Ispirato Design: Art Portfolio

Scroll down to see examples of:

Murals
Home & Business Portraits
Signage, Logos & Graphic Design
Watercolors

MURALS

Interested in commissioning a mural?

Contact me: michellesamoraj@gmail.com

Lemon Tree Trompe l'oeil

I did this project by following the step by step instructions in the book "The Trompe l'oeil Home by Roberta Gordon-Smith. Trompe l'oeil is the art of tricking the eye into seeing what isn't there. It is an illusion! Below is a two dimensional painting of a lemon tree in an alcove. This could be painted directly onto a wall but in this case I painted it on a piece of MDF (medium density fiberboard) that I cut out, using a jigsaw, to the shape of the alcove. It not only gives the flexibility of moving it from one location to another but I think it also adds to the deception!

Cow jumping over the moon mural and stamped alphabet border.

The cow jumping over the moon is a painting that I did in the nursery. I originally saw this cow as a piece of art in a Ballard Designs catalog many years ago. I think it was painted on shaped metal. The clock is also from Ballard. Anyway, I bought the clock and I tore the picture of the cow out of the catalog and saved it (sorry I don't know who the artist is). Eventually, when I was about eight months pregnant, I decided to paint the cow jumping over the moon clock just like I saw in the catalog. I also purchased the alphabet stamps, and used them to stamp a gold border (also just like they showed in the catalog- no original ideas here!). I loved it and it stayed this way for two of my children but has since been painted over with Yankee pinstripes!

From "Where The Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak

Isn't this fun! When I first started painting these large scale "monsters" in my five year olds bedroom I wondered if I would cause him to have nightmares or wake up and freak out but I kept painting and we both fell in love with each one as they developed. Maybe it helped that he actually watched as they were being painted.

This is a scene right out of the book with the exception that I made it night time (because I wanted to use my moon clock and I had moon and star themed bedding).