To Faux or not to Faux

The notion that faux finishes are either in or out of style is a topic that tends to come up in conversations about decor from time to time. When I hear someone state simply that "faux finishes are out of style" I tend to look at that person as one who is merely uninformed as to the history of decorative painting. Term "faux finish" actually gets used a little too often and most of the time incorrectly.
A "faux" finish is one that is replicating, or "faking" something else. For example, if I were to paint your builder's white columns in your home to look like Carrera Marble, that would be a faux finish. Throughout history artists were employed to replicate different stones or wood grains in order to save the cost of installing the real thing. A simple wall glaze today can be used to replicate the aged walls of old Italian villas.

Many wall textures or paint treatments today are not trying to "fake" anything. They are actually custom, high-end designer finishes meant to add ambiance, depth and interest to a room that may other wise be very simple. Is that to say that every room needs a custom decorative finish? I suppose considering what I do for a living, I should say "YES! Absolutely I can come up with a finish for every room in your house!" Well, I can, but I certainly wouldn't think that to be the best idea in every situation. I certainly don't have different finishes in every room of my house. I think a little can go a long way in most cases, although, I have done homes in which we did almost the entire house in custom finishes......subtle, custom finishes that flow together seamlessly.
The point is that every person has different taste, every home has different architecture and every era has different trends in decor. The heavily textured terra cotta finish of a southwestern home would not work in the dining room of your colonial style Virginia home, but a fabulous silver metallic glaze over steel blue paint would be divine! If your taste is Tuscan (which has been and continues to be VERY "in style") then a fresco mural in the niche on your staircase is definitely in order.

The so-called trend right now happens to be metallics and they are popping up on ceilings, in niches, and in fabulous Venetian Plasters. The metallics of today go with many different decor styles, from traditional to Tuscan.
Simply put, a well chosen flat paint color can definitely be the right choice in many situations, but not only are Decorative Finishes in style now, they have been for centuries. Look at magazines, get inspiration from your vases, fabrics, rugs, etc and let a trained professional show you the many possibilities that custom "faux" finishes can give you.

30 days in August

As much as I set my mind to blog once a week, I've already blown that goal and am now posting a full two months since my last article. I've been a very busy girl and have four murals, three faux finishes and 9 cut out and painted characters two show for it! When I'm not busy I'm crying and when I'm busy I'm crying. I suppose that is an artist for you.
My month of August started out with a friend asking me to check out this new home and garden center opening up in mid month and would I want to do a booth in it. Well here I am now and I did two finishes in the reception area, a mural for a landscaper's booth and a faux finish for my own wall along with a trompe l'oeil window. In the midst of all of this I had a gig to start for a new Goddard School opening up in the south part of town that wanted two large murals and mascots for each of their 9 rooms. I have to say that I've not worked so hard in a very long time. My house has not been this thrashed in a very long time! I've finished all with flying colors, except for my own booth which may never be totally finished in my head anyway. (never good enough in my head, most artists can identify with this I think)
I have to say that I truly was blessed to land such a wonderful job as The Goddard School and to have it as sort of a respite in the midst of working a much more trying job (or two) at the Home and Garden Center was probably what saved me from going absolutely crazy. I had a great time designing the characters and the owners were so kind. Here is the main mural finished, and yes, I should do a better job piecing the photo together, but I've got little energy left and you can get the idea anyway. The wall measured 10 foot 10 inches square oddly enough and is facing you as you walk into the school.

The very creative couple who own the school had this great idea of "Come explore our world" I love it when a client can articulate what is in their head and I am just able to interpret. We had nine class rooms to represent in the mural and the animals were each put on a continent with the explorer in the ocean. It couldn't have worked out better.
Next we decided that a procession of the animals walking into the school along side the children as they enter would be in order and this is what I came up with for the entry hall.

I had an absolutely wonderful time painting this one and hope to do more like this.

I have great pics of the mural and finishes in the home and garden center that I will share on the next post.

preliminary sketches

In as long as I have been honing my mural skills, I've long had a debate with myself about how to present or even render preliminary sketches. I've done paintings, pencil sketches, colored pencil, and even watercolor pencil. I've come to the conclusion that for me, the colored pencils work just fine.
For our sweet woodland nursery, we've chosen the paint color and are ready to execute the mural. This particular design is broken up into several small murals at the baseboard around the room. As I do with all my murals, I sketched a small example in colored pencil for the client's approval. If I have a client who needs more help visualizing the finshed product I will paint a small example on canvas for an additional fee. I do direct my clients to my website to have them look at previous work to get an idea of what I am capable of. This usually takes care of any apprehension that may arise from the pencil sketches. Here is the preliminary drawing and the mural as finished today. I'll be adding flowers and butterflies in a couple days.

These cute little racoons turned out pretty much like the drawing, but better. I think it is up to the individual artist to choose how the preliminary drawings are done. Of course, each client is different and some need a little extra visual help.

choosing a paint color for a child's room

In getting ready for this sweet little nursery mural, the homeowner is painting the room themselves which is something I almost always have them do. It is pretty common for a homeowner to choose a color for the room, paint it, then commission me to paint a mural on top of their chosen paint color. Every once in a while I run into the issue of my client being unhappy with the color of paint they decided upon for the base.

I always like to tell my client's that there is no need to panic when you've painted a color that you don't particularly like. It is only paint after all and as I have discussed with my favorite helper (my dad) there isn't a mistake that can't be fixed. Aside from extra labor to paint over the room again, paint is quite inexpensive and in the long run it is better to change the color than to live with one you aren't happy with, especially if you are investing in a lovely mural to go over it.

With this particular room, the new mom and grandmom chose a nice neutral yellow color. They were very diligent in their color choosing, getting different samples and painting them on foam core, checking them in the room in different spots. This is a fine way of doing it, however, I always tell people first lets look at what fabrics you are using for the bedding, chairs, curtains etc. Most new moms have chosen a bedding set as soon as they found out they were carrying their little bundle of joy. When my client asked me to come and tell me what I think of the color and that she isn't sure about it, I was happy to oblige. the room was only just painted around the closet and apparently Grandmom stopped there because this color wasn't turning out quite as expected. My first question to my client was "can I see the bedding"?
It turns out that they hadn't even thought about that. It's a common mistake and unless you've painted a hundred rooms (or even a couple) and made those mistakes yourself, you won't know. We chose a new yellow today from the bedding and went from lemony to buttery, sounds like a small difference, but it makes a big change. We will be starting off fresh on Tuesday with our woodland nursery. I'll be giving a play by play of this one, stay tuned.

Children's murals and me.

This is my first post on my new blog and I'm excited to get started. It is my hope to inspire others to create something from nothing and to follow through. Please remember that you are your own worst critic and that you will not please everybody.
I have been painting walls now for six years and have grown with every mural or faux finish that I have completed. I talk about following through with projects because I used to be the queen of unfinished artwork. I think it took a lot of coaxing from friends and coworkers to bring out the completer in me. I am happy to say that I've never left a client hanging. I won't talk about how I can't decide on the 3 paint colors I've put up in random shapes on the wall in my own bathroom, however.
I started my career by painting a mural for a coworker's daughter when I was about 6 months pregnant with my second child. It was nothing fancy and of course I look back at it now and think "Man, have I come a long way." I was addicted to painting on walls from that mural on. It may have been all the wonderful Bosnian food my friend's mother made a piggy little pregnant girl, but I had an itch to find more people to work for every since then.
I have done murals (and faux finishes) for many adults, but I have to say that I absolutely love to do a mural for children. I find such great satisfaction in creating a new world for a child, something that they will live in for a long time and remember for their entire life. Kids are absolutely the most appreciative of clients even with the smallest of butterflies or the simplest truck, they exude absolutely pure adoration for something created especially with them in mind. I marvel at their exact requests and their ability to explain what they would like to see in their room. Often certain things would visually be more interesting one way and as I chat with a child to explain that to them it always amazes me at how visionary they can be.
I have a soft spot for nurseries and have done quite a few. It is an honor to be a part of something so important personal in a couple's life as the creation of a room that their unborn child will grow up in. It is always a challenge to fashion a design that will grow with the child and still be interesting at the age of 4 or 5. I always tell my expecting clients that I make them the priority and will work them in anytime to ensure that the room is ready in plenty of time. I think they appreciate that. I am now in the process of designing another nursery for a sweet little premie who caught her parents unready. As most babies do, she'll be sleeping with Mom and Dad for quite a while, so we are in no hurry to get the room finished. I'll post pics from that room when I have them.
In the meantime, I've got a lot of designs under my belt and available for viewing on my website. www.nataliegorden.com