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Arts & Entertainment

The Beauty of Faux

"Fool the eye" by adding a dynamic faux finish to your Oconee County home.

opened your eyes to the possibility of something other than plain paint on your Oconee County walls.  The beautiful world of wallpaper holds an enormous variety of possibilities for enhancing your space and creating depth and texture to your room.  There is another truly fine art that can be customized for this same purpose: faux finish.

Archeologists have uncovered decorative finishes on wall surfaces in ancient Egypt dating back over 5,000 years.

Faux finish was a much sought after skill during Classical Times when the art of faux required a ten year apprenticeship under artists who were considered masters.  The art form included plaster and stucco used in addition to paints and metallic leafing in embellishment of walls and surfaces.  As a faux finish specialist, the goal was to actually trick viewers into believing their work was the real thing. 

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It is a painting style that gives an optical illusion of depth or distance where there is only a flat surface. The technique uses shadows and receding lines to trick the eye into believing there is something in the distance when there is really only paint on the wall.

Despite a vast array of selections available in today’s wallpaper industry,  faux painting has continued to be popular, and many wallpaper designs actually mimic faux painting in both surface design and mural design.

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Throughout history,  faux finishing has been mainly used in commercial and public spaces until the more recent attention to home décor came into vogue through  popular television shows and do-it-yourself publications.

Fool the eye, but don’t fool yourself!  Faux finishing is a highly acquired skill requiring hours of practice and instruction and hundreds of dollars in specialty equipment, paints, and glazes.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a BAD amateur faux finish.  Irregular dabs with a cheap sponge of one paint color over another, clumsy corners where the top coat stops short, horrible attempts at stucco application.  It’s not for the novice.  However, it is a highly desirable finish when properly applied.

Faux finish is another way to add visual weight  to an area with other substantial textures in the room.  One might choose faux finish over wallpaper if perhaps the light in the room is such that wallpaper seams might more readily show, or if a very specific color, like to match a rug, is desired.  Or perhaps you have difficulty getting the exact correct background shade in a wallpaper which is complimentary to an existing marble floor.  Solution? Faux finish.

Faux finish can also be used on a surface that is not friendly to the installation process involved in wallpaper, for example, a very steep ceiling in a foyer, or a window wall where the view is so spectacular you want the walls to mimic the outdoors with a custom mural surrounding the actual windows.

It can be applied to many surfaces, whereas wallpaper can not.  My talented friend Brenda, who has extensive training,  painted the floors in the living room of our 100-year-old house to look like mahogany finished plank.  She used special, highly durable paints and varnishes so that 15 years later our painted floor is still in perfect condition.

If you are even slightly artistic, are the type of person that pays attention to detail and patience is your virtue,  you will enjoy learning the art of faux finish.  Perhaps you might even find yourself considering that skill as a business with a very flexible schedule.  There are numerous classes, books, and videos available to learn the art. 

Oconee is blessed to have several talented faux finish artists in our community.  These artists will listen to your vision or help you create one, as well as provide sketches and samples to you for inspiration and final selection.  It’s a very exciting process to watch!  You will have an enormous respect for your artist when all is complete!

Most all local interior designers also have experience in specifying faux finishes and are also acquainted with the local artisans, so utilize that resource if you aren’t sure how to proceed on your own.

Why look at a plain old wall when you can turn it into a work of art!  Use your imagination and give it some thought!

 

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