ome ideas are born out ofsheer frustration, and some

are 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 Living

gelled for us on a group painting tripto the South of France in May 2005.The trip incorporated the usual learn-ing and painting with the spirit of ca-maraderie and complete enjoymentof adapting to the relaxed Frenchlifestyle. For us, this included shar-ing conversation over long and lus-cious lunches, taking the time to sa-vor beautiful surroundings, deliciousfoods, local wines and enjoying thegood company of fellow artists.

It was there that we de-termined that we wantedto develop an ongoingproject that elevated bothour art and the participat-ing artists with a focus onhow the creation of beauti-ful environments has sucha positive effect on boththe viewer and the cre-ator. Viola! The Art of Liv-ing—a lifestyle 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.

By Melanie Royals, Royal Design Studio

Above: Barb Skivington, left, andMelanie Royals have begun the Art ofLiving™ with the intention of develop-ing purposeful, creative projects thatelevate the art and appreciation ofwell-designed architectural finishesand positively impact the lives ofthose involved.

Nurturing Creative Lifestyles and Livelihoods

The Art of Living

S

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!

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The ProjectOur inaugural project was to pro-

vide a “decorative finish update” for anexisting home in the beautiful Brandy-wine area 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 com-plete the transformation of 10 inte-

rior spaces and a concrete frontporch. All brought a passion for dec-orative painting 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 par-ticipants were in getting more real-world wall experience with sophisti-cated, multi-layer finishes, workingwith a team of artists and making de-cisions “on the fly.”

As is typical in real-world deco-rative finishing, creative challengeswere constantly presenting them-selves during the projects. For in-stance, the client wanting to sudden-ly change the colors or the design,wall surface prep, tight work spacesbecause a piece of furniture couldn’tbe removed, scaffolding on stair-ways and color mixing issues. It waspart of the education to see how oth-er professionals meet these typicaltypes of challenges.

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.

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.

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.

30 FALL2OO6 TheFAUXFinisher

As an example, in the dining room,the previous wall treatment had beena crackle finish that had failed. It re-fused to 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 creative

endeavors, 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 decora-tive finishing 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 oth-er dissatisfying 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,

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, Moni-que Warmus; 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.

Circle Reader Service No. 9

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 en-courage emerging decorative artists.The Art of Living is committed toimplementing future projects thatnurture creative lifestyles and liveli-hoods while benefiting the decora-tive community at large.

Plans are in the works for an ex-tensive work/study series in SanDiego that will include a wide rangeof decorative projects covering allsurfaces and mediums at a new fa-cility being purchased in San Diegoto house the Royal Design Studioand Modello Designs offices/pro-duction facilities/showroom andstudio. Other whole house projectsare being considered as well as aprogram in conjunction with the in-terior design community/furniture

market in High Point, N.C.The finished home in Brandy-

wine, 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 bi-ographies, as well as up to date in-formation on tours times, dates anddirections, please visit the website atwww.artoflivingonline.com. TTFFFF

Melanie Royals is the cre-ative force behind Royal De-sign Studio, an industryleader in the art of stenciling.Melanie continues to pursuethe advancement of stencil-

ing with the decorative painting industry byoffering sophistication, inspiration and edu-cation to decorative paint professionals. Formore information, call (800) 747-9767, orvisit online at www.royaldesignstudio.com.

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.

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