The Genius of Chuck Hettinger

From the beginning of my career I have worked with Chuck Hettinger, decorative painter. I am convinced that our collaboration on my first apartment where he painted stripes in surprising colors caused it to be featured in House Beautiful, one of my earliest rooms to be published.

Chuck is a genius. I can attest to this because we have been working together for over 20 years. 

Another monument to his talent is the set of wall panels he recently helped us create for the Southport Congregational Church showhouse, "Rooms with a View," where we put together a vignette of a lady's sitting room. I was first thinking of paneling our room in something symmetrical like book matched wooden veneer panels, and then inkblots came to mind. I called Chuck from my cell phone, and asked, "Could you make me a set of giant inkblots for the showhouse?" On top of that, I demanded, "they have to be confetti like and feminine, too."

I think it is difficult to make a small space feminine without it looking overdone. Since our idea was to suggest a sitting room for a lady, we needed to be on a more refined page.

Chuck made his panels with acrylic paint on watercolor paper, first painting his design on one half, then folding it over to create a symmetrical pattern. There was a certain level of risk and we did not know what to expect, but, in the end, it was perfect and created the right atmosphere. It is another testimony to his genius.