Lisa will setup a site visit with you and come to your New England-area* home. She will take measurements and photographs of the prospective mural room(s) and discuss with you the theme of your mural, the elements requested (historical buildings, specific animals, ships, trees and plants, etc.). Within a few weeks, Lisa will create a painted sketch (on canvas) of your mural. With this sketch, she is able to transpose the scene to the photos of the room, allowing you to see exactly what your mural will look like on your wall. At this point you can suggest changes to the scenes and double check the measurements.

Over the next several months Lisa will paint the murals on canvas in her studio. Unlike her relative, Rufus Porter, she will not be underfoot in your home! Lisa uses a wet on wet techniques (very similar to watercolors) to create very soft skies and backgrounds. These are applied while the canvas is lying flat- impossible to do vertically on the wall! When the mural is complete it is rolled and shipped to your home. A professional wallpaper hanger will apply the mural using heavy wallpaper adhesive. The finished product looks like it has been painted directly on the wall and the bonus is if you move to a different house you can take the mural with you and hang it again!

Call the studio to discuss pricing and to set up a site review.

To see more mural images and folk art, go to Canvasworks’ sister site http://currymairdesigns.com.

*If you live outside of the New England area, the site review can be done by Skype. Lisa will walk you through the measuring and photographing process.

This is a detail of the sketch of the soon-to-be-completed mural:

Also new to this show are printed canvas floorcloths. These are made using my own designs printed on canvas, backed with heavyweight canvas, and finished with several layers of top coat for years of wear. The advantage to you is the dollars you’ll save. Same great designs; much lower price. Of course I’m still focusing on custom designs- both floorcloths and folk art. Stop by the booth to talk with me about what you’re dreaming of for your home.

I will also be raffling off a 2′X3′ Wreath Floorcloth at the show. Be sure to enter your name at my booth.

For more info about the show go directly to this link. They even have a $1.00 off coupon available to you.

For a little bit of fun I came up with a new design which I took to show in Pennsylvania in February. It kind of looks like iron scrollwork with some interesting folk art flowers scattered around. 

After that we sent out our 1st museum piece of the year for the Darnell’s Chance Museum in Maryland. This is the museum’s 3rd floor cloth project that I’ve worked on with them. This one was 9.5′ x 9.5′ and used one of the Carwitham designs to create a really interesting pattern for a reproduction dining room.
In March we worked on a large basic checks piece for Clemson University in South Carolina. They chose a bold green color and a Greek key for the border motif.

One of my favorite customers ordered a basic design with a new-for-me stencil motif for the border. This is called the Jayne House Stencil based on a stencil which I found in an historical stencil book. The Dorset gold background was dragged with the darker gold to give an aged effect. I will definitely be adding this one to my portfolio !

In April we started working on a long hallway runner for the Hunter Dawson Museum in Missouri. They were replacing an existing floorcloth which was in very bad wear and had been made using extremely lightweight canvas. After sending samples of painted canvas in our heavy weight they agreed that a new Canvasworks floorcloth would probably hold up much better. They chose yet another Carwitham design with soft blue marbling. The end result made for quite a striking makeover in this public museum.

I had barely sent out the Hunter Dawson floor cloth when I received word that we got the job for the Allegheny Portage Railroad Museum floorcloth reconstruction project. For this project I had to go to Pennsylvania to measure the long hallway and double dining room before I could determine exact specifications for the floorcloths which would replace those that were made in the 80s and had been mis-measured. Imagine my anxiety as I scratched my head trying to figure out where the last person had gone wrong in their measuring!

We hired another pair of part-time hands and went to work producing a 9.5′ x 40′ hallway floor cloth and two 20′ x 20′ floor cloths which connected in the center of the very large dining room. Somewhere around the middle of July I realized that my shop is not a full 20 feet wide, but 19 1/2 feet wide which made life pretty interesting! By the beginning of August 3 large pieces and all the canvas underlayment was loaded up and sent off to the national historic site. Two days later I arrived to install the whole thing. To my great relief all 3 pieces fit perfectly. The museum staff seemed pretty happy with the results.

When I returned from Pennsylvania we immediately went away on vacation to Prince Edward Island. As we were driving home on August 26 we were hearing warnings about a potential storm heading towards Vermont. On August 28 tropical storm Irene hit Vermont. My home, studio and immediate surroundings were not harmed but the rest of the state did not fare so well. My second home during the summer is the Green Mountain Horse Association in South Woodstock. My daughter and I compete our horses there almost every weekend throughout the summer. About 40 acres of GMHA’s grounds were completely underwater. Equipment was lost, stables were ruined, and when the waters subsided all that was left was mud and debris.The place was devastated. Most of the horse people I know were devastated by the loss. In selfish mode and in an effort to make myself feel better I painted a scene of GMHA as it should be, with horses and trees and sunny skies. I offered the painting to GMHA as a potential way for them to raise some money. The response has been phenomenal. People from all over the country are buying copies of the poster with 100% of the proceeds going to GMHA’s restoration. I send out a great big thank you to everyone who has supported this cause.

In the Summer and fall we worked on some interesting new pieces. I made an acanthus scroll floor cloth for a showhouse right up the road in Windsor , VT, a Celtic knot floorcloth for a home in Massachusetts, a stamped flower with cranberries floorcloth for a home in New Hampshire, a whole series of artichoke-inspired floor cloths for a home in Virginia and a tumbling block runner for a decorator in Tennessee. All in all, we made over 100 customized floorcloths this year!

Right now there are 4 floor cloths on the worktable, 8 out in the gallery waiting to be painted, and a few orders that just came in that we haven’t started.

2012 promises to be a busy year!

You spend the morning (or the afternoon) with artist, Lisa Curry Mair, touring the 200 year old farmhouse and studio, learning about floorcloths and folk art, nibbling on fresh baked scones, and taking a break by the cozy woodstove.

Lisa will take this time to learn about you, your home and your dreams of a floorcloth, mural or customized folk art. Each piece she makes is uniquely created just for you, and this is how she creates the best ones; by understanding you and your visions.

From there you go on to check in at the amazing Weathersfield Inn. You enjoy an elegant dinner and relax in one of the 12 fantastic rooms. Sound good so far?

The next day, drop back in to the studio to see what design(s) Lisa has created for you while you were enjoying yourself at the Inn. As you head home, you’ll feel confident knowing that the piece which will be painted for you will fit perfectly in your home and will become a family heirloom.

Here’s how it works:

Purchase the Canvasworks Private Consultation and Tour.

For $75 you get the following:

1. A morning or afternoon with Lisa Curry Mair

* Learning about floorcloths, folk art, and the history of Canvasworks and the 200 year old home.

* Talking about your dream floorcloth or folk art project (by all means, bring photos!).

* Touring the 3 studio spaces, gallery and home.

* Enjoying complimentary tea or coffee and fresh baked scones.

2. A FREE Canvasworks Colors Swatch Kit ($25 value) will be mailed to you prior to your arrival.

3. Lisa will create a complimentary layout or sketch of your proposed project within 24 hours of your visit.

4. A coupon for $100 off your first floorcloth, mural or original folk art project valued at more than $1000.

5. 10% off your stay at the Inn at Weathersfield! (Sunday-Thursday, non-holiday)

When you order this you will be sent a box complete with all the coupons, brochures, ordering info, and a color Swatch Kit .

I will call you to set up a date for you to come for your visit. You will need to make your own Inn reservations as well.

Click here to go to the Order Page.

Many of you have asked me to make these pieces of art available to hang on the wall, so here they are. I love painting these quiet, peaceful images- some of times gone by and some of the way I wish things could be, every day. Funny thing, horses seem to make their way into most of my non-floorcloth paintings (and they quite often find their way into floorcloth paintings as well)! When it’s not about horses, it’s about trees and mountains, old barns, houses and stone walls. There’s a little bit of whimsy in there too- animals interacting or just sitting there looking interesting.

I would love to hear your feedback on this new venture. Currently, we don’t have ordering buttons set up, but they’ll be coming soon. Meanwhile, if you’d like to purchase a print please give me a call or drop me an email and I’ll be happy to fill you in on all the details.

I will be introducing these originals, prints, cards and posters at a Wine and Cheese Reception, here at the studio on October 21 st from 5pm to 8pm. Please come and bring friends!

Our property pulled through amazingly well. We are feeling extremely lucky right now. We have a beautiful covered bridge about 1/4 of a mile from our house which usually has a little brook trickling under it. On Sunday the swirling water rose to within inches of the bridge, but didn’t cause it any harm.

Unfortunately, the rest of our town didn’t fair so well. Our Post Office is stranded- all roads in and out are washed away. If you try to get here from the Woodstock area, the only option is to go WAY around. If you were planning to come to the Studio any time soon, please give me a call first and I can try to guide you to the best route.

Please be patient if you have ordered from us recently. I am checking today to see if FedEx is picking up for the Post Office, and I’m hoping orders can still go out that way. Please do not mail anything to Canvasworks by USPS. It will be held in our local distribution facility until the roads are repaired!

Vermonters are tough souls- we’ll pull through- but it sure is hard to see so many homes, farms, historic properties and businesses destroyed.

We started work on these in June, using over 1200 square feet of heavyweight #4 canvas. The floorcloths which were being replaced were made in the 1990s, using lighter weight canvas and paints which cracked and peeled over this relatively short time. We used a marine-grade exterior acrylic paint and clear coat finish which will be much more suited to withstand museum traffic. The canvas we used is 10 feet wide so there was no seam in the hallway piece and only one center seam in each of the 20-foot square dining room rugs. The seams on the old floorcloths were made by doubling the two edges and sewing. This created a ridge which caused foot-scuffers to create premature wear by rubbing off the painted surface, exposing the raw canvas. The new floorcloths have butted seams which lie perfectly flat and give no raised edge to cause wear. In the dining room the two floorcloths are joined across the room where they are butted together (cut to match) and tacked with cut black steel tacks at 1″ intervals all the way across, on both sides of the seam. Again, no raised edges!

Can you find the seams in this photo?

There is a 1/4 round toe kick which was removed from both areas prior to the floorcloths being installed. When these are replaced and the furniture is brought back in, everything will look much tidier. But for now my work here is done!

A special shout goes out to Nancy for letting me stay after hours and for letting me back in early; to Betty who helped me unpack those very heavy tubes and to the two guys (I didn’t catch their names) who took a break from building a fence so they could help me move these babies around. Also big thanks to Theresa who stayed back at the studio and continued to shrink, prime, sew and paint even more projects, and to Bart and Lauren who held down the fort and cared for my critters!

I put together a little slide show so you can see more photos:

For more info about this park go to www.nps.gov/alpo

Canvasworks will be CLOSED the week of August 21- 28. I am NOT going to lift, paint or move ANY canvas during that time!!!

I sat down and tallied all of the work we’ve done on this project. I measured the space at the museum on May 31st and June 1st, and since then we have put a total of 295 man hours into fabricating these huge pieces!

On Monday I head to Gallitzin, Pennsylvania to install these guys. It’s a full day of travel for me there and back and 3 days to install. I will be sure to post photos when all my work is complete. After this we have another museum hallway floorcloth on the schedule!

If you’d like to read about the other museums where we have floorcloths, go to http://canvasworksfloorcloths.com/about/floorclothsthen-and-now/

This piece is 40 feet long and 10 feet wide, painted on heavyweight Number 4 canvas. With all that paint, the bolt weighs about 200 pounds! Not an easy thing to maneuver! The studio table is 12′ X 16′, so we rolled it and worked on 16 feet of length at a time. When it came time to move it to the shop for the clear coat finishing, we had to use a carpet dolly.

Once over at the shop, we unrolled it and I applied all of the coats of Sher Clear. This is a real back-breaker. I apply all of my clear coats with a brush so no bubbles occur. That means standing, kneeling or crawling over the entire 400 sq. ft. surface for a period of about 2 hours for each coat. I allow 24 hours of dry time (and recovery time for my back!) between coats. It makes for a LONG week!

I keep thin plastic over the surface to protect it from damage and lint and to allow me to walk over it. We’re almost finished with the second piece. It is 20′ by 20′ and is solid black and off-white squares (instead of diamonds). It was painted as 2 10′ X 20′ pieces which have been spliced together.

When we have finished that one, we do it again for the second half of the dining room!

If you are interested in learning how to make a floorcloth, there’s still room in the Rufus Porter Museum’s floorcloth class which I’ll be teaching in a couple of weeks. This will be my third year teaching there. It’s a great little town and the class is a lot of fun. Each student paints a Rufus Porter landscape on a 2′ X 3′ floorcloth. Go to this link for more information on that.

Yesterday I proceeded to paint the “marble” on the diamonds which will remain light. This process is a three-stepper- wet the canvas with a base coat, drop the lighter gray in and pounce it out, then finally drop a fine line of darker “veining” gray. To do the entire floorcloth took about 8 hours. My hands are a mess. the whole canvas weighs about 100 pounds. It’s on a roll and every time I need to move it, I had to get my hands under the middle of the roll and pull the whole thing toward me. My knuckles were pressed between the roll and the canvas!

Today a new pair of hands joined us to help get this project completed on time. Jennifer just graduated from Dartmouth College on Sunday with a degree in Studio Art! We welcome her aboard! She and Theresa have been painting black diamonds ALL day. Fun!