Fauxology: Studying the Visual Magic of Faux Finishing and Interior Design (brought to you by Garay Artisans)

Hello! So, I’m introducing a new aspect of our blog, Faux-cus on the Pros. The series will feature interviews with different industry professionals sharing their thoughts on all things Design. I thought this would give you (my loyal readers) good insight on the behind-the-scenes world of design and just make the reading of this blog a little more informative and fun. The “premiere episode” will go up this Sunday, August 5th and I’ll have a new guest every other week. The interviews will also be archived on the Message Forum. I hope you enjoy the new addition!

The samples and pictures of the currently scheduled workshops are up and I am so excited to be teaching them! The goal is to teach homeowners and beginners gorgeous techniques in addition to preparing them for success. I got started on this since people used to stop me at Sherwin-Williams or Home Depot and just ask me questions. (I’m thinking the give-away was my usual painted self.)

You see, I’ve seen a lot of current television shows teach you a finish and then they say “…and just continue this around the room. We’ll be right back after the break.” The next shot you see is the room completed and the host moving on to furniture and the like. I was like, well what about corners? How do you get a straight line where the ceiling meets the top of the wall? What if the materials are not reacting as well as they did on the show? A big lightbulb appeared on the top of my head (you’ll just have to take my word for it, since I have no evidence of that) and I decided to teach a complimentary “Proper Prepwork & Planning for your DIY Faux” class for the Southern Women’s Show.  You know what happened? Everyone fell asleep. Like zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.  I felt like the most boring speaker on Earth!!!! When I decided to throw in a finish at the end, the attendees just perked up and started coming alive and getting excited and really involved. So, I decided that for my studio classes I would mix in some good prep and planning tips in the midst of learning the finishes. (…and no groaning! It’ll be sorta like me hiding a brussel sprout within the macaroni and cheese — you won’t taste it I promise!)

Here are some of the sample boards (more images are in the Workshop Details area of our website):

(The first sample is one from our Touchable Textures class, the second is one from Elegant Glazes and the third is one from the Metallic Finishes workshop.)

If you note, we did add a Maitland class into the mix and the next location will probably be in the Villages area. We are adding a Venetian Plaster class soon to the schedule and the pics will be up then. The Cabinet Refinishing class (taught by my brother) will probably be held upon the opening of our permanent Orlando studio since the students will be learning HVLP spraying to create a true “factory-produced” look and that’s tough to do on someone else’s turf.

As always, please feel free to look over and register for our free Message Forum. We are always updating something in the website (we like things fresh, new and updated) and the Message Forum gets a lot of attention and care. Please post any project or workshop questions you have on there and we’ll be more than happy to correspond. To view the full forum, click on the upper left link that says GarayArtisans.com Forum Index. To register and become part of the forum community, click the Register button along the menu on the top right.

Have a great day!

I’ve discovered a little gem of a show on television. It’s called Simon Schama’s Power of Art and it has the narrator, Simon Schama, taking an hour to give you the background and history of our most important artists. Now, I do have to say that I find any sort of lecture/show about Art History endlessly fascinating (in other words, caveat emptor) but this show really takes each subject and makes them come alive. Makes you care about them. Makes you suffer along with them and feel elated at their triumphs.  Simon Schama is a master storyteller and a bit of a gossiper — he clearly has a gift for oratory — which is why he’s so much fun to watch and learn from.  I just wish I could sit in one of his lectures at Columbia University and just listen to him wax rhapsodic over art history. (Yes, I’m a girl who adores art.)  Go ahead and TiVo the next showing or look it up in TV Guide.  I promise you won’t be sorry. (And if you are, you can comment about it? or maybe not…) But at the very least, you can have bragging rights after impressing your friends during Jeopardy or Trivial Pursuit by knowing the masterpieces Caravaggio painted or the sculptures Bernini gifted to this world. Surely that alone is worth an hour of Simon Schama’s Power of Art.

Wow.  I’m just cringing when I see the date of my last post! We have so many amazing projects going on (i.e., exciting commissions, the new studio/showroom, worthwhile side projects) and I’m just bursting with vigor and my cheeks are pink with excitement at what is to come around the corner.

First of all, we have received a LOT of calls and e-mails with respect to the workshops we’ve scheduled (more to come, trust) and our August 11 class is full. My next post will outline more information about the workshops and the updated schedule including some locations further into Orlando and closer to Sanford/Maitland. What a great response!? (Wait until you see the pics for the classes — no sponging here!) In the meantime, our Message Forum is up and running and it is FREE to anyone who’d like to write in a question, chime in on their thoughts on design or put in their experiences with their DIY projects.

We’re excited about a super-cool commission we have coming up in a couple of weeks: we’ve been chosen to help renovate the Portofino Bay Hotel here in Orlando, FL. (It’s kind of an odd experience for us to work on a hotel here at home…we are usually traveling to consult and/or work on hotel properties outside of Central Florida.)  We are starting up with one of the restaurants and then moving on to other areas of the hotel.  I’ll try to put up pics as we go along. It’s wonderful to work on residences but with hotels you can push the envelope a little bit in terms of finishes and colors.  Do any of you wonder what it’s like to put together a hotel commission? Let me know in the comments and I’ll keep blogging on it in the future.

Another wonderful project I am looking to commit to is Ladies Who Launch (www.ladieswholaunch.com) as an “Incubator”. It is an organization that supports and nurtures women who are thinking about starting creative businesses or who currently own a business and are looking to freshen and expand their brand.  I am sooooooo all about supporting, helping and enjoying the success of my fellow powerful entrepreneurs and with the new studio/showroom coming up in January, we’ll have a great space to meet and connect with some of the most brilliant and positive women in our area.  Take a minute (or an hour) to check out their website and let me know what you think! They have a wonderful book out and their site has great resources.

Phew! See why my last post was just a bit ago? (I know, last month is more like it but I’m trying to make myself feel better, LOL.) Have an amazing day!