Ed's Sherwin Corner: Attack of MAG, the St. Louis IDAL Chapter hosted by Wood Icing

I made it home by Plane and Automobile

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving with my family and hope that you all had the same.

(We watched the movie above as one of our family Thanksgiving traditions)

Time to put down the turkey leg, cranberries and stuffing and get back to the bustle with a very busy couple of weeks leading up to the Holidays and the New Year.

This Wednesday in Boston and Providence:

We have 3 hands-on sessions planned for those of you in the Boston area for this Wednesday, December 1st, starting EARLY in Reading, MA. (Hope to see you there!)

7:00 - 9:00 AM: Sherwin -Williams at 349 Main St., Reading, MA

11:00 AM- 1:00 PM: Sherwin -Williams at 693 Cochituate Rd., Framingham, MA

3:00- 5:00 PM: Sherwin -Williams at 80 Lambert Lind Highway, Warwick, RI

St. Louis, IDAL Chapter hosted at Wood Icing:

I had a very busy day in St. Louis meeting with customers and was prepared for a fun evening with the Metro Artisans Guild, (MAG) IDAL chapter. I have had the pleasure of meeting several of the members in the past and knew that they were a lot of fun and had some serious talents! Our host for the evening was RoseWilde, the inventor, creator of Wood Icing. Her store, school, gallery was the prefect blend of a visually inspiring setting with an excellent hands-on area. Good thing the hands-on area was "tricked out," because the attendees really came to play!

Our host Rose, in the photo above. http://www.woodicing.com/ (866) 966-3423

I was warned in advance that the group really wanted to get into several of our Faux Impressions products and finishes. Everything from Crackle, to Venetian Plaster, to Quartz Stone, to Leaves, to Tissue Paper, Metallics... (All in 90 minutes!?)

Thankfully, I had reinforcements from Amber Harter, SW DAE and Mark Cassani, SW Sales Rep. I asked them to bring extension cords and blow dryers. For more information on products and support in the St. Louis area you can contact Amber at: amber.d.harter@sherwin.com and Mark at: swrep8429@sherwin.com.

See them below:

Rose already had a great drying rack set up.

Even had a built-in fan!

With all of the goals and activity planned for the evening, we were going to need all of the hot air we could muster...

Well, the Hot Air began with my very rapid overview of the products and finishes. We tabled any Q&A for during the hands-on and the MAG members attacked the product and sample boards!!! It was chaos, but handled by professionals who are used to getting things done the way that they want them. I have yet to see an IDAL chapter, get so much done in so little time. I was a little concernd about crackle drying propoer;ly and Venetian being ready for burnishing, etc. These consummate professionals made my worries go away quickly as they took, Amber, Mark and I on a wild ride. See below:

Crackle board below, getting blow dried:

The IDAL National board would be proud to know that this "feeding frenzy" continued during the business meeting portion of the session. All necessary items were handled by John Bubenik, (pictured below) and Rose Wilde, while plasters were being trowelled, and crackle sponged on and leaves inserted in metallics and tissue paper was crinkled and painted and glazes were being mixed and applied and .... Amber, Mark and I were kept busy and were truly blown away! (kinda reminded me of piranhas in the Nile)

John, was even able to apply 3 coats of Venetian and burnish.

He worked in a few other boards as well:

His VP below:

Here is a photo of the group taken at 9:00PM, when the dust settled and the artists' finally began to tire out...Atleast I was tired.

They Grow 'em Tough and Spunky in St. Louis!

Wood Icing:

After we cleaned up, I ask Rose to give me a quick tour of her gallery, tools and stencils. I am looking forward to working with the stencils as they are a nice thick stock and they should work well with Venetian and Quartz Stone. I have a photo of a grid stencil that she had featured along with many designs. See it below on this door:

Stencil designs:

Rose, also showed me her sets of stencils for furniture, moldings and around doorways, etc. She explained that she had the stencils designed with "top to bottom" design as well as horizontal and patterns, so that the stencil could wrap openings or cabinet doors, etc. (See below)

It seems, obvious, but someone had to think of a way to solve that design challenge. Rose has many little tricks and advantages that she has built into her stencils and tools, including tapered edges on metal combs and carving devices.