Potager du Artiste......

I am an avid gardener and a style/design geek. Since years I've been dreaming of a French"Potager du Roi" (Kitchen Garden of the King), or should I say "Garden of the Queen"? Presently, my "Au Potager"garden is a cross between a chaotic cottage, herb, and cutting garden..lettuce lurking through  the pink phlox, parsley enhancing the beautiful, bright yellow daisies, and sage hovering over my nasturtiums. You get my drift. Yes, and of course...

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A Thrifty Faux Painting Chick

I am committed to blog at least twice a week. It's hard, that "blogging thing" but I believe that there willbe light at the end of the tunnel. Many times, maybe even always, my brain seems to be on overload and not coming up with an blog to post. Everything I read, advises to be yourself. So, that's what I am trying to do. Beside being on overload I have another problem. I am bilingual, thus I have an Austrian accent. I am always afraid to write...

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Forget Zoloft and Play with Dirt

A UK Study at the Bristol University discovered that regular dirt bacteria might be help  against depression (wondering if this is the reason I like to play  with dirt?) Trials were conducted with mice. Evidently the friendly bacteria in soil  stimulates brain cells to produce Serotonin. I love that stuff. Can't get enough of it. So let's play with dirt.Happy Gardening, Plays With PaintsAlways Colorful. always Fabulous Finis...

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Easy Florentine Plaster Look A Like

Recently I have completed a kitchen with a "Florentine Plaster" look-a-like faux finish. I developed this finish many moons ago and it still proves  to be a hot seller. Here are the step-by-step instructions.I use a minimum of 3 contrasting colors (Values = Light, medium and dark) of Acrylic Latex paints That's all!!! I call this technique "skip brushing" It is important to always  submerge the 4" chip brush into the paint and start out...

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Marketing Panic

Do You feel alone in this downward economy? I DO!. I miss being booked for 9 months out,  I miss  the easy times to sell my classes at the Faux Academy, and I feel like I have to start from scratch. Knowing,  that  in the past few years I have not paid attention,  doesn't make it any easier. I am being forced to take a serious look at my business. I was lazy because I was doing  great and never foresaw a change....

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It's all about color

April 9, 2010The Color Palette through the Ages...... Create A Color Palette From prehistoric times, we artists have left and our imprint of our paintings for the rest of the world to see, First our artwork was used as a road map to a source of food, a way to mark our territory or  tracking a location for other homo sapients. In these times we used pigments like red oxide, bone black, carbon black(vegetable black),6500B.C - 2010 A.D.also...

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We had enough of "Orange Peel" walls .....

A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by a client  who had bought a home in which I had done all the faux painting. These clients eventually built a new home. Missing the warmth of faux painting  and living five years with "orange peel" walls, they had enough and wanted to capture the warmth of faux painting. I was contacted to fulfill their vision. We decided to do the kitchen first with a "Florentine Plaster", a finish I had developed...

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