The Art of Living - Modello Designs

By Melanie Royals, Royal Design StudioThe Artof LivingSome ideas are born out ofsheer frustration, and someare born from sheer bliss. This one,fortunately, came from the latter.My friend and colleague, BarbSkivington, director of Faux Worksstudio, and I had long discussed thepossibility of embarking on a jointeducational project.The IdeaThe idea for the Art of Livinggelled for us on a group painting tripto the South of France in May 2005.The trip incorporated the usual learningand painting with the spirit of camaraderieand complete enjoymentof adapting to the relaxed Frenchlifestyle. For us, this included sharingconversation over long and lusciouslunches, taking the time to savorbeautiful surroundings, deliciousfoods, local wines and enjoying thegood company of fellow artists.Nurturing Creative Lifestyles and LivelihoodsIt was there that we determinedthat we wantedto develop an ongoingproject that elevated bothour art and the participatingartists with a focus onhow the creation of beautifulenvironments has sucha positive effect on boththe viewer and the creator.Viola! The Art of Living—alifestyle project andapprenticeship program!The bathroom project involved a multi-layer finishthat combined Plastertex, Bellisimo VenetianGem and a soft glaze with an embedded randomstencil. The end result was an elegant neutral finishwith depth and dimension that complemented thetumbled marble tile used throughout.Above: Barb Skivington, left, andMelanie Royals have begun the Art ofLiving with the intention of developingpurposeful, creative projects thatelevate the art and appreciation ofwell-designed architectural finishesand positively impact the lives ofthose involved.The most ambitious house project had the participants installing, painting, gilding,patinating and waxing a two-layer ornate Modello panel pattern on the dining roomceiling. The results are nothing short of stunning and well worth the time spentwith arms stretched overhead. Having a massage therapist come in to treat us allin turn in a room nearby wasn’t bad either!FALL2OO6 TheFAUXFinisher 29

Each apprentice/participant created his or her own sample of eachproject finish. This reverse-gilded glass table for the dining roomwas finished off with layers of metallic spray paint that were appliedlightly enough so that light filters through and provides a lovely“frosted” finish.Rick Fischer led the instruction on applying the Skim-Stone concrete resurfacing product on the coveredfront porch, mixing custom colors for the backgroundand decorative Modello treatments to complementthe beautiful stone on the house’s exterior.Barb Skivington designed the kitchen and living room projects to utilizethe unique aspects of the Faux Effects RS Stone product. Thekitchen features an inlaid Modello pattern above a diagonal tiletreatment while the “Country Chateau Plaster” finish in the livingroom uses the “pull-off” properties of the plaster to create a look thatis ideal for creating warmth and textural movement in large spaces.The ProjectOur inaugural project was to providea “decorative finish update” for anexisting home in the beautiful Brandywinearea of Pennsylvania. The homewas already furnished in a FrenchCountry style and is the residence ofSuzanne Steele, an interior designer.The Brandywine project wasdone over two five-day sessions andincluded 20 participants of varyingexperience and skill levels to completethe transformation of 10 interiorspaces and a concrete frontporch. All brought a passion for decorativepainting and for learning newtechniques and finishes. Many werealso drawn to the fact that all tourproceeds are earmarked for localbreast cancer charities. Some of thegreat “lessons” of the project for participantswere in getting more realworldwall experience with sophisticated,multi-layer finishes, workingwith a team of artists and making decisions“on the fly.”A beautiful French distressed damask finish wascreated for this bedroom by applying Sandstone indifferent manners for different layers, ranging from ahard, thin trowel, to sponging/knocking down andworking very lightly with a flexible trowel for a hereand there “lacy” look.As is typical in real-world decorativefinishing, creative challengeswere constantly presenting themselvesduring the projects. For instance,the client wanting to suddenlychange the colors or the design,wall surface prep, tight work spacesbecause a piece of furniture couldn’tbe removed, scaffolding on stairwaysand color mixing issues. It waspart of the education to see how otherprofessionals meet these typicaltypes of challenges.30 FALL2OO6 TheFAUXFinisher

The June apprenticeshipprogram (from left), Row 1:Raina Gentry, MelanieRoyals, Suzanne Steele,Barb Skivington, LaurenGaines, Bernadette Forese;Row 2: Linda Huddle, SherrieBranson, Beth Hohman, JaneBevins, Kirsten Biggs, MoniqueWarmus; Row 3: DavidPayseur and Rick Fischer.Offering a touch of the Orient, thepowder bath features a wall with afloor to ceiling Japanese CherryBlossom tree that was created withModello decorative masking patternand layers of Lusterstone, PaletteDeco and Interference Colors.As an example, in the dining room,the previous wall treatment had beena crackle finish that had failed. It refusedto crackle—until 10 years laterwhen we tried to go over it! We madeit work for us, though, and ended upwith a beautiful cracked Italianleather look to die for.The FutureAs happens with many creativeendeavors, what sometimes starts asa simple concept morphs and growsinto something with more impactand purpose.One of the main themes thatemerged from the sessions and fromlearning the “back stories” of thevarious participants is that decorativefinishing is a creative industrythat has the ability to draw people in,lift them up, and move them closerto becoming the fulfilled artist thatthey were meant to be.So many people come into thisbusiness after years of working in otherdissatisfying careers or otherwisebeing in situations that didn’t nurturetheir creative souls or allow them toexplore their full potential. Decorativefinishing, as a career or an avocation,Circle Reader Service No. 9

The May apprenticeship program (fromleft), Row 1: Lory Strickland, LaurenGaines, Bernadette Forese, SuzanneSteele; Row 2: Amy Perou, Jennifer Bright-Blazek, Melanie Royals, Barb Skivington;Row 3: Diane O’Conner, Tammie Murphy,Sherry Funk, Michele Scherer, MoniqueLawrence and Diane Piacentino.offers so much more than just theopportunity to trowel or paint—itprovides people with more powerover their lives and futures.An ongoing goal for our projectsis to find ways to facilitate and encourageemerging decorative artists.The Art of Living is committed toimplementing future projects thatnurture creative lifestyles and livelihoodswhile benefiting the decorativecommunity at large.Plans are in the works for an extensivework/study series in SanDiego that will include a wide rangeof decorative projects covering allsurfaces and mediums at a new facilitybeing purchased in San Diegoto house the Royal Design Studioand Modello Designs offices/productionfacilities/showroom andstudio. Other whole house projectsare being considered as well as aprogram in conjunction with the interiordesign community/furnituremarket in High Point, N.C.The finished home in Brandywine,Pa., will be open for tours inOctober. The first tour coincideswith the 15th Annual Wine Festivalat the Dilworthtown Inn, with alltour proceeds benefiting The CancerCenter of Chester County.For more information on the Artof Living project, photos of theprocess and outcome, participant biographies,as well as up to date informationon tours times, dates anddirections, please visit the website atwww.artoflivingonline.com. TFFMelanie Royals is the creativeforce behind Royal DesignStudio, an industryleader in the art of stenciling.Melanie continues to pursuethe advancement of stencilingwith the decorative painting industry byoffering sophistication, inspiration and educationto decorative paint professionals. Formore information, call (800) 747-9767, orvisit online at www.royaldesignstudio.com.netADVANTAGEGo Shop BuyVisit these schools and suppliers on the web!3Mwww.mmm.comAdicolor Inc.www.adicolor.comAnything But Plainwww.anythingbutplain.comArt I Matrixwww.artimatrix.comAtovawww.paintandplasters.comDesigner Finisheswww.designerfinishes.comDundean Studioswww.dundean.comFaux Effects Internationalwww.fauxeffects.comFaux Martwww.fauxmart.comFaux Masters Studiowww.fauxmasters.comThe Faux Finisherwww.fauxfinishermagazine.comThe Faux Schoolwww.thefauxschool.comRalph Laurenwww.rlhome.polo.comModello Designswww.modellodesigns.comModern Masterswww.modernmasters.comMurals Pluswww.muralsplus.comRebecca Parsonswww.fauxisme.comPro Fauxwww.profaux.comSchool of Applied Artswww.schoolofappliedarts.orgSchool of Italian Plasterswww.italianplasters.comStar Scenic Suplywww.starscenic.comStoney Brookwww.stoneybrookpaper.comUnique Home/Ladder Valetwww.uniquehomeconcepts.comVahallan Paperswww.vahallan.comVidi i Sogniwww.vidisognidesign.comWood Icingwww.woodicing.comWoosterwww.wooster.com32 FALL2OO6 TheFAUXFinisher