Open studio, chalk TV, new trompe l'oeil.

1. Finishing School open studios & press release: The San Diego Finishing School is now open for business with the site "finalized" and the space set up for work. Starting next week, I will have the studio open to anyone interested in "accelerated artist development" or my work creating custom murals and one-of-a kind painted ("faux") finishes. Currently, I've scheduled: Thursday Oct 5 and Friday Oct 6, from 3-7pm; Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday Oct 10, 11 & 12 from 2-5pm; and Saturday, Oct 14 from 2-7pm. I will have many production samples from past mural and finish jobs, as well as some original paintings displayed throughout, and I'll be working on the panels for the weekend (see below). Everyone is welcome (I'll have wine in the evenings), but if you would like to discuss a specific project or course of study in detail, please let me know ahead of time so I can comfortably accomodate everyone. Currently, I can also schedule individual appointments at other times through October 14, but after that its looking like i'll be booked through to the holidays. Now's your chance. If you aren't familiar with my latest project, please visit the San Diego Finishing School. Click here to check out the press release. 2. Chalk TV & corrections: The open studio times fit around my recently scheduled apearances on local TV to support this years' street painting festival at the annual Festa in Little Italy. (I will be preparing my contribution as this years' featured artist during open studio times.) Appearances are: KUSI (ch 9) morning segment 7.30-9.30am Tuesday October 3 FOX (ch 6)morning segment 7.30-9.30am Thursday October 5 NBC (ch 7) morning sements 6.30 and 9.00am Friday October 6 and I will try to get a clip edited for the website. I will be working up a sample board in chalk to develop over the four segments and help demonstrate what it is we're doing. Also on chalk: I need to correct info in last update about this year's Festa: the new name is Corso Degli Artisti, and the dates are Saturday Oct 7 & Sunday Oct 8. I hope you can come down to see me and over a hundred more talented artists and sample the food, music and fabulous atmosphere of Little Italy. Click here to see my past years' street paintings. 3. New trompe l'oeil mural Here's a picture from the trompe l'oeil project I just completed for my good friend Gloria Paris here in San Diego. All the pix from this trompe l'oeil project (and a couple of other new ones) will be up soon on www.john-scenic.com

Why a blog about murals and faux finishes?

Recently I've been getting so many questions about the process of creating custom handpainted murals and unique faux finishes, the costs and time involved, my current schedule, etc, especially now that I've launched my new project, the San Diego Finishing School. I'm seeing this blog as a quicker, more interactive response mechanism than email and constant manual site updates. I want to develop accessible and complete answers to the most frequent questions and also be able to respond fully and quickly to individual inquiries. Just so its really clear, the main concept of the school is adapted from the main concept of my business painting custom murals and other customized artwork: instead of "creating the art you want" (the tagline for my online portfolio) the mission of the Finishing School could be "creating the art education you want", if I had written it in the same format. Having studied art in several places & formats in my career, I've been often disappointed when it seems like the the teacher is teaching to the middle of the class, or to a general level of proficiency rather than to excellence and those who want to excel. I have always wanted to attend a school tailored specifically to my goals, and take classes that build on my existing knowledge without the inevitable redundancy of a general lesson plan prepared on a topic rather than prepared for me. In the last couple years I have had a number of requests to teach a seminar on what I do or allow someone to apprentice on one of my jobs. So instead of finding that ideal school to attend, I've established the San Diego Finishing School to share what I've learned, and how I've learned it, in a way each student can best learn it, regardless of past experience and skill level. I work with other contractors wanting to improve their skills, but you don't have to have any artistic experience at all to thrive at the San Diego Finishing School, just the desire to learn, time and money to invest, and the courage to bring your full energies and intention to developing your artistic skills with my guidance. In the same way I customize every painting project to the goals and expressed desires of my client, so I customize every session to the goals of my students. This process of personal artistic growth requires a mental investment (its not always so easy to decide exactly what you want), but its an investment that has repaid me a thousand-fold every time I've made it. My professional goals as contractor and teacher are ultimately one: to facilitate this kind of intensely satisfying and rewarding artistic experience for my clients, and bring them large personal returns on the investments they make in themselves.