Spotted in the New York Times’ The Lives They Lived are the private spaces of 10 notable people who passed away in 2016, photographed by the great Mitch Epstein (whose book New York Arbor is one of our most treasured). We were instantly taken with the serene Tribeca loft of Venezuelan-American artist Marisol, whose sculpture that fused “Pop Art vibrancy and folk-art intimacy, made her a one-name celebrity in the 1960s art world”. She cryptically told the critic Brian O’Doherty in The Times in 1964, “When I don’t think, all sorts of things come to me.”
Looking closely, the jazzy black-and-white checkerboard “rug” that defines the room appears to be glued down sheet linoleum that was popular decades ago. But it reminded us the painted canvas floor cloths we’ve admired in several homes we’ve visited over the years.
Floor clothes are remarkably durable, and great for messy floor areas like kitchens and entranceways because you just wipe them off.
The method is straightforward: Heavy canvas is primed like a painting with Gesso (though you can buy canvas pre-primed and ready-to-go), to make a palette for your design, which you paint with liquid acrylic paint. When dry, you varnish it to protect the finish.
We’ve found good tutorials at Remodelista, Design Sponge and Martha Stewart Living.
The design potential is enormous. Although stencils and Swedish-style stripes are lovely, we’re thinking…
…”faux” optical illusion rugs a la Paola Navone
…Pollock-Esque paint splatters…
…and Dalmation spots…
…ball point pen lines, like Alissia Melka-Teichroew’s inspired wallpaper…
