Ed's Sherwin Corner: Preview of Special Time with Pierre and Chicago At Last!

...Tomorrow, Tuesday 1/18/11, I will be at the Atlanta Design Center at 1:00 PM
at 351 Peachtree Hills Ave NE, Atlanta, GA for a Faux Impressions seminar.

Preview of a Series on "Special Time with Pierre":

Pierre Finklestein and his incredible book, "The Art of Faux" More info on the visit below!
http://www.fauxbrushes.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=pfinkelstein&Product_Code=BOOK-2

Amazon.com Review (Rather than me try to explain it...)

Aimed at professionals and dedicated amateurs, The Art of Faux is packed with gorgeous examples of faux finishes. Internationally acclaimed, award-winning decorative painter and instructor Pierre Finkelstein covers every aspect of the art form in tremendous detail, beginning with extensive specifics on all tools, materials, supplies, and planning, and including preparation and cleanup considerations. Each of the other 10 chapters concentrates on a wide variety of faux finishes in different categories: marble, semiprecious stone, limestone and sandstone, wood, patinas and textures, metals and gilding, tile, organic materials (such as ivory, leather, and mother-of-pearl), stenciling, and trompe l'oeil. There are even instructions for uncommon faux finishes, such as bamboo, Delft tile, snakeskin, and damask, that are not generally taught in other books on the subject. Every finish is presented as a complete recipe, and the list of ingredients includes not only paints, glazes, and tools, but also difficulty ratings and lists of preparatory exercises for techniques that are part of the complete finish. People seriously involved in any aspect of faux finishing--particularly people considering careers in the field--should invest in the information-packed The Art of Faux.

Product Description

This collection of show-and-tell how-tos includes a marvelous range of surfaces, paints, tools, and procedures. The techniques shown simulate marble, wood, stone, leather, ceramic, and many other fascinating finishes. A basic instructional for beginners; a thorough reference for professionals. 350 color and 250 b&w illustrations.

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

In honor of the Great Patriot, I want to recommend a new personal favorite book, "The Help."

Back to NYC and my visit with the "Mick Jagger" of Faux...

I had a lot of ground to cover over the last couple of weeks. I ended up in Puerto Rico with a large customer and then had to do New York and Chicago, all around several SNOW Storms! Thankfully, the weather and the airlines, cooperated and I made all of my appointments.

One that I was particularly excited about, was a visit to the Manhattan studio of Pierre Finklestein. I have been a huge fan of Pierre's since I first bought his book, "The Art of Faux." I would not have guessed upon purchasing the bookyears ago, that I would ever get to spend such quality time with the Maestro himself!

I will just provide a taste about the visit today in the video below and do a full feature, next week.

We had several goals in mind for my visit with Pierre and his studio manager, Tiff Ziter. Our plan was to have Pierre test out the Venetian Plaster and our metallics, while showing me some of the unique performance characteristics of his brushes. I also, was very interested to get a look at his offering of educational/reference books. (More next week on that as well)

It was a low key, yet extraordinarily productive day with Pierre and Tiff. In the video above, you may have noticed Pierre showing the loose, bounce of the wrist with an "in and out" elbow motion, while stippling. That motion was the same that I used for man years as a jazz drummer and percussionist. (I guess good use of the body and physics is universal) More next week...

At Last, Chicago:
It was nice to take my road show/ blitz to Chicago and the suburban metro area this past week; I live there after all. Got to eat dinner at home with the family.

(By the Way, Go Bears!)

After making it in from NYC, through and around all of the snow storms. I was excited to return to the mother of all design centers, The Merchandise Mart, in downtown Chicago to present to 100 or so interior designers at the Robert Allen, Beacon Hill Showroom, and Sherwin-Williams Color Center. Check out the building. A full city block x 18 floors!

(Need comfortable shoes to walk this place)

Suite 633 was a crowded and busy place!!!

Photo above of the presentation and the Venetian Plaster featured installation at the

Vogue International Headquarters in Times Square.

As always the interior designers in Chicago, over-delivered with their sophisticated input and "spot on" questions. I conducted an hour long session, but we stuck around and discussed the new Faux Impressions line and the "State of Faux" for nearly another 2 hours!

I was thrilled to see some of my old friends, instructors and mentors at the event. I thanked a few key people, including Suzanne Maviano, ASID. Take a look at the before and after shots from a project that we did together years ago. Suzanne, has always been ahead of her time and really has STYLE.

Before...

After!!!!

Suzanne Maviano, ASID

http://mavianodesigns.com/

This project, Featured on HGTV, "New Spaces", used some fun metallics and Suede and featured digitally printed fabrics on the motorized window treatements.

Next week, I will share my 20 year secret, related to how to make Suede easier to instal and most important DURABLE. Watch for the How-To video.

Hands-On Sessions:

The 2 days after the interior designer presentation, I had the pleasure of meeting and painting with dozens of artists and painters all around town.

Below is a list of my upcoming sessions.

Where's Waldo:

I will be in:

Detroit for sessions on 1/26/11 and 1/27/11

San Francisco 2/1/11

Seattle 2/2/11 and 2/3/11

Baltimore 2/7/11

San Diego 2/8/11...

Email me or watch the blog for more details on times and addresses.

Chicago:

We were very busy and covered a lot of terriotory in 2 days. Take a look at Audra Lynch Nanay's work at our NW Indian session. She also brought her part-time assistant and daughter along for the fun!

Check out her work at http://www.afinesurface.com/

The boys from CustomDesignersinc.com really took to our Quartz Stone quickly.

Jessica Letchford, DAE was responsible for getting the 100+ designers and 150+ painters out for all of our sessions. For information on color tools or how to get to the design center showroom, contact her at jessica.l.letchford@sherwin.com

Great work Jessica!