Thursday, May 29, 2008

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     From the master bedroom of a Long Point home, glass windows give way to an unobstructed view of the Wilmington River.  The colors of the brown grassy waterway and clear, blue skies are carried into the master suite.  "With paint, I created a denim look on the walls," said artist Kenneth Heaton, owner of Art Co. in Savannah.  While the paint does not call up images of Levi Strauss, the treatment does look a lot like a soft, light blue linen covering the walls.  Heaton treated the entire room as his canvas. 

     Down the hall on the home's living room fireplace, Heaton applied three types of faux finishes.  One treatment mimics the appearance of stone around the hearth.  Other paint resembles the wood of the mantle and still the base is another treatment made to look like a marble step leading up to the fireplace.  "Many, many layers," revealed Heaton.  To get the effect of stone and marble, the artist said he had to paint forty layers.  "A lot of time standing back making sure everything was right," continued Heaton. 

     The paint on the fireplace spared the homeowners from having to gut the fireplace to get the look they wanted.  The artwork can also be easily changed.  "You can always paint over it," said Heaton.  "If it's a piece of stone you invested thousands of dollars on, I think it'd be staying there." 

     Of all the rooms Kenneth Heaton painted in the Long Point residence, he said the work that is in the wet bar gets the most attention. "The client wanted a one of a kind mural in this area," said Heaton pointing to a space 3-feet by 4-feet in size.  After Heaton completed the work, he said the homeowners got compliments from guests.  "The homeowners tell me that they and their guests stand around the wet bar and have an open discussion about the art."  On a flat wall, Heaton managed to paint what looks like a three-dimensional urn and champagne flutes sitting atop a ledge. 

     The cost varies for custom-painted murals.  Heaton did the Grecian-inspired urn mural for $1,200.  A painter since four-years-old, Heaton treated the mural like any other painting only the canvas was fixed in place.  "Basically use warm and cool colors," explained Heaton.  "The warm colors push forward, while the cool colors push back and the sharper the edge, the more forward it comes."

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