Murals by Missy - The Blog

The most common questions that I'm asked by clients have to do with the paint I use. Occassionally, I will use latext paint or MyColor inspired by Pantone to cover large areas, but for most murals, I use Golden Fluid Acrylics exclusively. Here's why:

- Golden Acrylics are water soluble, which means that I don't need to use harsh solvents in your home or business.

- Acrylic paints dry quickly. Paint that has been applied to the wall will be dry to the touch within an hour, and completely cured in 24 hours.

- Golden Acrylics are virtually odor-free. This paint has very little to no odor, so it is safe to use in children's bedrooms. This combined with drying time means that your child will be able to sleep in his or her beautiful new room the very same night it has been painted!

- Acrylic paint is permanent and water resistant, which means they are easy to clean. Once the paint is completely cured, it is like a very thin film of plastic adhered to the wall. It can be cleaned with a warm, damp cloth to remove dust and dirt. I have even used a Magic Eraser very gently to clean crayon, marker, and scuff marks from a mural.

- Golden Acrylics are fade resistant and color fast. This means that the colors are manufactured stay true to the day they were painted. These paints are professional artist paints which are made to be archival.

- Golden Acrylics are clearly labeled to adhere to safety regulations. I do not use any colors that are marked with an "X" to indicate harmful. Click here for more information.

- It's sad to admit it, but there may come a time when a mural has to be painted over. Acrylic paint can be covered with regular primer/latex house paint. Because I use fluid paint, there are very few brush strokes in my work, which means minimal sanding is required.

I hope that this article has helped to answer some basic questions regarding my paint. I've spent many hours researching and experimenting to find the best paint possible to work with, and the best paint for my clients. If you have any further questions about my materials or process, please feel free to send me an email.

Please note: All images on this site are property of Missy Sheldrake and cannot be used or reproduced without express permission of the artist.

Before I start, I have to say it for my own sanity: I know it has been awhile since I blogged. Blogging is, sadly, low on my list of priorities. Being the mother of a 3 year old and a loving wife AND an artist allows me limited free time, and when I get it, off to my studio I go to paint.
In between jaunts to Fairfax, Dulles, Sterling, and Leesburg to attend to my son’s busy schedule, I'm going to try to be better about blogging (maybe bump it up above vacuuming on the list) but I can't make any promises!

Anyone who views my galleries will notice a very obvious theme in my work. I won’t deny it, I have a deep and profound love of fairies. Why do I love them? Maybe I was one in a past life. Something about the hidden magic found in nature really appeals to me. The idea of secret worlds filled with fluttering wings and sparkling fairy dust, where fragile figures tend to nature’s little tasks just speaks to my inner child in a way that no other concept really does. This is the magic that I strive to reach every time I head out for a consultation and gaze at a blank wall that a client has asked me to paint.

You can imagine my sheer joy when I arrived in Ashburn recently to consult with a client whose little girl was in love with Tinkerbell and her fairy friends. Now, I have a great deal of respect for copyrighted characters, especially Disney characters, and so I would never dream of painting a mural that would infringe on copyrights. I came up with my own design for the mural.

Here’s a fun aside for you. Before I became a mommy and a muralist, I used to sculpt fairies by hand, using polymer clay, mohair, and fabric scraps. I absolutely loved this, but changed gears when I became pregnant because I was cautious about the toxicity of the clay.

Aren’t they cute?!

Painting Stripes in Two Days

Recently, I had the opportunity to do something a little different from my usual repertoire of pictorial murals. A client in South Riding was interested in having stripes painted in her daughter’s room to match her new bedroom set from Pottery Barn. During our consultation, she asked for pink walls with a horizontal brown stripe along the middle of the wall, edged in green. We poured over paint chips and the client selected the perfect colors for the effect she wanted. Here’s how I did it, from start to finish!

Step 1: Clean Up/Set Up
The first step is not very exciting. Since this home is a new construction, the existing paint was still fresh and the walls were clean. I started by wiping down the walls with a damp cloth, laying my dropcloths down to protect the carpet and furniture, and removing the faceplates from the switches and outlets in the room.

Step 2: Taping
The taping step is always tedious for me, since I love the painting part and just want to get to it! But it’s very important to do this step right, or the finished product will look sloppy and unprofessional. I taped up the baseboards. Then, using a laser level, I measured out the lines for my brown stripe and taped them very carefully. The white area left behind my tape would later act as a guide for my green stripes.

It’s very important to burnish your tape when doing stripes! This means that you take a tool, in my case I use a paint mixing stick, and just run it gently but firmly along the edge of the tape to get a good seal and prevent bleeding underneath the tape.

Also, I use Frog Tape, which leaves a very clean edge without damaging the paint or wall beneath it. You can find Frog Tape at any paint store—though I haven’t been able to find it at Home Depot.

Step3: Painting!
As a rule of thumb, I paint from top to bottom using a roller. I like to do as much as I can with a roller first, and then do the edging around doors, windows, and trim with a smaller brush. In this case, I worked on one half of the room at a time because I had to move the furniture around a little in between.

First I did the pink, and then I did the brown stripe in the middle. When masking with tape, I make sure to always apply the paint perpendicular to the tape’s edge to ensure a clean, crisp line. Also, I’m not afraid to put plenty of paint on my brush for good coverage.

As soon as I finished, I pulled the tape off at an angle to reveal a nice, crisp, white line underneath. It’s important to pull the tape off as soon as possible, or the tape could pull the dried paint off of the wall.

Then, I reinstalled all of the plates for the switches and outlets.

At this point, Day One is finished!

Step 4: Wait.
I listed waiting as a step because it’s very important! To avoid damaging the new paint job (and underlying wallboard) I waited a few days to move on to the next step. 48 hours is the recommended drying time in between steps, but I began on a Tuesday and came back the following Saturday.

Step 5: Painting more Stripes
Saturday, I arrived bright and early and began masking up the areas for the green stripes with my trusty Frog Tape using the white stripes left behind after Tuesday’s painting job as a guide.

The taping and painting for this part of the project only took about 2 hours, and when I pulled the tape off to reveal the finished wall, it was incredibly satisfying!

Step 6: Touch-Up
As I pull off the tape, I pay close attention to any areas that need touch-up, and mark those areas with a small piece of tape.

The final step of this job was to go around and carefully fix any imperfections to ensure a professional, clean-looking job. After the painting is completed, it’s important to wait a couple of days before hanging any pictures to be sure that the paint is cured, but it should be dry to the touch in just a few hours.

You can see pictures of the finished room in my mural gallery here:
http://muralsbymissy.com/pink1.html

April was a great month for painting, as you can see from my gallery. I added four new murals over the course of the month, the most exciting of all was My Gym in Chantilly. My Gym is a great place for kids to go and spend all of their energy. The kids have lots of fun climbing, jumping, running, and doing gymnastics. my Gym's staff is friendly and fun, and their creativity makes every week a new, exciting experience for the kids. The mural I painted there was the largest to date: 19 feet long! Click on the picture below to see the My Gym gallery.

In addition to My Gym, I finished a gorgeous hydrangea kitchen border, a Sleeping Beauty and Unicorn room, and a Cityscape in chalkboard paint.

The most exciting news for April is that I'm now officially licensed in Fairfax! If you're considering a mural, please don't hesitate to send me an email. I'll be happy to work with you to design a mural that brings the perfect personal touch to your space and fits your budget. Thanks for reading up on what's new here at Murals by Missy, I hope to hear from you soon!

Missy Sheldrake

The coming two weeks are going to be pretty exciting around here for me. This month, I'm working on some murals which are being painted specifically for my portfolio. First, I'll be doing a pair of 4ft x 6ft murals in a girls' room. One of these will be a scene with unicorns, and the other will be Sleeping Beauty. Here are the color boards for these:

The girls are really excited abut this project, and so am I!

Next, I'm very excited to announce my first public mural which is currently in the planning stages. This mural will be at My Gym in Chantilly, VA. You can check out their website here.

Here's the color board for My Gym:

This mural will be 19ft long by 10ft tall and is the largest mural I have done to date! I'm really looking forward to working there, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity. The coaches and owner there are a fantastic bunch of very fun, energetic people. It's going to be great!

Once My Gym is finished, I'll head back over to house #1 and do a chalkboard paint city scape for their three-year-old who loves Spiderman. I'll update with pictures of everything once things get rolling.

Thanks for visiting my website and reading about what's new! Don't forget to check out my gallery to view my latest abstract painting, too!