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

When I attended the blog convention, there was much talk on social networking but most of it concentrated around Twitter.  It was considered one of the best ways for a business to network, meet other colleagues and acquire information quickly.  It was also considered the best way to gauge response to new products, new books/shows/music, new sites and for a larger company to interract immediately with their customers.  One speaker even went so far as to state that Twitter would one day become as important as the phone.  (That startled me.  While I looked around incredulously, I noticed that most attendees didn’t seem fazed by that comment and some even nodded.  Wha…?)  While I’m not sure of that just yet, I thought it would behoove me to find out the downlow on the tweets.

Twitter is a free online social network service that lets you keep in touch with your friends and colleagues via web or text – all revolving around one simple question: “What Are You Doing?”  Any update sent on Twitter is called a tweet and those in your network (whose adventures you “follow” and they in turn “follow” your exploits) can receive them via text or when you log in to your computer.  If you have your profile set to ”public timeline”, the entire Twitter community is privvy to your tweet and can easily tweet back.  Simple, right?

REGINA’S TIMEOUT:  You can not imagine the amount of pages of FAQ, Help and Googled sites I had to (re)read to churn out the above paragraph.  I need to be, like, a teenager, to get all this or at the very least, use that handy device used in The Matrix that just downloaded all the information you needed instantly into your conscious.  OK, back to our regularly scheduled program. 

So, I’m on Twitter now and anyone can Follow Me!  It seems cooler and a lot more laid-back than the other social sites, but I’ll keep you posted as I go down the rabbit hole.  To read more, check out 17 Ways You Can Use Twitter.  I’ve connected with some old friends (warm shoutout to Valerie Cuzzola!) and am looking forward to tweeting away.  Hope you decide to check it out and fly along with me!

No, that isn’t a reference to our president or the current state of the economy but more of a reference to my head.  The crew and I have been working the overnight shift (10 pm - 5 am) at the beautiful Hilton at Walt Disney World Resort – something we offer in our company’s services and a shift we’ve worked many times before (see the lone post on a past one here).  This time, however, it sent me for a loop.  I think my mistake was coming home on the red-eye from California, getting home at 11 am, going to sleep and waking up to start the 10 pm shift that same day.  The first few days were ok but I woke up at one point and I couldn’t remember what day it was.  Now, though, we’re recovering and the hotel executives are pleased with our work so all’s well that ends well.  I can recharge, blog a bit and go back to more artworks on Monday. 

While I get my thoughts together, I was pleased that this week we got shout-outs from not one blog, but two.  We were mentioned in the Stencil Talk blog for Stencil Search and also in a post entitled “What is Faux Painting?” on My Design Secrets.  Big Thank You!s to both of them for such a pleasant surprise.

I’ll be posting soon…but for now, someone’s cooking breakfast and I have to follow the scent like one of those cartoon characters…

My very favorite studio in my home state of Florida is the Sarasota School of Faux & Architectural Finishing.  The school is run by Donna Phelps and she is a fellow Global Moderator on Talk Faux.  I can’t say enough good things about Donna — she’s funny, a fantastic teacher and a super genius at producing the most awesome sample boards.  Every year brings new and exciting techniques — sooooo glad to have her only 2 hours away. 

Which brings me to the Fall Faux Fling.  Donna is having an Open House at her studio this Saturday (October 11th) from Noon - 5:30 pm.   (For address, phone or RSVP info, click here.)  She is previewing new classes, new products and new stencils.  She’s also having hourly drawings (last time I won some cool products…love that!) and having an inventory sale to make room for all the new materials (see…this is where I get in trouble…).  Here’s a peek at some of her new finishes:

Can you say Yummy & Delicious?!?  These boards plus many more will be on display and there will be some cool presentations as well.  I heard that she also has William Cochran coming in to teach a class…

I’ve been going to Donna’s studio since 2000.  I still faithfully try to go at least once per year because I can always count on her to add to my bag of tricks.  She’s also a popular teacher at the IDAL conventions and at other faux schools nationwide.  I hope you get a chance to check out her studio! 

10/18 UPDATE:  Another of my faves, Dundean Studios, is having their second Open House of the year next Saturday, October 25th from 9 am - 5:30 pm.  Their studio (where I’ve taken many courses, most recently Advanced Woodgraining) is located in Chatham, NJ.  Dean is a Salon member and a true master in our field — if you get a chance, don’t miss going to his studio. 

Today, I drove home and listened to (and sang along loudly with) Queen’s “Somebody to Love”.  Man, that is a great song…and, I gotta tell you, I did just as good a job singing and harmonizing as Freddie and the boys.  You believe me, don’t you? 

Well, we’ll switch from what was on the radio and move on to what is on the television.  Two shows I wanted to tell you about:

1) The Human Camera - This show is playing Wednesday (9/24) at 8 pm on BBC America.  It’s all about Stephen Wiltshire, a 33-year old autistic artist who can quickly look at a building and draw it (down to the exact amount of windows and doors) from memory.  Amazing.  Here is an excerpt:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8YXZTlwTAU

2) Modern Marvels: Paint - This one runs periodically on the History Channel.  I just caught it and taped it last week.  It is one incredible hour devoted to paint, that perfect hybrid of art and chemistry.  It goes into its history, modern uses (think about it — everything is painted, down to our cell phones) and the future of a little something called “smart” paint.  Great info.

Hope these shows prove interesting to you! 

There are lots of colors that you can associate with Fall, but Orange is the one that gives me the warmest fuzzies.  When living up north, I looked forward to donning cold weather clothing and driving along beautiful roads to see the gorgeous color changes in the landscape.  We’d go looking for just the right pumpkin and afterwards, sip hot apple cider while discussing the upcoming holiday season.  Good times.

Here in Florida, you don’t see the changing seasons as much.  In fact, when I see a brightly colored tree here surrounded by a slew of greenery, I often imagine this conversation:

Full Color Tree:  Ahh, Fall.  Time to razzle-dazzle and bring out those nice reds, oranges and ochres everyone likes.  So nice to finally get a chance to show off.

Florida Green Trees:  (Looking at him suspiciously):  Dude.  What are you doing? 

Full Color Tree:  What do you mean?  It’s our time of year!  Fall starts on September 23rd, we’re in Connecticut, people will be coming out just to see us and we’ll be in pictures!  (Taking a look around).  Oh, I’m soooo sorry — you guys are still green.  It’ll happen, no worries.  (Thinking) Well, some trees have it and some trees don’t.  Looks like I’ll be The Star around here this year.

Florida Green Trees:  (All laughing):  Would you get a load of this guy?  Thinks he’s in Connecticut…

Full Color Tree:  (Thinking)  They’re just laughing because they’re literally green with envy!  Shake it off and stand proud.  Oh, that faux girl with the paint all over her clothes is coming by again to take my pic.  Not everyone can pull off the multi-color look like me, but who am I to judge? Hope she gets my good side this time.

So, have I completely scared everyone off with my imagination?  LOL!  Getting to the point of my post.  In honor of Fall, I wanted to showcase one of its most prominent colors: Orange.  Here are a few interior pics featuring some of its many tones.   

Here’s some of our work in those tones:

A terracotta glaze on top leading gradating to an ochre glaze on the bottom is pictured on the Left and copper leaf schaibin paired with a gray metallic plaster on the Right.  The Center pic on the second row is a mix of plasters, gold leaf and stencilling.

Enjoy your day!

Hi, Everyone!!!  It’s that time again – a few info nibblers to chew on!  Well, as you may know, I’m a huge TiVo fan.  Today I came home to watch my recorded Martha Stewart (yes, I’m a fan — anyone who knows that much about the stuff I love is a good thing) and her show today was all about bloggers!  Go blogosphere!  She has her own blog and I happily noted that some of my fave bloggers were guests…and I even found some new ones.  Check out her site to see more deets.

Another nibbler for the business owners who read Fauxology is a great site to include in your marketing & promotion plan.  Check out and sign up for Help A Reporter.  Once you submit your e-mail address, you will receive a daily listing of stories that reporters are working on nationwide and the sources they are looking for.  You never know…

Last but not least!  I wanted to let you know of a capability of this blog you may not know about.  If you scroll down along the menu on the right, you will come to a Search box.  Please feel free to conduct a search within my archives for background information or inspirational pics on anything related to decorative painting and/or design.  I have over a year’s worth of posts so maybe something I wrote one day proves to be just the info you needed or a picture can spur you into just the right creative direction.  It’s a great feature I use on other blogs!

Enjoy your day!

When I go to decorative painting conventions, events or classes, I feel extremely comfortable.  Why?  I’ve been in this business for over a decade, have many friends in the field, know who the major players are and know a little something about most of the products available and what finishes/trends are coming up.  But today, I attended a convention that was a whole lotta new to me: IzeaFest 2008.  Yup, I attended a blog convention.

I decided to go because the Fauxology blog has become a part of my heart.  I have an obsession for faux, enjoy meeting new people, live to share info and love to write.  Within the year plus that I’ve been posting, I’ve accumulated a growth of readership organically and have receive some great comments that truly make the effort worthwhile.  So, I wanted to learn to make this blog like The Six Million Dollar Man:  Better, Stronger, Faster.    

Well.  When I walked in, I felt like I was attending a new school for my senior year after leaving the same school I had attended from K - 11.  I knew no one, everyone had laptops (doofus me brought a pen and notebook…hello?!?), major player’s names were being dropped while everyone nodded knowingly (and I was like “Who?”) and industry words were flying left and right (and I was like “What?”).  Then, I realized that other attendees were streaming the event!  Man, have I walked into a brave, new world.  Our keynote speaker was Jeremy Shoemaker and he was inspiring, unpretentious and hilarious.  He also used to be 420 pounds and unemployed.  Four years later, he’s lost the weight, looks great and is a millionaire.  (Seriously.  I may have to rethink this faux thing.)  I also met the awesome Lea Alcantara, a whiz at branding.  I thought of all the faux and other small biz companies that read this blog and thought how cool it would be to have her talk a little about niche markets and how to brand your business successfully.  She and I talked briefly about it and she’s graciously considering it.  (Fingers crossed for all of us!) 

Slowly but surely I started understanding the blogworld’s concepts and ideas.  By the end of the day, I was introducing myself to other bloggers and speakers, randomly asking “stupid” questions and basically satisfied after finding out that I’m not the only one who secretly reads Perez Hilton.  Tomorrow is the second and last day of the event.  I’ll probably write more then as well.  I hope to take all this knowledge and use it to create a better blog for you to read.  I thank you for coming along this ride with me and I hope that the roadtrip we’re on gets even more picturesque and memorable. 

Well, well, well.  Today is an excellent day.  You see, we’ve been working on the Snakeskin finish for a while now.  The finish has four layers and I thought it would take us 5 days to do it — one day per layer and a buffer day, just in case.  Yeah, well.  It has taken 5 days just to do the stencil layer.  Yes, you read that right: 5 days for the overall stencil layer.  It is a beautiful finish (we are all salivating for the final pics) but boy is it a doozy.  We’ve all agreed that we are never, ever doing this finish again…it is officially discontinued.  Not an accent wall, not a niche, not even a small table top.  Folks, you know I’m usually a positive person but what fun would a blog be if I didn’t share the misadventures?

Getting back to it being an excellent day.  Since we knew today was the last day we would be stencilling, the crew was in high spirits.  As my brother and I drove in to the site, we were happily debating the points as to who would win in hand-to-hand, face-to-face combat: a ninja or a samurai.  (I say ninja.)  As we worked, the team excitedly debated how we would dispose of the stencils: sacrificial bonfire, scissors or just slam dunking them into the trash can.  We ordered a gigantic margarita pizza for lunch.  And at the end?  We were too exhausted and hand-cramped to even muster up the

(My brother just walked by my laptop and read the post.  He’s like “Regina, you’ve got to emphasize the horror of the situation.  You didn’t even tell them we were sent stencils that didn’t match up. I don’t think you’re explaining it well enough.  What Saw is to Horror Movies, Snakeskin is to Faux.  That’s what you’ve got to get across.”) 

(Now, my friend Jeff Huckaby called me to talk about his day and his client’s ceiling.  Man, I feel for him.  I also told him about my day and he said “Well, if you were closer, I’d smack you in the head, LOL!  What were you thinking?”  It’s nice to know you can call someone and just vent and laugh about paint, you know?)

Where was I?  Oh, yes.  Well, at the end we were too tired to even entertain the idea of the celebrational bonfire or the cutting up of the stencils.  We just stood around in disbelief that the stencilling was actually done and tiredly patted each other on the backs.  I guess that even on the particularly stressful commissions, there is always something to be happy about - a joyful non-grumpy team, knowing you’re working with wonderful designers or just the thought that all that hard work is going to pay off into one heck of a show-stopping room.  Appreciation must always abound.

(…it’s still getting discontinued, though.)

A few years ago, my husband’s brother and his wife bought a gorgeous house in Miami that I started salivating over the moment I walked in.  As my head swiveled from left to right, the whole house transformed in my head from white walls to a warm, elegant home…oh, the possibilities!  As my housewarming gift, I offered to work on any area, any finish, any color.  A few ideas were lightly tossed up but nothing concrete…for years.     

But finally, I got the call!  They are looking to do something with my little niece’s room (the adorable Victoria).  I feel so excited that they are finally releasing the Kraken to wreak havoc!  (Sorry…obscure “Clash of the Titans” reference…) 

I feverishly started doing nursery research and found a few great sites which I wanted to share.  My friend, Dawn, started a new blog exclusively for nursery murals.  Lots of great info and oh-so-cute pics there.  From her, I discovered artist Loren Pease and her new beautiful site, SweetPease – even her older site is worth checking out.  Wee Gallery also has wall art that promotes infant brain development.  I even found that if someone were inclined to go the wallpaper route, there is always Murals Your Way. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg!  Can’t wait to find more!

Here’s one of my favorite ideas from Ms. Pease.  

…and this is an idea from The Scoop, the blog from Orange Beautiful.  Isn’t it great when you can think of a great wall color outside the usual nursery staples?  What a great starting off point…

OK — getting ready to go back out of town.  Still have a lot scheduled for this month and I’m working really hard on those prayers to add an extra day to the week so I can get everything done…I’ll keep you posted on that, LOL!  Hope you had a great weekend!