The Art of the Decorative Interior

Scenes from Stephen Spera's PICTUS...decorative painting

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A.D.100 GREAT SAMUEL BOTERO AND PICTUS HAVE A LONG, WILD HISTORY. WE’VE DONE SOME OF NYC’s TOP RESTAURANTS AND RESIDENCES, AND MANY CLIENTS HAVE SECOND HOMES- THIS IS ‘BULL HILL FARM’, THE ESTATE OF OUR CLIENTS FROM PARK AVENUE. PICTUS DID THE ENTIRE PLACE- FROM THE MILKPAINT WALLS TO MANY ODD VENETIAN PLASTER TECHNIQUES- MUCH PAINT, EVEN A FEW FAUX ‘RUGS’ LIKE THE ABOVE, AND THE CEILINGS, WHICH WERE MADE IN THE TECHNIQUES AVAILABLE AT THE TIME OF THE BUILDINGS’ CREATION- USING ASH, MILK, CALCIUM- WE KEPT IT IN THE VERNACULAR MOST SUITED TO ITS ANCIENT ORIGINS. WE EVEN DID A  BAR WITH OLD WOODCUTS MADE INTO SILKSCREENS, AND LOTS OF NAIVE WOODWORK…I HOPE TO FIND SHOTS OF THE MANY OTHER SPACE IN THIS MAGNIFICENT DWELING………

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SO, WE JUST RE-DID THE FLOORS AT THE WORLD-RENOWNED WHITTEMORE HOUSE SALON. WE HAVE DONE EVERY INCH OF THE PLACE, FROM CONCEPTION TO TODAY .....THE FLOORS, LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE IN THE SALON, ARE A PAINTING- A CREATION NOW INSTALLED BENEATH ONE’S FEET....LOTS OF LITTLE SURPRISES THROUGHOUT.......

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A fantastic compete Townhouse renovation in Brooklyn. Pictus is doing lots of subtle Venetian Plaster....My partner in PIctus, John Bean, has been doing this amazing and complex work, with his assistants. It’s unusual in a few ways- especially as we had to go around soft edges-meeting multiple planes, as well as a ceiling, which is unusual in Polished Plaster finishes.....

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So, Golden, the great artists paint company, has created some incredible new finish materials- and I mean NEW.....I was invited to view a pile of these at Janovic in Soho, NY. And now, PICTUS has done a few projects using these revolutionary materials....there will hopefully be more pics up here soon....and,unfortunately, Golden doesn't yet mention many of these new materials on their site ! I trust this will change soon, and a new area of decorative painting will open up.......

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So, finally a moment to post- Working with a pile of new materials, which is as exciting as it gets for me....this finish has for its heavily textured base, glass beads ! The are in an acrylic suspension- I did a room with them, then proceeded to layer over venetian plaster, metallic paste materials, and more....it’s quite deep, and a new way to look at decorative finishes...

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These days, Pictus  generally works in worn, weathered surfaces, with forays into mural and fantasy- some enlightened clients, tho, encourage a playful, artistic approach....and as this house began that way ( Pictus has done this residence for almost twenty years! ) - it continues still. My only worry, and its been voiced by my clients- I seem to be running out of wallspace!...The latest-a tapestry.....

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Working in a fast and furious environment- in this case, a construction site, we don't get photographs of a lot of our work ! The upstairs walls in this penthouse were of a dusty, dead-flat style of Venetian Plaster. Paired with the odd stone slabs, it is a grand and inviting stop enroute to the sundeck....

[stephensperadecorative]

I get a lot of press - and for varied projects...whether a new restaurant, or an old castle- in this case the ongoing design of Greenwich Village’s Whittemore House Salon keeps me busy- ( speaking of old castles)...and we are going on seven years...

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There are many varieties of Venetian Plaster - and of course we’ve done them all....but a favourite of mine is the finishes that are basically, ‘paintings’ - showing the hand of the artist- and the artist’s years of mastery of this ancient art....

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From my recent show, “The Delirious Precision of Dreams” at soAm gallery in Brooklyn. These are some of the Bookworks ...all images were created by me using computer algorithms, blending many layers from old tintype portraits into new beings ...then the transfer processes creates scores of aleatory rebirths...

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So, I am so busy with many things, and was recently offered a new show- so here is opening, which is days away....someday I’ll sleep.....ps. here is the FB link, https://www.facebook.com/events/495052780669687/

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More from the meditative spaces, Upper West Side, NYC....

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A new project- graded walls...My client wanted a meditative, serene space, and liked the idea of the gradation...the rear wall has, as final coat, a transparent gold glaze. The walls are a bit more painterly and dramatic, but appear smoother in this shot. Nevertheless, the effect is meditative, calming -and what was needed to pull the space together...

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As in many of my larger projects, One part of a design leads into others...A few businesses I’ve done began as an Interior project, then expanded to Graphics, Collateral, Branding. The Whittemore House was a big one, and is an ongoing concern. I recently discovered many shots of the menus I did for Coppelia Restaurant online, to my surprise. I began my association with them by providing finishes and installations for Martin Heinz, whose masterful use of any space’s architecture has gotten some of my favorite projects to a brilliant conclusion...And the fresh approach to Cuban food is not to be missed...chef Julian Medina is one of New York’s greats.

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We make many variations on the Painted Screen at Pictus. Many have been painted on heavy wood and hinged with piano hinge, which makes them feel monumental. Some are light, and some architectural- with relief elements on them, etc....these are for a client who needed a very specific set, for a very specific area - both screens are double-sided, of course.

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A bath in an apartment, Upper East side, NYC. In the other rooms, this basic grid was “filled in” with various patterns from Moroccan, etc. sources....in this bathroom I left the basic underpainting, then changed it into the “watercolour” version...I had Turner and Delacroix on my mind for sure.....

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Four prints, for a client. These are one of a kind silver prints ( real photographs ) done in a darkroom....