When the Designer Becomes the Muse
When the Designer Becomes the Muse
Many of my favorite projects have begun with an interior designer’s vision.
One of the things I love most about working with interior designers is stepping into a story that has already started to unfold. There is a space, a color palette, a point of view, and an understanding of how the room should feel. As the muralist, I get to enter that world and explore what I can bring to it through paint.
Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to collaborate with incredibly talented interior designers on homes and spaces throughout Los Angeles and beyond. No two projects have ever been the same, and that is exactly what keeps the work so interesting.
A designer may come to me with a beautifully developed room, a collection of fabrics, a wallpaper reference, a piece of art, or a daring idea they have been carrying around. Sometimes the direction is very specific. Other times it begins with a feeling or a handful of references, and we build from there.
Richards Interiors
I actually love having those guidelines to work within because they give my creativity a clear focus. Having a color palette and design direction already established doesn’t limit the process. For me, it does the opposite. It gives me a world to explore. I can look at the architecture, furnishings, textiles, light, and character of the space and begin imagining what the artwork can add without competing with everything around it.
Diann Valentine
That collaboration often takes my work in a direction I may not have explored on my own.
Every project begins with custom renderings and sketches. Painted samples can also be created when a client wants to further explore the mural and colors before painting begins on site. From there, we adjust scale, color, composition, and detail until the mural feels just right.
Eureka Restaurant Group
Looking back through these projects, I’m reminded of how much trust is involved in creative collaboration. A designer has spent months, sometimes years, shaping a space and then invites me into that process to leave my own mark on it. That is something I never take lightly.
I’m incredibly grateful to the designers who have trusted me over the years, challenged me creatively, and given me the freedom to explore within their vision.
New Port Design Group
For me, that’s what makes these collaborations so special: two creative perspectives coming together to create something neither of us would have imagined quite the same way on our own.
Nichole Blackburn, Celadon Studio
From my studio, with gratitude,
Nichole
