Dry-aged fish

I started Theodora tasked with just the barrel and main dining walls. But the original contractor couldn’t meet the demands of making the bridging areas cohesive. Thus my workload doubled and I had to engage a couple of old tricks to make the colors in the back of the restaurant flow into the front. Plus the idea of adding more plaster to the bathrooms, halls and ceilings was out of question because massive delays created a budget deficit. So we went old school and patinated the walls with a glaze to make everything cohesive. With all the setbacks, in order to make this space gorgeous the clients entrusted, the designers collaborated and the decorative painter (me) executed.

“The concept here is dry-aged fish,” the client told me. So, dry-aged walls (to go with amazing sconces made by other artisans.)

Making nooks cozy with patinas.

I refused for years to do any type of hand pulled plaster and the idea of starting on an overhead barrel made it even more harrowing. I warned, “If I’m going to do this then it’s going to be my style. Fucked-up dried-up beading!”