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Rug Design: Palm Fronds

Palm Fronds Rug Design

Palm Fronds a Swayin’ …on a Canvas Rug

Palm fronds swaying in the ocean breeze is an image that invokes the true feeling of the tropics. No wonder it is such a popular design with interior designers in Costa Rica. Casa del Pacifico, a design company in Costa Rica approached me with an interior design request for a canvas rug on a project nearing completion. Sheila sent me a photo of a rug that had caught her designer’s eye and wondered, can we do something like this?

The border had a palm frond design and the center was that of a natural fiber rug. Because Costa Rica’s southern zone experiences rain all year round and for those living at or close to beach, natural fibers have a hard time standing up to the humidity, sand, mud and dust. For this reason we have been working with techniques to replicate the look of natural fibers; I was so pleased to have samples of our jute stamp that mimics beautifully the subtle tones for the custom rug she was looking to have me create.

Design Process: Go!

I was able to locate the materials to be used on the furniture and matched up exactly the pumpkin orange and dusky olive green with my paint swatch kit to insure that the rug coordinated with the interior details. The border was just a tone darker than the material on the couch, the center of soft beige tones.  Sheila wanted the palm fronds design to be painted within the pumpkin orange color.  I suggested a simple inner border to incorporate the green.

When it was time to apply the palm frond design I considered making a stamp but I have been painting palm fronds for over 30 years. After the first palm frond my hands and brush were flowing and the design emerged beautifully, palm frond by palm frond.

When I am working on a new project I can hardly wait to see it finished. It is hard to close the door on the day’s work; next day I’m into the workshop with my morning cup of coffee!

Oh, the Joy…

Oh, the joy of Painting Rugs!

After the varnished had cured I delivered the 8 foot x 8.5 foot canvas rug to the house site for installation. It gave me an opportunity to take in some surf, do the installation myself and make sure Sheila understood how to install and maintain the canvas rug.

At the end of the project, Sheila sent an email: “I wanted to let you know the clients loved the rug! They were so pleased with the results of the project and especially the [palm fronds] rug. I wanted to thank you again for your efforts to create such a wonderful piece to blend with the layout and colors as well as for delivering it for us. I really appreciate it. I look forward to the next ones.“

And so do I, Shelia! It was a great project to be part of.

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