Business Details
43 Years
experience
Transforming Furniture into Art Since 1983
Coloratura Furniture has dedicated nearly four decades to transforming furniture into one-of-a-kind art pieces. Our process begins with meticulous selection of period-appropriate furniture, followed by extensive research into concurrent art movements to inform our creative approach. We employ enamel paints and hand-rubbed finishes to achieve heirloom-quality results, blending historical context with contemporary artistic interpretation. Recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts and featured in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, our work balances respect for original design with innovative reinvention.Through commissions and exhibitions, we maintain a commitment to artistic integrity while making functional objects that provoke thought and conversation. Our expertise in art history, combined with technical mastery of materials, ensures each piece becomes a durable, conversation-starting artwork. We engage clients through collaborative consultations, ensuring their vision aligns with our artistic process while maintaining our signature aesthetic sensibility. With decades of experience, we continue to push boundaries in furniture art while preserving the craftsmanship that defines our practice.
Services
Furniture Restoration
Custom Commissions
Art Historical Consultation
Exhibition Services
Educational Workshops
Details
- Year established: 1983
Highlights and features
- We offer 40 years of experience in furniture art transformation
- Our process includes extensive art historical research for authentic reinvention
- Heirloom-quality finishes ensure lasting durability and beauty
- Recognized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Endowment for the Arts
- Personalized commission process maintains artistic integrity while honoring client vision
Associations and certifications
- National Endowment for the Arts
- Smithsonian American Art Museum
What people say
Museum-quality artistry
Heirloom durability
Creative reinvention
Historical sensitivity
Award-winning expertise
Services
Furniture Restoration
We restore vintage furniture through careful research and period-appropriate techniques. Our process preserves historical integrity while incorporating artistic enhancements. Each piece receives multiple layers of enamel paint and hand-rubbed finishes to achieve durable, museum-quality results that maintain original design elements while adding contemporary artistic value.
Custom Commissions
Clients collaborate with our artists to reimagine existing furniture pieces. We develop unique concepts based on the item's history and the client's preferences. The process includes detailed artistic proposals, pricing agreements, and execution of one-of-a-kind artworks that balance client vision with our signature aesthetic approach to furniture as art.
Art Historical Consultation
Our team provides expert analysis of furniture design periods and concurrent art movements. This service informs both restoration decisions and artistic transformations, ensuring historically informed creative choices. We incorporate research from painting, literature, and design history to create contextually rich interpretations of each piece's potential.
Exhibition Services
We prepare furniture artworks for gallery and museum exhibitions. This includes creating evocative descriptions of each piece's artistic concept, providing supporting documentation about artistic influences, and ensuring proper presentation standards for institutional settings. Our exhibition history includes solo retrospectives at The Branch Museum.
Educational Workshops
We conduct workshops on painted object creation and furniture art techniques. These programs share our expertise in combining functional design with artistic expression, covering topics like historical context integration, enamel application methods, and balancing preservation with creative reinvention in three-dimensional artworks.
People
Catherine Roseberry
Co-Founder/Artist
BFA in Art Education from Virginia Commonwealth University. Co-founder of Coloratura Furniture with 40 years of experience in transforming furniture into art. Served on arts governance boards and conducted educational workshops statewide.
Rob Womack
Co-Founder/Artist
BFA in Painting and Printmaking from Virginia Commonwealth University. Recipient of multiple Virginia Center for Creative Arts residencies and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships. Collaborates with Catherine on artistic transformations and commission projects.
Questions
What is Coloratura Furniture Furniture's artistic approach?
We combine historical research with contemporary art techniques to transform vintage furniture into unique artworks while preserving original design integrity.
How do commissions work?
Clients submit furniture photos for consideration, then collaborate through concept development, pricing agreements, and artistic execution with our team.
What recognition has Coloratura Furniture received?
Our work is featured in the Smithsonian American Art Museum and we've received National Endowment for the Arts fellowships and Theresa Pollak Prizes.
What types of furniture do you work with?
We select period-appropriate pieces from various eras, including American Empire, Scandinavian modern, and other distinctive design movements.
How is the finish applied?
Multiple enamel paint layers are hand-rubbed between coats, finished with varnish and wax for durable, satiny surfaces.
