mural blog

Hotels And Greek Goddesses

In terms of color and ethereal composition, one of our favorite murals was created was for a boutique hotel in New York called The Muse Hotel.

The Muses, of course, are the Greek Goddesses who inspire those who excel in the arts and sciences, and as such they are definitely influences in our work here at Silver Hill. 

The Muse Hotel wanted to create a unique and luxurious environment in New York that would offer its guests dreamy inspiration during their stay in this most inspiring of cities....And to reach that goal, the designers were inspired to include a luminous ceiling mural over the main axis of the hotel lobby.

The original concept for the mural, shown in our maquette above, was to make an abstract depiction of the Greek Muses soaring throughout a celestial sky.

In style, we were partly influenced by the artworks of Francis Picabia - particularly the way his painting often included figural pen and ink outlines that would be placed over colorful backgrounds.

In the final mural, there were a couple of changes from our maquette; the leaf-like foliage on the sides was eliminated, and (as often happens on 'commercial' projects) the rather tame nudity of the abstracted figures was deemed too provocative or potentially offensive - in the finished mural, the Muses were given flowing white nightgowns for a much more modest appearance.

As installed, the mural was quite lovely.  We were pleased, and our clients were very pleased - In fact, if you visit the Muse Hotel's website, you will see that they use our mural as an integral part of their image branding.

Whether or not explicitly intended, like the Muse Hotel's web identity strategy, the beauty and unique appearance of a mural can communicate a variety of positive brand attributes to the clientele.  For example, to guests at the Muse hotel, our mural might suggest luxury, refinement, taste, uniqueness, play, relaxation, and warmth.

In essence, a mural can help to successfully 'tell the story' of a brand or business to the customers and clients in a way that is both beautiful and unforgettable - an obvious competitive advantage in a crowded marketplace!

Artist-Citizen: The Story Behind the Murals in our Nation's Capitol Building

Today's New York Times has a fascinating article on Constantino Brumidi, the artist whose Pompeian style decorative art and Renaissance style murals contribute so impressively to the neo-classical grandeur of the United States Capitol building.

The picture above is a detail of Brumidi's masterpiece "The Apotheosis of Washington" on the canopy of the Capitol Rotunda.  As someone who has seen a lot of fresco murals on domes, it was interesting for me to see George Washington and other early American patriots amongst the cast of "characters in clouds".  Normally, murals in this style are populated exclusively with angels, cherubs, Greeks and Romans, so running into George Washington is kind of like seeing cotton candy at a fine French Patisserie - unexpected, but fun.

From Brumidi's early success in Italy, to his exile following the Catholic Church's accusations that he had stolen artworks, to his immigrant success story of painting much of the artwork in our nation's Capitol, till his his pauper's death, it's an amazing story, and worth checking out.  Even if you get the Times, check out the online link for the additional photos posted in 'slide show' format.

The Foundation For A Good Painting

The drawing above is by one of our artists who drew it from a painting by the 19th century French artist Hippolyte Flandrin, a student of Ingres, who is generally acknowledged as being one of history's great masters of drawing. 

Drawing, for much of the mural painting that we do here at Silver Hill, is like a scaffold or support structure that, if properly built, holds the color and tactility of paint in a unified harmony on the canvas.  A good drawing helps a painting not fall apart into disparate elements, but ensures the finished work will be a unified whole. 

The foundation for a good painting is always a good drawing, or at least a good drawing ability.  This is true even if the final painting is not realistic, but entirely abstract. 

If you ever want to learn how to paint, learning to draw is a critical part of the process.  In the art education process of the 19th and early 20th century, drawing was absolutely integral to an an artist's development, and the academic drawings from this time period are some of the most lovely drawings from the time.

In this sphere, the artist Pierre Paul Prud'hon was an indisputable master, and when the artists of Silver Hill seek to brush up on their drawing skills, copies of Prud'hon work are a great place to start.
It's like going to a gym, and having Arnold Scwartzeneggar be your personal trainer.  You WILL get something out of the experience!

Below are three drawings by one of our artists after the work of Prud'hon (CLICK THE THUMBNAILS FOR AN ENLARGED VIEW):

Dreams for the Future

I guess the technology is not fully developed yet, but the Pixel Roller is on the way.

If you click the link, it takes you to a video of the roller in action.  Somehow, when the roller touches the wall, it activates some kind of paint release mechanism, and as you roll the roller on the wall, an image comes into view.  It started, apparently, as a student project at London's Royal College of Art, but is in the process of being commercialized.

The video is quite remarkable.

Here at Silver Hill, our mural artists claim the future can't come soon enough!

Stormy Day

It's a stormy day today in New York - but at least we are not affected by Hurricane Dennis, a storm that is poised to hit the Everglades in the next few hours.  When I think of the Everglades, I think of this mural that we painted for the West Palm Beach Marriott - It's a peaceful Everglades, but there is drama in the sky, and the palm trees do seem to be blowing - perhaps a hurricane is on its way...

This mural was actually a three panel artwork, and this is the center artwork of the triptych.