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

Ohhhhhhh, check this out!  So, I received my monthly newsletter from FGP, and in it was a link to a GREAT site, CGTextures.  It has free pics organized in different categories for all kinds of textures — from bricks to rust to reptile scales to distressed plaster to skies to wood…geez, can you tell I’m excited?!?

These kinds of visual aids can help so much.  For instance, getting your brick work as realistic as possible, that aged plaster just right or to make sure that where you paint the water or rust stains is exactly where they would be after hundreds of years.  Or, for a muralist, to have readily available pictures of cloud patterns or water ripples and the like.  If you really care about your particular commission, you can spend hours looking for the right image.

From what I can tell the site is used mainly by 3-D artists for video games and other graphics.  I have so many pictures of textures, I’ll have to see if they accept contributions.  (Yes, picture a wonderful husband on vacation with an insane wife running around with a digital camera yelling “RUST!? OMG, RUST!!? It’s so beautiful –look at how it gathers under the crevices!  When am I ever going to find another picture like this?!?”)

I assure you it has happened, folks.  Pity my hubby.  Uhm…enjoy the site!

We have previously profiled Florida’s Golden Palette, a local chapter of SALI whose members include both hobbyists and professionals.  Well — some truly exciting news!  The membership has grown so much that Florida’s Golden Palette has now become two chapters — one based in Tampa and one in Orlando.  The Tampa location will keep the FGP name (since it was founded there) and the new Orlando chapter will be known as the Professional Decorative Artisans (PDA)…although I daresay if you are not a professional faux finisher but one who dabbles, it would still be a wonderful group to join.  The cost is $25 per year, January through December.  Being a member of SALI is still a pre-requisite.

The Tampa chapter will meet on the first Saturday of every month and the Orlando chapter will meet on the last Saturday of every month, both starting at 9:30 am. Each chapter will have their own board and affordable monthly classes and I know that many original members of FGP will join the new Orlando chapter as well.  Each group will have individual newsletters and a yearly philanthropic project.  This is great news for all local artisans!

Since the PDA had their first meeting this month and a new board was selected, a little bit of settling in will still need to happen.  I could not make the first meeting (we were moving into our new location) but my friend, Debbie Jackson, was in attendance and she gave me as much info as she could.  She says the new board has so many good plans and she was impressed with how organized everything was.  Cool, no? So keep the next meeting date open (9:30 am on Saturday, February 23rd) and as soon as I know more (location, class details, etc.), I will definitely pass it on!