A few years ago, we were beginning work on a hotel bar & restaurant and the client wanted me to look at the new petrified wood bar she was installing in order to have a bit of color guidance.  The petrified wood was at a local marble studio and I headed out there to see the piece.

You can imagine what’s its like for me to discover a new experience in design, right?  What an adventure that was! There was slab after slab of different marbles and stones and the owner was more than happy to walk me around to show the facility.  I was amazed that slabs were so heavy it was a production to move them.  So many varieties… They found the slab for me and here is a peek:

I should have asked how the spiral shell made it into the petrified wood.  Later on, I saw these two beauties offered by Keys Granite.

Keys Granite also has this stunning onyx in one of their ads.

Here is another version on the floor in a private residence.  Amazing, no?

I shared this Marble of the World beauty on my Fauxology Facebook fan page recently but thought to post it here on the blog.  Amazing, no?

The City Chambers in Glasgow, Scotland are incredible.  Here is a view of some of the incredible marbles to be found there.  Oh, and yes, a little decorative painting, too…

The two marble company weblinks given above are great if you are doing research on exotic marbles for reference.  So many great varieties, so little time…

It’s been a whirlwind month for us during the Making a Great Impression Contest!  We started with a request and then came the voters who determined who the Top 3 entries would be.  One entry by Mississippi-based artist Michelle Lopez and two entries by Kentucky-based artist Curtis Heuser won top honors — and today we crown the Grand Prize Winner.  A big Thank You! to Ed Mattingly and the Faux Impressions line by Sherwin-Williams for sponsoring and providing the wonderful prizes.

Without further ado, we announce the Grand Prize Winner, who has won $200 worth of Faux Impressions products…

Curtis Heuser of Kentucky’s Living Murals

Congratulations!

Curtis created an incredible Dining Room ceiling with dimension, product creativity and fantastic decorative elements.  Walking into this Dining Room, you can see how his work fully embodied the “Making a Great Impression” theme of the contest.

BUT, WAIT — THERE’S MORE!

Ed Mattingly, the creator of the Faux Impressions line for Sherwin-Williams, was so impressed with all the submitted entries that he sent along a wonderful message — and surprise.

“The entries were all Fantastic and deciding which was the “best” was not easy.  Unfortunately, while picking a winner, that means that someone didn’t win… With that being said, I will personally put together a Second Place Prize for Michelle Lopez and see to it that I meet both of the finalists in-person sometime during my travels this fall.   Lastly, I will see to it that each of the contestants receive a new 2012 Color Mix color forecast card and Sherwin-Williams Stir magazine.”

Thank you, Ed — love that Everyone’s a Winner!

Faux Impressions

We hope you’ve enjoyed the Making a Great Impression contest!  Fauxology will be holding more contests so everyone can enter their beautiful works and have the opportunity to win great prizes.  Thank you once again to our sponsor — and congratulations again to all the artists and winners!

ABOUT OUR SPONSOR

Faux Impressions are new beautiful products by Sherwin-Williams with four unique lines: Old World Impressions, Metallic Impressions, Quartz Stone Impressions and Artisan Impressions.  Ed Mattingly, the executive who created the line, has traveled the U.S. to visit artisans and has kept (and continues to keep) a journal of his travels and incredible artistry he has encountered via his blog, Ed’s Sherwin Corner.  You can also find Ed on Twitter and on Facebook.  It was recently announced that the incredible Dundean Studios will be teaching finishes with the line in an effort to provide innovative techniques to help artisans continually improve their portfolio.

I first e-met Julie Young a few years ago and we have kept in touch ever since.  She’s a fantastic artist who is also so humble about her artistry.  Julie has been featured in both books and magazines and was one of the founding members of SistersHands.  Her company, JulieArt, is based in San Diego, CA, and began in 1998.  I’m so glad to feature her today.  She explains a bit how she got started.

Artist Julie Young

“In 1997, I was working at a mortgage office and wanted out!  The six month temporary job had turned into five years and I was not happy there.  I was wilting on the vine…  I quit not knowing what I wanted to do,” she explains.

All my friends suggested that I paint for a living…

…but I couldn’t see the vision of people paying me to do something that I loved.

How could that be?

“A friend then told me to follow my heart,” she continues. “Another friend asked me to paint flowers on her daughter’s wall. Then I started face painting at street fairs while putting out a shingle advertising my mural abilities.  I read books to learn how to do faux finishes but felt that I needed to learn more. I turned to Martin Alan Hirsch  and took classes from him. The Faux Effects products helped turn my lights on… AND meeting others in class who did this for a living was very inspirational!  Message boards became my life line!  Seeing other successful women gave me the confidence to push forward in my own business.  One of my favorite pleasures is being able to look someone in the eye and say, “I can do that!”  That confidence makes me feel blessed and very grateful to be able to create a product or finish for others to enjoy.”

Art Panel

What have been some of the most fulfilling projects you’ve been involved with?

I have been blessed with wonderful friends.  I was involved with the Sisterhands and loved the camaraderie there.  Working on Melanie Royals’ studio and learning from her along the way has been a great inspiration to me.  She is so amazing!  I worked on a restaurant with Krista Vind and Martin Alan Hirsch and 12 other faux finishers and it was magical to see the transformation so quickly and be a small part of that.  A group of local gals and I with common goals are creating marketing and other ways of drumming up business.  It is supportive and rewarding to be in the West Coast Artisans guild with Vicki Shultz and Karen Jorgenson.

What are some of your favorite go to materials you use in your work?

I’m trained in Faux Effects so it is easy to grab and go with their products.  It really is about what you are comfortable experimenting with.  I love Modellos, PlasterTex, LusterStone and Metallic Foils.  My garage is a smorgasbord of products.  New products that I have tried and really like are American Clay, Variance plasters, TexSton lime plasters, Lime paints, Skimstone, Modern Masters metallic plasters, paints and textured Effects, Old Masters Gel Stains, Chalk Paints, Final Coat wipe-on water-based topcoats just to name a few.

A fave client had custom tiles made for her stairs. I had to have them! I figured out how to make it work using metallic paints, foils and painted glass. I was on a tight budget so my husband made custom stair risers and I wood grained them to match our wood floor!

Close-Up of Tiled Stairs

What album have you listened to the most times and why?

My nephew, Colton James, has a wonderful CD.  He created the songs, wrote the lyrics, sings and plays most all of the instruments himself.  I love listening to it.  I am so proud of him and in such awe that I find myself listening a lot with a smile on my face.

I went to visit my family in Texas and my sister wanted me to paint her new plywood floor to look like a cow hide. My son did a diagram and my sister and I painted the flooring with porch paints and then did the decorative painting with chip brushes all in one rainy day.

What artist would you like to commission to create a painting for your home?

My son, Ben Young, is a fabulous oil painter and fine artist.  His specialties are people, animals and plein air paintings.  Although he probably wouldn’t allow me pay him, I have several wonderful paintings of his that he has given to me as gifts for Mother’s Day or Christmas.

If you were paid to write a book on any subject you wished, what would it be about?

I wanted to do an exercise video about yoga stretching exercises in the hot tub but am too shy to do that in a bathing suit.  I’ve developed an exercise program that I use daily and it helps me build strength and prevent injuries while working in our industry.

Working with Modellos

7/30/11 UPDATE: To see a great feature on the Julie’s Skimstone & Modello carpet above, click here.

What is the first work of art you remember creating?

In the fifth grade, our teacher had the class paint a Mexican village on the coat closet of our classroom.  I loved doing that!  It taught me to dive in and explore my abilities, from art to designing to team work.  I remember it fondly.

*  *  *  *  *  *

A love that was inspired in the fifth grade via a coat closet — a most unlikely source, no?  Julie is such a wonderful down-to-earth person.  Her artistry is beautiful — and what a talented family!  She has a new granddaughter so who knows what other talents might abound.   Please do visit her website, JulieArt, for more information and to see other works.  I hope you’ve been inspired — have a wonderful weekend!

Ver·di·gris \ˈvər-də-ˌgrēs, -ˌgris, -grəs also -ˌgrē\

House & Garden (R.I.P.)

Pinterest

Beautiful Portals

Hello!  I just wanted to remind everyone that there are three days remaining to submit your projects for the Making a Great Impression contest sponsored by Ed Mattingly and the Sherwin-Williams’ Faux Impressions line.

All you have to do is find a picture in which your work makes a great impression and Enter it Here. 

Easy Peasy.  Actually, you can enter as many projects as you’d like but only one image of each technique/finish.  Last day to submit your pic(s)?  This Friday, July 29th.

Sherwin-Williams’ Faux Impressions as photographed by Houston artist Ali Kay.

So, Recap: 1) Find Great Pic(s) and 2) Submit it/them Here.  Voting will begin over the coming weekend and carry on for the entire week.  All those who enter will receive an e-mail with a link to their specific image(s) so that you can send those to all your friends and family to vote.  All the pictures will be available on the Fauxology Fan Page as well.  Faux Impressions’ Ed Mattingly will pick the final Grand Prize Winner from the Top 3 pics at the end of the week.  I hope you enter — and may the force be with you!

P.S. BTW, your regularly scheduled blog post is right after this…

Recycled Paint

We had a fantastic Giveaway by Metro Wallworks during our Deets post on their innovative eco-friendly product, Recycled Paint.  Readers were asked to comment about their creative plans for the material and one was picked via Random to receive five quarts of paint to start their own faux kit.  Without further ado, the Winner is…

MICHELLE LOPEZ!

Michelle says, “I am a relative newcomer to the decorative painting world, and thanks to the internet and BLOGS (yes, I’m blog obsessed!) I am able to learn from some of the most incredible teachers in the business without ever leaving home.  Currently, I specialize in painted furniture, patinated mirrors and stenciled/faux finished walls, but I will paint almost anything!”  Michelle had just bought a stencil and planned to use the Ice Blue and Stony Gray Recycled Paint colors to create a beautiful focal wall for her bedroom.  It does sound amazing — keep us posted, Michelle!

~ ~ ~

I did want to say “Thank You!” to all who left a wonderful comment on the post and also to Ayn Riggs of Recycled Paint for the wonderful Giveaway.  There will be more opportunities to win products and other great giveaways so be on the lookout, dear Readers — have a great day!

In the decorative painting industry, one of the most popular conferences is the IDAL convention.  (The organization has the cool digital online magazine, Artisphere Online.)  This year it was held in Hampton, VA.  It was my second time attending and my first time teaching.  Dana Tucker and I taught Building Your Online Brand to a class of 27.  It’s amazing how fast the time went — you prepare so much for it (Powerpoint presentations, research, fun giveaways, countless Skype & phone conversations) and then you look up and it’s done.  We tried to pack so much into two hours (and of course, went a bit over…). The students were a really fun bunch with great questions.  I can’t wait to hear of their progress!

If you are a fan of my Fauxology Facebook page, you’ve probably already seen the two notes I wrote on my IDAL experience.  I decided to write this one as well for those who do not have access to the fan page. I was truly excited to meet with many of the artists I correspond online with as well as see what the expo was all about.  The following are some of the images I took during the two days I was there.  BTW, brace yourself — this post is a bit on the longer side.

This is how most of the classes were set up. Nice, large rooms that were organized and well-protected.  This is the Faux Impressions class given by Ed Mattingly of Sherwin-Williams.  BTW, do you know about our contest to win $200 worth of product from Sherwin-Williams?  All it takes is a picture of a space you created that makes a great “Impression”.  Enter the contest here.  Deadline July 29th.

Live demonstrations were conducted throughout the conference.  Here, keynote speaker Pierre Finkelstein demonstrates his considerable skills with woodgraining.  He is very charming and gracious.

There were several faux studios who had fantastic booths at the show.  I didn’t get a shot of one of my faves, Dundean Studios, and a few others but here are some I came upon…

Gorgeous samples at Houston’s Wonderfaux Studios. That feather had crystals and was SO pretty – I’d love to do that one in a powder bath.

Had a great chat here — am considering taking a class by William Cochran.

THE Studio Destin. Fantastic samples all around and they had some of the best counter finishes I’ve ever seen.  (Ye Olde Jaw dropped. Not kidding you.)

Gary Lord’s Prismatic Painting Studio. Even though a “rock star” in our industry, he is totally approachable and friendly to everyone who comes up to him.  Wish I had better pics for you of those great samples in the back.  Totally dying to go to his Greece tour.

Sarasota School of Faux & Architectural Finishing is one of the studios I frequent the most.  Donna Phelps’ samples never fail to impress and I’ve sold quite a few.

Saying there were amazing samples at the Royal Design Studio booth is almost a given, no?  I took this pic before the expo opened — it was paaacked afterwards.

Patterned foils by V-Mask. We’ll be doing some cool stuff with them on the blog soon!

This is the philanthropic mural in progress during the convention.  It’s final home will be the Virginia Living Museum.

After the convention days, artists would gather for drinks and also to firm up dinner plans.  Here is a nice mix of newbies, up-and-comers and well-known Masters at the convention hotel, the Embassy Suites.

BTW, do you remember the gnome whose pic was taken all over the world?  Well, take a look at Faux Buddy…

Faux Buddy hanging out at the Chalk Paint booth...

We wanted everyone back home to get little glimpses of the IDAL convention so we gave him out so that he could travel with everyone and showcase little snippets of all the different classes and locations.  Imagine where Faux Buddy could go and what we all would be able to see with him!  The pics were to be shared on the Fauxology Facebook Fan Page but also on the IDAL page and personal pages, too, of course.  The bonus for our students is that each time they posted a pic, they would get an entry into our contest…someone is going to win their class fee back!   For those who were not in the class, there is a prize, too!  Robyn Story Designs out of Tampa, FL is a fantastic distributor of Chalk Paints and she is giving away a quart of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint to the person who can come up with the funniest caption for a Faux Buddy pic.  Plus, the pic taker wins a quart as well.  Yeah!

Here’s the cool Faux Calendar sponsored bag that was given out.  It’s fantastic to reuse as an extra carry-all for a jobsite or as a green bag for going grocery shopping.

What I love about conventions is that not only do your fellow peers provide inspiration but also just being around so many artists excited about the industry make it easy to tap right into the love and enthusiasm you possess for it.  Unfortunately, I had to head back early since I did travel via car and needed to head back over the weekend.  I did miss meeting so many but I hope to see them soon.  The attendance improved upon last year’s and many of us felt next year would be even better.  BTW, next year’s conference will be held July 25 – 29 at the Grand Sierra Resort & Casino in Reno, Nevada.  It looks fantastic!  Until tomorrow!