September 7th, 2007
In Love with Lime
Wow! I have been SO busy in the studio. I have so much to share and so little time! I was just reworking some of the samples for our Italy trip and feeling very happy with the results so I want to share! One of the finishes we will do is meant to replicate some of the gorgeousl woven silk fabrics found at Antico Setificio Fiorentino.
This one is done with Oikos’ Kreos material, which is much like a really thick, somewhat gritty paint. It’s fabulous for creating highly textured looks. For this I troweled on the lighter color and then stria’d it with their Corduroy tool (which resembles really cheap Astroturf). It works better than anything I’ve tried before for creating a slightly irregular stria with lots of nice “nubs”. Once dry I used a stencil and was actually able to roll on the darker color through the stencil and stria through it with a brush without pushing the product under the stencil-even over a textured surface. You really can’t see it well in the photo, but the finishing touch is using two different colors of mica-tinted Bee’s Wax (from Kathy Carroll) and manipulating them a bit.
I wanted to rework the Sgraffito finish done earlier for another room and found that the combination of using a 10mil Modello for the main pattern and just a bit of “scratching” with a sharp tool for the vein details makes it look like I was scratching and carving all day-not! I LOVE the Oikos Travertino texture on the background on this one.
Most of the finishes we will be doing in Alison’s studio need to be kept fairly simple and neutral, as they will serve as backdrops for her own beautiful handpainted and gilded furniture pieces. This Oikos Lime Wash (actually it’s called Pittura Calce Verona) with some handpainted accents will hopefully fill that bill. All of these products can be ordered through Kathy’s site here.
This one uses Safra lime plasters from the School of Italian Plasters and is a sample to test the technique for some cartouche designs what will go around a door and as a frame for artwork. It is a Marmorino base with Calcenova Arredo through the Modello. I have not done much personally with lime plasters in the past, but after the last week, I think I am hooked! Now, to tackle some real walls…..
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September 8th, 2007 at 11:17 pm
Wow Melanie, these are amazing… as usual!! I especially like the first one. Thanks for sharing.
Rhonda
September 9th, 2007 at 9:04 am
Thanks Rhonda! I think I may have to do that finish somewhere in the new building as well. It’s even prettier in person!
September 9th, 2007 at 2:05 pm
I am sure that it is stunning in person. Ok, so which class is this finish going to be in?? I think I am going to be spending a lot of time in San Diego over the next few months. Thank goodness I can still work at the beginning of the week and on the weekends. Thank goodness for large jobs that you can re-arrange your schedule for small get-aways like these.
September 11th, 2007 at 3:04 pm
that first image is just beyond gorgeous. Ahem, that would be just perfect for, you know, a hypothetical project in Marrakech:-)
September 30th, 2007 at 9:43 pm
I’ve searched and searched, but can’t find the corduroy tool you mentioned anywhere. Can you please tell me where to find it? I love the look of the finish it creates!