Bella Terre

Understanding Fundamentals Brings Rewards

Gary says…Being professional finishers in the faux and decorative paint industry for over three decades has given us bragging rights to say that we have tackled everything from creating paleolithic cave art to contemporary abstract wallscapes. We attribute our successes to the attention to service and our investment in mastering the historically correct faux finishing techniques, along with the study of art history. Investing in both our educations has provided us a solid foundation to build on.

Years ago, I wrote an article about a dream job transforming a gym into a French-style venue called The Ville (Faux EffectsWorld, Vol. V). Well, that wonderful job led to creating the theme for an Italian wedding venue nestled within the scenic acres on the layered landscape of the Loess Hills river valley outside of Omaha, Nebraska. Bella Terre was born with the owners’, Deb and John Scanlan, vision to bring a slice of Italy to Glenwood, Iowa, complete with a vineyard, a million dollar view and a marketable area for destination weddings. (www.bellaterre.com) Deborah Drager, founder of artFORMS by D2, LLC, was contracted to oversee the transformation for the space. She called upon her architect friend, Mike Siewert, who designed The Ville, to create the architectural renderings needed to build “the set” to reflect scenes in Italy from the many photos taken by the Scanlans. A year later, the set was built by the Olson Brothers, and in February, 2012, Deborah and her creative team began to give the white walls an Italian personality.

Deborah says…One of the key members of my creative team was Gary Lord, who in a week’s time single-handedly added a lustrous sunset to moonrise sky over the dance floor with normal acrylic paints incorporated with phosphorescent paints that actually glow in the dark. In natural lighting, the sky appears to be a normal painted sky, but when the lights go dim and the phosphorescent paints are charged up with light, the entire scene glows and becomes a night sky with clouds and a bright moon on the horizon. Gary also painted a fantasy planetary sky above the bridal party stage using invisible fluorescent paints and can only be seen when they are illuminated with ultra violet black light. For an extra thrill the viewer can adorn 3-D Chromavision glasses, and the entire planetary system becomes 3-D in appearance. Gary also created an allover faded Damask wallpaper atop a faux bois dado in the burnished Venetian room. Gary assisted with polishing, waxing, embossing stencils, coloring stone, and more.

Having a seasoned professional on the site that did not require any hand-holding or training made the job move on schedule, to be completed with staining 7,500 square feet of concrete in time for the first wedding on May 5, 2012. The Cinco di Mayo wedding was beautifully received, and we came back through August to add Phase 2.

Gary and I invested many hundreds, perhaps thousands, of hours laboring over sample boards, not only experimenting in our studios but learning techniques in classrooms from coast to coast from the dozens of highly respected seasoned professional instructors throughout the Faux Effects International, Inc. (FEI) network of artisans. If we were not teaching ourselves or in training with others, most of our waking moments in the field were talking with others about ideas, combinations of finishes yet to be tried and played with, or mistakes that we made to learn from. It seems in today’s marketplace, so many professionals seem to want to open a can and ‘voila’ the magic happens. We believe in order to be successful, competitive artisans, one must build a strong foundation paved by honing the skills, understanding the tools and mastering techniques for the mainstay of wood graining, marbling, translating authentic surfaces to be exactly rendered in paint, glaze and plasters, with painstakingly details—from the most accurate of drop-shadows to the precise registration of detailed stencil patterns. This investment of time and talent is the root to grow all the possibilities of the many layers of creating professional faux and decorative finishes.

In this never-ending field with the largest assortment of materials by FEI to choose from, the only limitation is the lack of learning and pushing your own boundaries to be the best!

Out of the over 300 products and materials manufactured by FEI, we probably had 90% on this jobsite!! The organization alone to keep this amount of product in order on a job of this magnitude was impressive. But by keeping the products in their proper place, the job ran smoother and quicker with less product waste than if the products were in total chaos.

Gary’s faded damask Entwined Trellis stencil by Royal Design Studios was executed on Leather Red SetCoat®, glazed with with Antique Parchment and Champagne Mist LusterStone®. The stenciling was done with Dark Brown and Van Dyke Brown FauxColor™ and finished with a stria of mica-metallic gold in a shimmering glaze. The graining was done with Antique Mahogany Stain & Seal™ diluted with water into a sheer glaze, then brushed on and wiped vertically using a rag to create the underlaying wood grain. Next, various FauxColor™ tones were brushed onto every other section and grained using a four-inch chip brush, splaying the bristles to create the top graining movement. Once the alternate panels were filled in and dry, the entire surface received an antiquing process with a dark wax.

The bridal staircase wall and many other areas feature AquaStone®, SandStone™, PlasterTex™, RsPlaster®, StucoLux™, PaletteDeco™, Verdigris Colors™ with Bronze, Copper and Black SetCoat®, and Designer Rust™ treatments. Dozens of doors, window frames and shutters were finished using Stain & Seal™.The “Wedding Cake” room shimmers in Chantilly Lace Lusterstone® with embedded pearls and gemstones. And no Italian facade would be complete without pigeon-droppings, so Venetian Gem Bellissimo™ and FauxCreme Color™were the perfect recipe for the faux pigeons to leave their mark!

DECORATIVE ART BY: DEBORAH DRAGER & GARY LORD

PHOTOGRAPHY BY: JOHN SCANLAN

WRITTEN BY: DEBORAH DRAGER & GARY LORD

If you enjoyed this article, send
it to your friends on Facebook!