projects.

Driftless Project.

Drifltess Project.

Driftless Project.

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Fine Art Murals + Backdrops

Featured in:

OUR WORK.

Who we are : KT Arnesen and Ellie Grimm are a mother-daughter artist team based out of Madison, Wi. They paint Fine Art Murals and backdrops for events using natural elements and textile patterns to drive their designs.

What we do : Hand painted Murals and backdrops for events, weddings, and spaces. Commercial and residential.

Gallery

The comedic edit of part one of the mid-century prairie piece for the new Starkweather apartment building!

�🌿#hallwaymural #hallwaymakeover #mauve #muralpaintings #madisonwi

Made some progress this week on our piece at the new apartments Starkweather Place. It’s beautiful in there! We are so excited our work will be a part of the space.

@stonehousedevelopment

More process and details from the hallway makeover. When we first color-drenched the hall the horrible floors made the mauve look insane. It was very much a trust the process situation. But once the new floors were installed the color just popped. It is such a pretty color that transforms in different lighting.
Love how it turned out!

#colordrenching #hallwaymural #hallwaymakeover #mauve

Our latest project!

Mauve/ pink hallway: botanical designs with cranes

We love how this turned out. Such a transformation in the before and after. We will share that soon. But for now just enjoy the afters.

I love how the color changes in different lights, from light pink to mauve.

brushes and swatches, that is how we keep track of which colors we are using while we paint.

Sketch and the final piece. We always aim to create as closely to our proposal as we can and only make changes as we paint that are necessary to the success of the final piece.

The original moodboard and the final result. We wanted to go in more of a cozy woods direction to get more of the feel of the drifltess area.
Our final piece ended up being half inspired by Edouard Vuillard - Landscape: Window Overlooking the Woods

Ok let’s try that again…. Only half the video loaded last time 🙃

Spend the morning in the studio with me.

Everyday looks different and today was a computer and painting prep morning. I have developed a schedule for myself that I loosely stick to which I can share more about later if anyone is interested. I showed a bit of my computer work but a lot of my days look like this. I try to include activities that are more fun and also necessary into computer days to make it easier to get through. Today the fun activity was filming and stretching a canvas.

Tiny cats love their tiny slices of sunshine.

Spring flowers and Betty Buzz..⁣
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@bettybuzz

One of my favorite parts of having a mural is placing mirrors near the piece and having them reflect back. Its like having a framed painting across from the mural.⁣
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#muralart

Hi! Im Ellie and I paint murals in homes and businesses with my my KT. ⁣
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We are a mother/daughter artist team who create murals and backdrops for their company called Castle Place Designs. Based in Madison, Wisconsin, they paint landscapes referencing local terrain and incorporate nostalgic textiles to personalize their designs. Inspired by Victorian wall paintings and photography backdrops, Castle Place Designs paints interior spaces as well as backdrops on loose canvas for hanging. Photo credit: @brookehoffmanphoto

Similar to the blue dining room I mentioned in one of our recent posts, the mural in this space relates to and extends to other parts of the room...⁣
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The dark green that appears in the trees is repeated on the bead-board wall below and on the kitchen cabinets. In the mural that dark green color is also mixed with other colors to create texture so it make the work cohesive, not matchy.

Our client who commissioned this piece is a collector of all thing interesting. They go thrifting and antiquing all across Wisconsin, so even while we were painting this piece they were dreaming of all the unique ways they could style the mantle and the table near by.⁣
This is one of my favorite arrangements, with the blue and white plates and little oddities of the lake. ⁣
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You get to decide how your space feels and the more elements of your personality you bring to it the more you will love it in the end.

Lately Ive been starting to paint still lifes of our murals.⁣
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This photo looks like a painting already.⁣
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#muralart

Once these blue walls were painted in our clients home- the whole design came together. ⁣
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They used the same blue found in the sky in the mural we painted. It creates such a cohesive extension of the painting without having us paint the entire room (which would also look incredible btw).

We haven't posted this mural in a while and it is the one that started it all....⁣
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Our story✨⁣
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It started when I (Ellie) was getting painting commissioned oil paintings and really feeling like I was not finding my voice as an artist. My partner and I had just bought our first home and I decided that it was the perfect opportunity to paint something on my wall. ⁣
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Since it was going to be relatively permanent I figured I would have to paint something I liked... and that is all it took to push me out of my painting rut. ⁣
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I think the freedom to paint a large space and the slight pressure made me create something I loved. (And my husband loved it too.)⁣
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From there I decided that this is what I needed to do with my career. It was Jan 2021 and we were in a Pod with my mom who is an artist as well. We have always had a great time working creatively together and I could think of no better person to go into this business with.⁣
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We are living our dream job and its all thanks to this painting.⁣
#careergoals

@housebeautiful came out with a list of “Trends you will see everywhere in 2024 according to experts” and surprising murals were on there!
It’s not surprising that murals are still up and coming and people are thinking of more creative places to put them. Such as stairwells, alcoves and like we have done fireplace surrounds.

We do handpainted murals based out of the midwest(Wisconsin specifically) however we are available for travel. We paint organic/landscape pieces that often incorporate textile patterns.

Write to us if you are interested in a mural in your space!

Follow us on Pinterest for our work and other inspiration we are loving!

https://www.pinterest.com/Castleplacedesigns/_saved/

Backdrop from Castle Walls- our wedding mural side of the business. However pieces like this can be made for interior spaces as well. It is a more temporary solution to gaining large impact in a space!

Ive been getting into painting still life's from vignettes in front of our murals. The first image is my painting and the second is the reference.

Spring flowers and childhood memories

Mural from grandma Anne's diningroom. Photo of the piece in a WIP state.

sunshine over our very first mural. This is still one of my favorite pieces still <3

Here's a look behind the scenes of a styled shoot. Lots of props! ⁣
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It was about one year ago that we completed this dining room mural. Pretty wild.

Echinacea: I love this flower because it provides both summer beauty as well as fall and winter structure. It belongs all year round.

Early mood board for the Driftless Project. There are reference photos, stickers, fabric samples, wallpaper samples... we collect and add whatever influences the style of painting we are going for in the right direction.

We’re in a magazine! @artstoheartsproject is an incredible magazine showcasing women in the arts internationally. We were honored to be chosen as one of 3 featured artists for the 3rd issue. Go check them out!

I don't think we've shared this before, here is a look at the final sketch for the Wingra Project mural. One thing we pride ourselves on is how close our murals turn out to our final sketches.

Here a little look into our wedding backdrop website!

A close look at the detail included in this piece. This pattern is based off of the wallpaper that is prominent in the entry of the house.

Ellie working on a piece for @castle.walls.wedding

Day in the life in the studio. Often involves cat interruptions and tidying up.

I (Ellie) am about to drop a series of still life paintings for purchase on my personal art page: @e_grimm_design ⁣
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This will be the only oil painting drop of the holiday season so if you are looking for a gift go ahead and check it out! ⁣
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Paintings range from 8"x10" up to 16"x20" inquire for prices.

We got this new couch for our dining room over the summer. It goes so well with the mural 💙⁣
#muralart #madisonwismallbusiness

Another photo from the @castle.walls.wedding photoshoot. SO BEAUTIFUL⁣
We just had the best time with this shoot. ⁣
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#wisconsinbride

Snapshot of what a week of mural painting looks like for us

#womenartists

Almost aquatic tablescape with the Wingra Mural.⁣
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It is so fun to decorate with this client. She is the best collector I have ever met. She has this way of finding such unique special items.⁣
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#muralart

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Follow us on Instagram

@castle.walls.mural

International art magazine- Special feature article and interview

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about.

about us.

We are a mother-daughter artist team.

ellie.

Ellie Grimm is an artist raised in Madison, Wisconsin. She got her degree at the Penny Stamps School of Art and Design at the University of Michigan in 2017. Trained as an oil painter, she has been creating commissioned oil paintings for the past few years before diving into the world of mural design. Lately she has been combining her training in design from Michigan with her painting skills to create original murals in homes, merging the world of painting with design.

KT.

KT Arnesen grew up in Madison, WI. After a degree at UW, she went back to school for a degree in Graphic Design and Illustration at Madison College. She worked for a few years as a graphic designer for a small PR firm, after which she decided to start her own business painting pet portraits for commission. For the last 6 years, KT has been managing both private and commercial art collections. Curating spaces for her clients, she has traveled locally and nationally.

Wedding backdrops: Castlewalls.wedding

Featured in:

OUR WORK.

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Featured in:

OUR WORK.

​

Follow us on Instagram

Find us in:

about us.

contact.

Stay in touch with us