In the midst of the classes I teach, I usually run into those students that would like to possibly consider this as a career. They ask me about how I started my business, the classes available, books to recommend and the like. I then really began thinking about what books I would recommend. Although a few popped into my head immediately (ouch, I just had a vision of having a rectangular head), I had to look through my library to find other gems. Just so you know, I collect interior design, pattern and faux finishing books like they are going out of style. Each and every book means a lot to me so the list below is not the be all that end all, but they are some of my favorites.

Making Money with your Creative Paint Finishes (Lynnette Harris)- This is the book I read when I had just begun my business. It was published in 1998 and still contains great information from marketing to supplies to planning to figuring out how much to charge. Fantastic.

The Complete Book of Paint (David Carter) This is one of the very first finish books that I bought and when I read through it, I wanted to pack my bags and move to London to beg this man for a job with his company. I was like “I could learn to speak the Queen’s English! I could learn to survive in another country!” Really, the only thing that kept me here was my love for my husband and family, LOL!

Decorative Style (Kevin McCloud) Great book with wonderful room vignettes that showcase color, finish, fabrics, furnishings. He breaks down his book by design styles (hence the title) and the photographs are wonderful.

Painted Illusions: Create Stunning Trompe L’oeil Effects with Stencils (Melanie Royals) In our industry, Melanie Royals is a Rock Star (yup, with capitals) and she deserves to be. She has written many books and has truly helpful DVDs and programs she’s not skimpy on the info. This book I like because it goes into creating perspective and creating illusions on different surfaces. But truly, pick up any of her books. You won’t be sorry.

Outdoor Painting Techniques & Faux Finishes (Marina Niven & Louise Hennigs) Finding this book was a great pleasure! It has cool techniques and inventive ideas. It touches on a subject not many decorative paint books do: exteriors. The instructions are easy to follow (washes, patinas, woods) and I absolutely love their location shots.

Italian Plaster Techniques (Maureen Soens) Although I follow my own plaster techniques, I suggest this book because it’s great for beginners. It includes many different texture recipes and good color suggestions (my favorite combination found on page 53. Yummy!).

The Perfect Palette: Fifty Inspired Color Plans for Painting Every Room in Your Home (Bonnie Rosser Krims) – I really like this book. It breaks down each three color scheme by decorative style (i.e., Colors of the Canyon, Autum Day, Provence) and it succeeds in helping to break out of that one-color beige scheme. It only provides paint colors by two manufacturers, but they can be matched if need be by any paint store.

Two books simply for eye candy are:

The Paris Apartment (Claudia Strasser) I love this style. So feminine and pretty and chic. It’s exactly what my apartment is going to look like when I move to Paris. (Right after I move to London and beg David Carter for a job!)

Where Women Create (Jo Packham) I picked up this book and realized it was a unique find! It profiles different women with creative businesses and shows you what their studios look like and how their space design came about. I think when I get around to decorating my new personal studio room, I will want elegant bubbles of color on the walls as if the floor was a giant square Alka Seltzer and the walls were made of water. I like that effervescent, ever-changing, bubbling with possibilities and vibrant colorations. Not for everyone, I know! Don’t let that dissuade you from looking into my book recommendations!!!

I hope we all have great reading in store for the next few weeks!

Sometimes life takes you to places you never would have predicted for yourself.? I came across a picture today that took me back to where my business really started…it’s so unbelievable how a minute detail of the everyday can impact your life for years to come. Many people ask me how I even came to choose this path as a career and I always think back to a time when I needed to move out of a house I had rented in Hackensack, NJ.

Now, various members of my family have been involved in the fields of design and construction, but I never really paid any attention to that. I was young and carefree — I had moved to NJ to try to break into the NY music scene. A good friend of mine suggested moving to a town in NJ that was closer to the big city than Hackensack was. Through a classified ad, I found a woman looking for a roomate in Edgewater, NJ, which is a town located by the George Washington Bridge and directly across the Hudson River and New York City. My friend and I pulled up to the house and a completely unique woman opens the door. We went in and I stopped in my tracks. I had never seen a house decorated in such a manner — it had color, personality, unique artifacts…I was floored. Turns out that she was a Charge Scenic for the film industry — she worked on the teams that break down a script, research the locations and feel for the story and do set design and construction for the filmmakers. Her home reflected the span of her film career and every area was beautifully decorated. That is, except for the rooms I was to rent out: a comfortable bedroom and a study that led to a large outdoor balcony with a beautiful view of New York. She let me know that she put those rooms back to neutral prior to anyone renting them since she wanted that person to come in and put their own stamp on the rooms.

She offered to help me paint my rooms and really, how could I say no? I told her that I wanted bright waves of color undulating on all the walls. She came up with a color scheme and we went to town. When we were done, I was amazed at what a difference the paint and color made and how deliriously happy I was for those hours, just painting away. It was the most amazing room I had ever seen in my life! My amazement continued when I started unpacking in the kitchen. I took out the glass set that had been a gift. She took a look at one and said “it’s a sexy glass”. She explained that everything exerted a feeling outside of their design style – i.e., comforting, cold, vivacious, free-spirited, guarded — and that she designed a character’s personal space and belongings based on their personality. It was a whole new concept to me…and to this day, I still use that insight when putting together a custom finish for a client’s home. (It also adds a whole new level to watching a movie, believe me! Sometimes I can’t even enjoy a film since I’m looking at what a wonderful job the art/design team did on the different sets and forget to listen to the dialogue.)

During the time I lived there, I would happily listen to her tell me what was happening in different film sites and how they came up with the paint finishes and decor for each set. I started buying decorative painting books depicting gorgeous colors, patterns or architecture.? I was still pursuing a career in the music industry, completely unaware of my growing love for art. It wasn’t until many years and homes later, when I was disillusioned by the music industry and looking for a new direction, that I turned around and saw my bookshelf full of these books and quietly and permanently thought “Of course.? Right in front of me all along.”

I took a picture of that room just so I could show it to my family back in Florida. I sent one off to them and kept the copy for myself. That’s the picture I came across today. I’m sad that I’ve lost touch with her but I do know she is still working in the film industry. I know that even though she had other people interested in moving into that glorious home, she settled on me. I often wonder what my life would be like had she made another choice. You could say it’s in my genes to love this industry but I do believe it was her who planted the seed that led to the discovery of my true passion in life — I was born to create art for a living.

I’ve discovered a little gem of a show on television. It’s called Simon Schama’s Power of Art?and it has the narrator, Simon Schama, taking an hour to give you the background and history of our most important artists. Now, I do have to say that I find any sort of lecture/show about Art History endlessly fascinating (in other words, caveat emptor) but this show really takes each subject and makes them come alive. Makes you care about them. Makes you suffer along with them and feel elated at their triumphs.? Simon Schama is a master storyteller and a bit of a gossiper — he clearly has a gift for oratory — which is why he’s so much fun to watch and learn from.? I just wish I could sit in one of his lectures at Columbia University and just listen to him wax rhapsodic over art history. (Yes, I’m a girl who adores art.) ?Go ahead and TiVo the next showing or look it up in TV Guide.??I promise you won’t be sorry. (And if you are, you can comment about it? or maybe not…) But at the very least, you can have bragging rights after impressing your friends during Jeopardy or Trivial Pursuit by knowing the masterpieces Caravaggio painted or the sculptures Bernini gifted to this world. Surely that alone is worth an hour of Simon Schama’s Power of Art.

I cannot believe it! I’ve actually put down my artist brushes and decided to further explore technology. My husband, who is a computer genius, just sorta sighs and shakes his head while smiling. I can’t help it…I’m still a girl who loves to write handwritten notes on beautiful stationery and hear my loved one’s voices on the phone rather than get an e-mail but I do love my iPod and TiVo so I’m not all that old-fashioned, I guess. After immersing myself in this blog business, I’ve come to feel as if the Kansas house and I have landed with a bang and I’m about to open the door to the gorgeous technicolor world of Oz. The thought of writing a blog was inspired, in part, by the ability to share and discuss beautiful images and inspirations, give a behind-the-scenes look into what we do and just post little silly or serious bits of conversational wontons. Well, I’m off to learn more about blogging and see if I can start adding some new backgrounds, fonts, images…