Trompe L'oeil
& Experiments with Temporary Kitchens
I have always been intrigued by trompe l’oeil, a style of painting where the subject is painted with such realism that it tricks the eye into almost believing it’s real.
It first started in middle school, when I saw an article in a magazine of a 16-yr-old artist from Bellingham, WA who had painted her room. She painted a vineyard all over her walls and ceiling, and I instantly thought - I have to try this. I still have the clipping saved.
I wasn’t bold enough to paint my walls, but there was a summer camp program a few years later in high school that supposedly taught this. I ended up painting a very large trippy tree on a canvas, and while not realistic, it did set the stage for wanting to paint big.
Years later, while finding inspiration images for the interiors of my house design, I came upon the Oak Spring Garden Virginia estate of Bunny Mellon.
Very close to where I grew up, I had an instant connection to this place and these paintings. I highly recommend books on her style and her gardens (which I’m sure I’ll return to as inspiration in this Substack), but here I especially recommend the book on the trompe l’oeil paintings she had commissioned, which you can buy here.
And so we continue into my first real attempts at painting in this style. Firstly, it is important to note that I am going through a severe renovation of my home, which has so far been going on for 4 years. Secondly, I am choosing to experiment with spaces that will later be demolished, and the kitchen is the last (and probably most expensive) project on the list. Here is what it looked like when we moved in:
There is a lot left to be desired here, but I decided to paint the cabinets to see if I could improve it any. I like a French country kitchen look, so decided to paint the upper flat panels in a more colonial, traditional style.
Here is a closer view of the cabinets:
Future iterations of this might include adding white ceramic tile countertops and curtains to hide the dishwasher and lower cabinets. Something along these lines:
Let me know what you think!
Greenhouse paintings by French artist Fernand Renard, photos from Sotheby’s courtesy of this article by Gardenista.
Photography by Michael Dunne in Architectural Digest: A Look at Bunny Mellon’s Gardens and Homes Sourced from Her Archives.