Showing posts with label faux bois. Show all posts
Showing posts with label faux bois. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

The brush strokes of Faux Bois and The Winner!






The art of faux bois is the art of replicating wood. It can be done in the strictest sense, attempting to create an identical reproduction, or can be artistically interpreted to give the basic appearance of wood. It can be a rather daunting task to be given the request that this door needs to match another door standing right next to it. 

The woodgraining masters in North America include Mike MacNeil, Nicola Vigini and Pierre Finkelstein. However, there are also many decorative artists who do beautiful woodgraining. Pat Ganino, of Creative Evolution in Durham, Connecticut, produced the beautiful "wood" niche above, as well as the fireplace and column faux bois below.




Isn't the detail amazing?


 
I never would have guessed that this column started out white!






Check out Pat's restaurant counter. Yes, it IS faux bois!


credit


When I moved into my studio, I was given pressed wood doors and walls to greet my clients. Obviously, this needed to be changed! I chose this door as my inspiration. I wanted the door to be "old" to fit in with the style of the old warehouse it resided in. I love the wood's patina.


Source Unknown


Here was my lovely start.




I first had to fill in the awful texture and make it somewhat presentable. A paint basecoat was added and then I began the graining process. It looks a bit odd right now, but every other "board" was done and allowed to dry before I filled in the other boards.




Ta Da!  The finished door. After the woodgraining was done, several layers of tinted wax were applied to tone the color and add the dirt and grime.




A closer look...




These kitchen cabinets were woodgrained by Judy Mulligan, a decorative artist in New Jersey who works with the fab interior designer, Marshall Watson. Look for an upcoming post on Judy's gorgeous work.


House Beautiful July / August 2010  Photo by Roger Davies  Artist: Judy Mulligan with Marshall Watson


This library cabinetry was also woodgrained.



Designers Here and There      Photo by Grey Crawford


Artist Tina Wainwright added her woodgraining touch to these living room panels.



Traditional Home May 2010  Photo by Werner Straube Artist: Tina Wainwright



Traditional Home May 2010  Photo by Werner Straube Artist: Tina Wainwright


An artist in Kentucky took a creative approach to creating this "wood" door by first applying gold foil to the white door and graining with acrylic stains by Faux Effects.




This accent wall shows off hip faux bois panels in a new, contemporary home. 



Wood is always a classic. It fits in anywhere. If you cannot hire Greet ( of the Belgian Pearls blog) Lefevre's company, Lefevre Interiors,  to install beautiful wood panelling, consider calling a decorative artist to create it for you!



And now, I am happy to announce the winner of my 100th post giveaway hydrangea wreath!

The winner is  Leigha Oaks of the elle oh blog. Congratulations, Leigha! As soon as I finish the wreath, I'll post its photograph before shipping it over to Portland.

A big thank you to all of you who entered! The response was exciting!

Sunday, September 6, 2009

The Studio in Photos


For those of you who have asked to see what the Great Lakes Decorative Arts Studio looks like, here it is!

The Studio is located in the former Lake Erie Screw Factory in Lakewood, Ohio. It is a 2  minute drive from I90. The wonderful old factory houses over 50 various sized artisan studios. We hold an Open House twice a year, which is when most of these photos were taken. The studio is divided into two areas, the classroom and the work room. I keep the work room private; it is filled with products, works in progress, tools, ladders and anything else you can think of!


When I moved in...
When I moved in...


After a little lime plaster and rust
After a little lime plaster and rust


Welcome to the Open House!

Coming into the classroom area
Coming into the classroom area


Here is the wall of finishes... in several pics

Finishes- first
Finishes...



Wall of finishes- two
Wall of finishes- two


Wall of finishes- three
Wall of finishes- three


Wall of finishes- four
Wall of finishes- four


The other long wall
The other long wall


In an upcoming post, I'll tell you a bit about that gorgeous Art Deco screen that you see in the first photo.