Groin Ceiling Week: Modello Designs

Groin ceilings can be dated back to ancient Egypt but it was the Romans who maximized their use. Although requiring considerable skill to build, they provided architects a way to beautify and strengthen the buildings (particularly churches) they were erecting. They were especially popular in crypts, loggias, hallways and passageways. Today’s profile company, Modello Designs, is also especially popular — and revolutionized the way we approach decorative ornament on all surfaces, including the groin ceiling.

Melanie Royals founded her stencil company, Royal Design Studio, in 1991 and introduced Modello Designs in 2003. A “Modello” – as the design industry calls it – is a one-time use, adhesive-backed pattern. Thousands of patterns in the ornamental library and original designs can be customized and sized to any surface. It offers the decorative painting and related industries a time-saving and cost-effective new way to apply patterns. Take a look…

Sepia-toned Venetian Plaster Groin Ceilings by Texas artist Nathalie Nielsen

Leafing over a Black Background ~ Groin Ceiling by Florida artist Norm Goodwin

A groin ceiling takes unique planning for the installation of a design. “In order to plan a good Modello pattern scheme effectively, it is important to take careful measurements of the separate groin areas. This is important for multiple reasons. One reason is that the separate groin areas may LOOK like they are all the same, but they can actually vary considerably. Another reason is that if you were able to take a groin section and lay it flat, you would find that it is not actually a triangle with straight edges. Each of the sides will have a curve to it, and the depth of the curve will depend on the depth of the groin ceiling itself,” Melanie Royals explains.

Click to Enlarge

Melanie continues, “There are multiple configurations for groin ceilings, depending on the architecture. Some groin ceilings will be more shallow from the bottom of the groin to the pitch of the ceiling. Others can be quite deep and curve considerably both vertically and horizontally (think of a quarter of an orange peel). We always recommend that our customers select designs that “fan out” from a center point and do not have defined straight edges. These types of designs are easier to custom fit, both in the design and installation stage. Depending on the curve depth, it is sometime necessary to clip the vinyl between the pattern areas here and there in order for it to lie flat. This process is similar to the dressmaking process of adding a dart in a woman’s dress in order to get it to fit feminine curves.”

Good Designs for Groins

A really nice effect on a large groin ceiling to apply a complimentary border design along the “ribs”. Again, this line will not be straight, so a more open, flowing border pattern will be easier to stretch, squeeze, and otherwise “fudge” to conform as needed.

Groin Ceiling by Tennessee artist Robbie Calvo

Melanie concludes, “One of the benefits of using a Modello pattern for groin ceiling design is that the pattern can be laid out on the computer in advance and easily tweaked for client approval. Once the design is worked out, cut and installed, the decoration process is ALL gravy. With the pattern in place, you can just focus on the artistry. It creates opportunities for the application of metal leaf, metallic foils, multi-layered textures, staining, etc. that would be difficult, if not impossible, to achieve with traditional mylar stencils or freehand methods.”

Mosaic Pattern with Gold Schaibin & Overglaze ~ Groin Ceiling by Texas artist Nathalie Nielsen

To see the Modello installation for the Mosaic Pattern above, click here.

I’m partial to monograms — love them! Groin Ceiling by California artist Georgia Morrow

Groin Ceiling by Texas artist Jeremy Sloat of Paragon Plasters. Here’s the view from below.

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I love the images because they give a peek into all the possibilities. Modello does provide a Groin Ceiling form to make planning and measuring your design infinitely easier — nice! Please be sure to visit the Modello Designs website and take a look at their design library, handily categorized by design style and pattern type. Modello Designs also has a wonderful Facebook Fan Page and Melanie writes a beautiful blog, Design Amour. Tomorrow, we arrive in Florida to visit an artist who created a colorful and unique groin ceiling — plus, YOU get the recipe!

UPDATE:

Day 1 – Groin Ceiling Week: Ann Onusko
Day 2 – Current Post
Day 3 – Groin Ceiling Week: Krista Vind
Day 4 – Groin Ceiling Week: Nathalie Nielsen
Day 5 – Groin Ceiling Week: Jeff Huckaby