An effective design for the frieze of a dining room, whose walls and ceiling are

of a light soft red inclining to a creamy red, is a decoratively drawn grapevine

with life-sized branches, stems, leaves and grape clusters. The room referred to

was colored with powder colors mixed with a very thin paste. The colors employed

formed, for the leaves, soft browns and yellows with touches of dull red, reddish

brown for branches and stems, and soft reds for the fruit clusters. Some leaves

show yellow-greens, as seen in the autumnal coloring of the vine. The treatment

is decorative, hence the fruit is not colored to imitate nature, nor are the

leaves, except insofar as the autumnal colorings harmonize with the gray ground

of the frieze, and the soft yellowish old-red of the walls. The characteristics

of the grape vine are retained, but the vine is arranged to conform to the limits

of the frieze space and the octagonal shape of the room.

A departure from the strictly conventional is made in this special room to meet a

special need, namely, to conceal a large water stain on the ceiling at one end of

the room. Here the vine is carried up from the frieze to spread over the large

stained area in a mass of foliage and stems, and as the coloring of the leaves

and vine are soft, and blend harmoniously with the ceiling color, the effect is

pleasant and artistic.

The colors for painting the frieze are the ordinary powder colors such as the one

you can buy in a paint shop, Spanish-brown, Indian-red, yellow-ochre and

ultramarine-blue. The medium for their mixing is a thin gum-arabic solution, in

which they must be ground patiently with a palette knife until they are very

smooth indeed. An excellent way, however, to grind them well is to put the

colors and gum in a porcelain mortar and pestle, working it in the mortar with a

circular motion.

To test the color dab some on a piece of stout, white paper and dry it. If on

rubbing the dried colored surface with the finger the colors come off, there

isn't enough medium, so you must add more gum-arabic solution. If the color

flakes off in patches, there is too little color and too much gum. By drying the

color one can also test whether it is too light, too dark, the color you desire

or something unsuitable for your purpose.

Originally published in a Ladies magazine 1892