9-12-08 hurley 3.jpgWe immediately fell in love with this beautiful frieze, located in the home of Melody and Steve Von Ruden. Though the Von Rudens get to enjoy it every day, it was originally commissioned by the home's previous owner, who loved the woods and "wanted a 42-inch-tall hand-painted frieze that would evoke a highly stylized Pacific Northwest landscape, much like the pine-scented forest that surrounded his boyhood home."

9-12-08 hurley 1.jpgIn this frieze, conifers form the crux of the landscape, while leafy deciduous trees create arbor-like gateways at each entrance to the dining room, and the roots are connected by Celtic knot formations. Smaller flowering elements represent the understory, while the deep-blue background evokes the forest sky at night.

The custom work was completed by CJ Hurley Century Arts, which specializes in the 1850-1950 era and takes inspiration from artists and architects like Louis Comfort Tiffany and Frank Lloyd Wright. According to the article, Hurley shuns stencils and instead creates everything freehand, using an adapted medieval paint. Each of his frieze designs is original: He doesn't do repeats.

• Hand-painted Frieze Summons Up a Forest - OregonLive

Images: Marv Bondarowicz