sales pitches either (you can make your own damn blog for that).
   I expect to start becoming a little more savvy with all this social media stuff, but for now ‘Bookmark’ my website and check back every once in a while. I hope you will find it interesting. Don’t be too persnickety over my whimsical spelling and creative punctuations either, my Editorial Department is not what it used to be… I am seriously understaffed these days."
Peace and Love...
-Roberto Quintana, WFA

Faux Finishes, Part B: Isabel O'Neil Studio

Miami’s Museum of Graffiti.

A Purple Party… and a Princely Mural!

Faux Finishes, Part 1

Murals in LA Lift the Voices of Iranian Protesters

...to Roberto's Blog!

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