In the last post, I shared a beautiful example of a building facade with a sgraffito pattern. If you are familiar with the dimensional or “embossed” stencil method, it appears as if a giant stencil was placed over the side of the building and a layer of thick plaster was troweled through to create a raised image. Sgraffito is actually a process where a wet layer of plaster is placed over a contrasting color of plaster, the design is transferred, and the plaster is carved (or scratched) back to reveal the first layer in the shape of the design. You will find examples of the sgraffito method of decoration used extensively in Italy and other European cities, as well as Morocco. I have posted Italian examples of sgraffito here before, and many beautiful examples from Marrakech as well. I have even tried to reproduce the look of Sgraffito with our Modello patterns.

In Barcelona it was used quite a bit in the older Gothic Quarter.

Alas, this labor intensive means of decoration has become something of a lost art.

The common use of sgraffito may have had its last swan song at the beginning of the 20th century in the Eixample district of Barcelona, as they were constructing the beautifully detailed buildings that grace this area.

According to our guide on a recent tour there, at that time time labor was cheap and highly skilled craftsman were plentiful, so sgraffito was a “cheap” alternative to more expensive stone facades.

We can be thankful for this today, as the Modernisme movement of Catalunya has left us this gift in the city of Barcelona.

Some of the most stunning examples of Sgraffito can be found at Casa Amatllar, on the “Block of Discord”, right next to Gaudi’s Casa Batlló. This beautiful space, built by architect Puig i Cadafalch has just recently been opened to the public for tours. The photos above show just the open entrance area that anyone can walk into from the street. I unfortunately MISSED the opening time for the tour, but two of the ladies on our group were lucky enough to join a guided tour of the building and IT IS AMAZING with all the walls and ceilings FULL of decorative sgraffito (they sneaked some pics!). They will be closing it down again in a couple of months for a full renovation, but I can guarantee that this is the first place I will try to visit when I return to Barcelona!

Last image via flickr

I have been super fortunate to have been given the opportunity to plan and lead painting adventures to many beautiful cities and countries of the world: France and Italy with my friend Gary Lord, and Marrakech with the help of Maryam Montague. These trips have now actually become an integral part of my business AND personal life. I love doing all the research and planning for both painting and enjoying the local culture, and most especially introducing new experiences to the students who sign on to these trips.  With the help of my friend in Barcelona, Paul Deprez, I have just returned from a 2-week stay in Barcelona and the Catalunya region.

This was my fourth visit to Barcelona, and each time my love for this city grows exponentially. So much so that I am already planning a return painting trip for September 2012! But back to THIS trip….I have so much to share, but thought I should start with the primary reason *cough* for the tour-the decorative painting classes.

The trip was planned to include a 6 night stay in the city and 6 nights in a former monestary in the hills nearby.The monestir, Sant Jeroni de la Murtra, was partially burned and sacked in the 19th century during a widespread backlash against the corruption and power of the church. It is now run by a private foundation that maintains it as a place for solitude, silence, and encourages artistic pursuits.

We were able to set up some small, low-ceilinged rooms as studio spaces to work on a range of projects. I wanted to take the opportunity to incorporate some forthcoming stencils from The Hearst Castle Collection, as these were designs created by Julia Morgan to decorate Hearst Castle in a Spanish/Mediterranean Revival style.

The Delphine Panel sample was done on smooth textured plaster background. We laid in the initial color and pattern with a simple dry-brush stencil technique. I was inspired by the amazing work of Italian artist, Carolina d’Ayala Valva, to overpaint the stenciling with washes of color to create a luminous look.

Some day, I would love to have the opportunity to study with Carolina in her Rome Atelier, but in the meantime I have her wonderful book, which I highly recommend! After painting with watered-down acrylics (as opposed to the traditional egg tempera) the painting on plaster was sanded to distress, and given a soft toning glaze.

Here is lovely Nancy showing off her own completed panel.

Another panel that I have taken from Julia Morgan’s amazing architectural drawings is the Pescado Panel. It is full of whimsical birds and fish that appear almost happy to have been caught-ha!

This panel is stenciled with three colors of our new Royal Stencil Cremes over a background of composition gold leaf. The gold leaf has been patinated and distressed with a safe chemical process that I am still perfecting-as much as you “can” perfect a chemical process! Once I have it a little more “under control”, I will surely share the details.

Another project that we worked on was a faux tile mural. For this we again used upcoming Hearst Castle Collection stencils. In this case we simply used them as patterns to trace and then add loose hand painting to create the look of classic Portuguese tiles. My sample above shows the mural in various stages of  completion. I hope to finish the mural in the next couple of weeks. It was thrilling for me to have the time to actually pick up a brush and paint, as it seems my hands are most often attached to a computer keyboard these days!

This study shows the final effect of the last step-adding a China Crackle layer (from Modern Masters) and rubbing in a toning glaze to reveal the cracks and add depth and aging.

Here is a completed mural by Debbie Hayes, who was the fastest painter of the bunch of us! It’s quite beautiful, isn’t it? All of the stencils featured in the projects above will be available soon from Royal Design Studio stencils!

Another decorative style that is synonymous with Barcelona is Modernisme, the uniquely Catalunyan version of Art Nouveau. I wanted to honor that heritage, and so we also did a tecnique using metallic foils with a new Modello Marquetry Masking Pattern stencil from Modello Designs.

On our way from Barcelona to the monestir, we stopped at Espintura Studio to do an embedded tile pattern technique with SkimStone and a Modello masking pattern.

Now that I am back, I’m continuing to work on the videos and lessons for my next Virtual Workshop combining these two mediums.

I hope you enjoyed seeing our painting samples from Barcelona! As I said above, I am already planning a return trip in Sept. 2012, so drop me an email if you want to be the first to get those details when they become available!. The details on this recent trip are still available here.

 You can view more photos from the Barcelona painting class and trip in my flickr sets!

Having two companies can be a lot like having two children. You love each one passionately and strive to give them equal amounts of time and attention. It can be hard to maintain that balance, though, when one or the other becomes more “needy”. And so, while lately I have been focusing a lot on my “oldest” child Royal Design Studio, which sells reusable, “designer” mylar stencils since 1994, my “baby” Modello Designs (one-time-use vinyl masking stencils) has been feeling neglected and is frankly starting to get a bit jealous. And so, my darling Modello Designs, I am committing some quality time to spend with you, and promise to show you off and brag about you here once a week!

This will not be hard, as you can do amazing things! While your Royal stencil sister excels at creating beautiful repetitive pattern, YOU truly shine when it comes to creating custom-designed, custom fit patterns. Take this recent project by my good friend and Italy traveling buddy, Gary Lord, of Prismatic Painting Studio and Gary Lord Wall Options.

Gary worked with our in-house custom Modello designer extraordinaire, Michelle, to modify some of our existing designs for an amazing kitchen cabinet conversion.

Each Modello vinyl stencil pattern was designed to fit the various door panel spaces perfectly, so that Gary could simply place them and focus on his artistry rather than the frustration of trying to fit the patterns to individual spaces.

Gary used an elegant trompe l’oeil painting technique that Alison Wooley shared on one of our painting trips to Italy.

Using multiple values of the same color and applying some hand painted touches over a quickly stenciled base color that was applied through the Modello patterns, Gary created a kitchen masterpiece! What will our Modello customers cook up next?! Stay tuned, and see….

Regina Garay, of the awesome Fauxology blog, posts daily about all things related to decorative art and inspiration. One of her regular features is “Fauxcus on the Pros“, and I am proud to now be included on that list with a two-part post that ran yesterday and today.

One of the questions that Regina posed to me related to how I got started in this business *cough* 20-something-something years ago. That led ME on a mind trip down memory lane.

One of the things I share there is what an influence the book, The Art of Decorative Stenciling by Adele Bishop and Cile Lord, had on igniting the interest passion that I have had for stencils for the better part of my life now.

This book by these two women literally put modern American stenciling on the map in 1976 (coinciding with the bicentennial), and their commercial work in the 60′s and early 70′s elevated stenciling to an artform that is rarely matched to this day.

As I spoke of in the Fauxology profile, it’s sad that their body of work occurred before the digital age and so little is known of them or can be found through normal online channels.

The book, however, remains-though out of print. I suggest you snatch one today on Amazon!

Is there any other flower that inspires more color lust than a rose? That is the question posed in this month’s House Beautiful’s  Paint Palette page-one of my favorite parts of the magazine. Last month, we looked at Shades of Sea Glass.

This month’s palette features my favorite floral color combination: hot pink, pale rose, and orange-y coral. I used this color combination as the theme for my wedding flowers last August. Below, they are realized in some inspirational room settings with Royal Design Studio stencils…..

Small Acanthus Trellis wall stencil in hot pink and fuschia.

Kimono Allover Japanese wall stencil in a soft, soothing coral.

Foliate Damask allover wall stencil in petal pink on golden yellow.

Small Berry Romantic floral wall stencil in hot pink, cranberry, and coral.

Large Allover Brocade damask wall stencil in cream over a dusty coral base.

Silk Road Suzani wall stencil in rose over the palest petal pink. Don’t forget to stop and smell the roses today!

All it took was one look at the cover of this book  Walls-The Best of Decorative Treatments by Florence De Dampierre to get me to rush to Amazon and click “yes please!” There has been SUCH a long, tortuous drought of new books on decorative painting, it was such a relief to see some renewed interest and the possibility of some new inspiration. I saw the word “stencil” on the cover and imagined a few pages might be focusing on stenciled images.  What I was NOT expecting was a full 48-page chapter contained the most detailed history of stenciling that I’ve ever seen documented in one place, plus eye candy photos galore!

The chapter begins with a rundown of stenciling through the ages, hitting the Paleolithic caves at Lascaux, stenciling in ancient Egypt, Rome, China, and the Middle East, and it just gets better and better from there. I am just sharing some tidbits and highlights here to give you a taste of this delicious volume. So, come with me (and dear Florence) on a brief tour of stencils and stencil art through the ages….

The photo above shows 15th century stenciling on plaster walls from the King’s Room of the Treasurer’s house in Yorkshire, England.Stenciled pattern became an integral part of wall decoration throughout Europe, beginning in the 14th century after being introduced in England in the Middle Ages. Stenciling was used extensively along with handpainted accents and to frame murals in castles and churches throughout England, France, and Italy during this time.

Alas, stenciling has always been prone to getting “a bad rap”, even in the 16th century. Stenciling on walls nearly disappeared for awhile after a trade group, the Painter-Stainers Company of London declared stencils as

“a deceitful work and destructive of creative painting, being a great hinderer of ingenuousness, a cherisher of idleness and laziness in all the said art”.

I respectfully beg to differ….I have heard sentiments along these lines over the years, but have always viewed stenciled as an amazing tool for creativity and artistic expression. And besides, even if they are used just to bang out printed pattern on a wall, the end result is a product of hand crafting and self-expression. So there!

The photo above shows restored stenciling from a former 1780′s  inn and tavern in New England. This quintessential type of stenciled pattern was common throughout colonial America. More economical than wallpaper, it was also “sold” as a more sanitary way to decorate walls; wallpaper at the time could be a breeding ground for bugs and other vermin. Eewwwww. The stenciling was typically done by travelling, itinerant painters who would work in exchange for room and board. They mixed their paint from skimmed milk, lime, oil and whiting (finely ground chalk) and tinted it with pigments taken from their environment. The color red could come from iron filings, brick dust, or berry juice. Yellow came from clay, black from soot, and green could come from the green rust of copper (verdigris). Most of these artists remain nameless. However, the discovery of Moses Eaton’s stencil kit containing 78 stencils in the 1930′s allowed for the match of his hand cut patterns to a large body of remaining stenciled walls throughout New England. It was exactly THIS type of stenciling that drew me in to this artform back in the 80′s during a trip to New England, and I must say that this is looking rather lovely to me all over again!

Rufus Porter was another well-known stencil artist of the time, whose specialty was stencil enhanced fresco murals depicting villages and landscapes. With the help of stencils, Porter could paint a whole room with a fanciful scene in about 5 hours. Not only was this more economical than mass-produced wallpaper of the time, it was also considered to be more stylish and less impersonal. The same could be said of stencils vs. wallpaper today-and I just said it!

After falling out of favor yet again, stenciling made a somewhat brief comeback in the United States during the Victorian era of the late 1800′s, with an emphasis on “elaborate”. None other than Louis Comfort Tiffany (yes, the lamps!) designed stencils for Mark Twain’s New England home and for his own mansion on Long Island, where he filled his walls with stenciled canvases filled with Islamic, Indian, and Mediterranean motifs. Another artist of the time, Frederic Edwin Church, also shared a love of “Orientalism”, and the beauty and abilities of stenciled pattern after traveling through the Middle East and Europe. A well-known fine artist of The Hudson River School of Painters, Church filled the walls and surfaces of HIS Hudson River mansion, Olana (which one can VISIT today!) with gorgeous color combinations and arabesque motifs.

There are also many rich examples of stenciling throughout Mexico, and most prominently in the town of San Miquel de Allende. Stencil patterns in Mexico represent a blend of native indian, conquering Spanish, and even 19th century french design-all of which are on gorgeous display in the three photos above.

Moving on to more contemporary applications, there are some very well-known designers who appreciate the beauty, flexibility, and artistry that stenciled patterns can add to an interior design scheme. Sometime they are used as subtle accents, and sometimes they MAKE the statement, as is the case of this Moroccan stenciled pattern as used by designer Martyn Lawrence-Bullard in a Los Angeles dining room. I shared some more of Mr. Lawrence-Bullard’s work recently in this blog post. He certainly DOES have an elegant way with stencils.

And lastly, and speaking of elegant, this has to be one of my favorite stencil applications ever: gilded wall and ceiling stenciling by Joseph Shoskovitch in the New York City apartment of fashion designer Mary McFadden. This aesthetic is a true reflection of the designer’s tastes and creations, which pull heavily from ancient civilizations and exotic locations.

If you are miraculously NOT yet convinced that you NEED this book, check out this post on Katiedid which give a great overview on all the contents of the book. You see, it wasn’t ALL about stenciling; there are sections on the history of mural, wood panels, and wallpaper as well!

Well, I’ve finally gone and done it. For the first time in my long and stencil-y life I have my very own vanity signature line of stencil paint: Royal Stencil Cremes. Available now for your stenciling pleasure in 10 deliciously shiny and sassy metallic colors.

You can read all about how fabulous Royal Stencil Creme paints are for stenciling projects here in this handy “How to Use Royal Stencil Cremes” booklet that my talented creative assistant Lauren and I created for you. Meanwhile, I just wanted to share part of a DIY Stencil project that Lauren was keen to do for her own apartment.

You see, Lauren is a very stylish girl with a fabulous jewelry collection culled from assorted Etsy artisans, and she wanted to create a special space to store them within easy reach.

So, we gathered some supplies including a cork board, foam roller, stencil brush, 1″ Blue Painter’s Tape, NEW Royal Stencil Creme colors, and a Japanese Scallops stencil from Royal Design Studio-one of her favorites.

First things first, we got ourselves some good quality paint to basecoat the cork board. I know that some people like to cheap out on paint, but seriously, it’s not worth it! Good paint will cover better, and even out nicely. We got Behr’s Premium Plus paint in Ultra White right off the shelf at Home Depot. Two coats did it.

A general rule with stenciling is that “a little paint goes a long way”. With Royal Stencil Cream colors, a little paint goes a REALLY long way. (That’s a good thing) It is very important to use a very “dry” brush to keep excess paint from seeping under the stencil edges. Lauren put just a small amount of Stencil Creme out on a paper or plastic plate and dipped  just the tips of the brush into the paint. Then she rubbed a bit on a clean part of the plate and offloaded EVEN MORE paint on a stack of good paper towels. The idea is to make sure the paint is distributed evenly throughout the brush bristles AND make sure that the brush doesn’t have an excessive amount of paint left on it. Trust me, you won’t need it.

Lauren centered the stencil on the cork board (see detailed instructions) and filled in the open stencil areas. Smart girl that she is, she waited until the brush was a bit dryer before moving to the edges and pushing the stencil into the corners-again avoiding paint “run-unders”. It’s so much funner NOT to have to do touchups. Note: If you EVER see nicely painted finger nails in a photo on here, you will know it’s NOT me!

The Royal Stencil Creme colors also work great for regular painting. Two thin coats around the frame (note the protective tape) covered the frame quite nicely. OK, so this was the short and sweet version. For the long, detailed version of this DIY stencil project click here.

Lauren used T-pins (Office Depot) to hang some of her favorite coordinating jewelry pieces. Yes, I’m jealous. Until she decides where on the wall to permanently hang the board, she just has it leaning up against the wall, which seems perfectly fine too! I was thinking if you have a lot of nice jewelry and plenty of wall space it would be super fun to create a series of boards in different patterns and colors and put together some curated jewelry collections on them. If you are someone who has that jewelry making and selling gene, this would make for some interesting displays!

Like I said, you can read all the details about Royal Stencil Creme colors here, but I just wanted to show you how beautiful the Antique Gold color worked on this woven placemat. It pretty much covered in one coat (OK, I DID add a tiny bit more here and there) and you can see how wonderfully crispy and clean the edges are. I am a very crispy and clean kind of girl, so this thrills me. Now, I’ve been doing this for awhile, but seriously, the Stencil Cremes are designed to make stenciling easy for beginners, pros, and everyone in between.

Would you love to be able to see all the colors firsthand? We have a card for that! We will send you a FREE hand painted color card with any Royal Design Studio stencil web order. Just be sure to check the order box on this page or ask for it if you call us.

Here are the handy links again:
Royal Stencil Creme Colors
Introduction to Royal Stencil Cremes
DIY Stencil Project: Jewelry Cork Board

Sea glass is the beautiful,  natural result of something “not so pretty” OR natural: littering. Glass bottles and jars that are tossed or washed into the sea get broken up and tossed about in the currents. Over time, the sharp edges of the shards of glass get worn down and the surface becomes etched by constant contact with waves, water, and sand.

Sea glass can be found in many colors, but some of the most lovely are soft shades of blue/green.

This beautiful photo of a set of doorways in Old Havana, as seen in the current issue of House Beautiful caught my eye. Not only because I LOVE historical architecture, and anything that looks distressed, crusty, rusty, faded, well-used and well-loved. The colors also reminded me of blue/green sea glass, and we have been using these colors quite a bit in our inspirational stencil pattern photos….

Our new Encantada Damask wall stencil from The Hearst Castle Collection.

Our delicate Oriental Vine allover wall stencil.

Yes, this one isn’t blue or green, but I had to include it, because the Endless Circle Lattice stencil pattern is shown in the door grillwork above, and the black and white add a certain “punch” to the page, don’t you think?

Back to blue, the Linked In modern wall stencil looks very fresh on a white wall….

…and the Large Phoebe’s Tulip Vine stencil (also from The Hearst Castle Collection) is perhaps the freshest Spring look of all! Authentic sea glass is becoming more and more rare, but you can certainly bring the soft colors into your home or decorative painting project with the right shades of paint!

Lisa of Lisa Goulet Design, an interior decorator in Ottawa, Canada recently posted a simple and elegant stencil transformation on her blog that is too chic not to share here.

Lisa’s foyer before. Nothing horrible here, yet nothing memorable either.

Lisa used our classic and simple Moorish Trellis stencil in a creamy white over the golden beige walls. The black painted doors add so much sophistication,  and would be a brilliant idea to copy if your daring and want to add some designer dash to a neutral space.

These other views give you a good idea how the stencil design is used in a limited area, yet relates well to the surrounding spaces. Do you have a Royal Design Studio stencil transformation up your sleeve that you would like to see posted here?? If so, please share!

Are you loving all the digital design magazines that are popping up everywhere these days?? Personally, I prefer the feel of paper over plastic keyboards, but I find it exciting that so much design inspiration is coming through amongst the email clutter I receive daily. I was SUPER excited last week, when I got the email announcing the latest edition of High Gloss magazine. This is the second issue of this magazine, which is the brainchild of Paloma Contrares of the blog, La Dolce Vita.

While quickly scrolling the current issue and guzzling coffee, I nearly choked when I saw one of my original stencil designs, Chez Sheik, featured on a page spread called “Get the Look” of  Martyn Lawrence Bullard.

Now, I had previously not heard of Mr. Lawrence-Bullard (though I have probably seen his work multiple times!), and I dare say it’s quite possible he has still never heard of me, but I am certainly happy for the association-however small. He will be one of the design stars on the upcoming Bravo show, Million Dollar Decorators (which looks like wicked fun!)  Besides designing rooms for celebs such as Elton John and Cher, he has designed a seriously awesome furniture line, as well as fabrics, rugs, and candles. I had a grand old time looking through his company website at projects like these…

Yes, that’s a pink and white stenciled ceiling with a red rug. I especially loved seeing this as I am planning on doing a deep pink ceiling in my home office that already has an alcove done in deep metallic red tones. More favs….

I had wanted to do big sliding doors in my work studio, but didn’t. Something like this “would have” been nice!

I’m not sure if this is wallpaper or stenciling, but it’s divine and Cheryl Tiegs agrees!

Amazing embroidery and the hanging tapestry reminds me of the black and gold mural we did in Marrakech.

Simply put. I want that arched carving and mirrored wall!

This is the same wall pattern from above. Check out the chest here.

I could TOTALLY curl up with a book on this couch-and I love nuts!

Not many people would enjoy this much pattern in a room-but I’m not one of THOSE people. Hope you enjoyed! Do you have a favorite?