A Picture-Perfect View

You can treat a window many ways, but you can only do so much with a view. If it’s great, frame it; if it looks onto the neighbor’s dumpster, obscure it. And if you have no view at all, hey, this is Hollywood, make your own.

Enter Christina Rosenthal, a decorative painter who’s been painting windows--and other architectural elements--where none exists for more than 20 years.

Want to look from your dining room onto the Tuscan countryside? Would your child like to gaze from his bedroom window onto a scene of Old McDonald’s Farm? Rosenthal can create the scene of your dreams.

Through trompe l’oeil painting--painting that tricks the eye--Rosenthal has enhanced the environs of many Southland celebrities, as well as the mere mortals among us. She’s painted children’s rooms for Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw, and Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson. For Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver, she’s done work both on their home and their Santa Monica restaurant, Schatzi on Main Street.

“Many people don’t realize the potential that exists in a plain painted wall. It can go on infinitely and be very transporting,” says Rosenthal, 48, who was born and raised in Hollywood by two painter parents. She later attended Otis/Parsons in Los Angeles, and now lives and works out of her home in Carlsbad. The idea of wall painting dates to prehistoric times, long before people painted on canvas. Even cave dwellers realized that a few decorative marks could take their eye past the bare wall. Later, around the 1st century, Romans visually expanded their cramped spaces through trompe l’oeil wall art and faux finishes.

Taking it to the next step, Rosenthal incorporates her clients’ personalities and preferences into their art. Before she paints, she meets clients in their homes to get a sense of their style. Then she starts with a sketch or a color rendering to scale. At that point, the owner can make changes, then Rosenthal applies her art to the wall, usually starting with the farthest point in the distance and working forward.

“She has no problem making changes,” says Gil Zukow of San Juan Capistrano, who has Rosenthal creations in his stairwell. “In one picture, she painted a building that looked like a Greek temple on the horizon. When we told her we didn’t like it, zap! it was gone.” He was especially pleased with how she incorporated all the colors of his home’s interior, he says.

“When I’m working in a home, I feel I’m there to bring magic and to enhance the home in a unique way. I interact with the pets, the children and the housekeeper, and put as much of the lives of these people as I can into the painting. I try to create a composite of the family that could become an heirloom.” For example, as she paints a wall window, she might paint on a stack of the inhabitant’s favorite books and add the name of the person into a book title. Depending on the size of the piece, a project may take one to three weeks, and cost from $1,500 for a 3-foot-by-4-foot window to $7,000 for a panoramic view.

As she paints, she lets music color her mood. For an Italian villa scene, she might play Pavarotti. If the piece needs pizazz, she’ll put on a little salsa music. For finishing touches, she paints to classical guitar. She also likes to dress in a manner that becomes her art. “If it’s a farm scene, I might wear overalls and a plaid shirt. I like to feel comfortable in the environment I’m creating.”

And if she holds really still, she might trick you into believing she’s part of the picture.