Craftsman bungalow across the street

This was the one that gave me the confidence to keep going.

Up until this house, I had only practiced on my own and worked through a few test pieces. This was the first painting I made for somebody else. Nicki and Andrew are close friends who live directly across the street from me, so their house naturally became my muse.

I actually painted several versions of it that I didn't love. I ended up starting over until I got to one that felt right. As I worked through those drafts, I shared each version with them along the way. Because they are such supportive friends, they loved seeing every step of the process and cheered me on the whole time.

The interesting thing about painting a house a second or third time is how quickly you get to know it. You start to understand the lines, the weight of the structure, and what works on paper versus what doesn't.

Since starting this work, that same habit has changed how I look at the whole neighborhood. I spend so much time with each house that I've started noticing the patterns connecting them — common trim colors, shared rooflines, and architectural details that neighbors borrowed from one another, or maybe came from the same builders a century ago. You can spot where an open porch was later screened in, or where an addition was tacked onto the back. Getting to know these houses that intimately has become one of my favorite parts of the process.

Seeing Nicki and Andrew's excitement when the final piece was done was what really opened up my interest in doing this for other people. It got neighbors excited about the work, too, and gave me the push to start taking commissions.