 | Pink OrchidThis flower was painted for an adopted Chinese daughter. In the Chinese culture, orchids are good luck, but they are a beautiful addition for any reason.
|
In the Chinese culture, orchids are symbols of
good luck. For one of
my
clients who adopted a daughter from China we were looking for ways to
decorate
the nursery, incorporating the baby's Chinese heritage, while keeping
the room
feminine and soft. We chose the pink orchid and bamboo stalks because
they
would continue to be appropriate as their daughter grew up- not too
childish
for a ten or twelve year old.The orchid design came directly from a
book about
flowers, I just changed the colors to soft pinks. The pot design was
adapted
from a picture of a pot I found in stencil catalog. The design was
painted
directly on the wall using water-based acrylic craft paints. I chose to
put it
directly above the heating vent because it seemed like a natural little
"shelf"
space, and I knew it wouldn't disrupt furniture placement. I wanted the
orchid
to be low on the wall so it would be eye level for the crawling baby or
toddler.
Bamboo stalks were also painted around the room to
balance the
design-
creating height and a vertical element. The bamboo was done in lightly
metallic
greens and browns, giving it a lovely shimmer, making it more
three-dimensional. I decided not to add shadows to the bamboo stalks
because the metallic effect made the design complex enough- shadows
would only
have made the design too busy.
There are also several lady bugs sprinkled around
the room, as they
are also
a symbol of luck in China, and they are very little-girly! The client
was lucky
to find an old chest of drawers that had bamboo details at a used
furniture
store . It was refinished, painted with a cream -colored pearlized
paint, and
the bamboo accents were painted to match the bamboo stalks on the
walls. Finally, dragonfly accents were added to the
chest
and in several places on the walls- they just seemed to work, and the
client
loves dragonflies.