Sophisticated Surfaces: Ideas and Inspirations from Eighteen Professional Surface Painters - Softcover

Home is more than a simple shelter; home is a sanctuary. "Sophisticated Surfaces" illustrates how to enhance simple shelters by applying paint imaginatively to create aesthetically-pleasing home environments. Rooted in traditions that date back to the Italian Renaissance in 17th-century Europe, decorative artists use contemporary tools and materials to interpret age-old techniques - marbleizing, graining, and glazing furniture, walls, and ceilings. Inspired by early masters, these same artists go on to create new finishes - cracked linens and textured wall surfaces among them. This book is divided into three categories: Faux Finishes, Painted Furniture, and Murals. Each section focuses on works by decorative artists who excel in translating precisely-executed techniques into exquisitely painted surfaces. Beauty and harmony are vital to our psychological health and well-being. "Sophisticated Surfaces" is designed to inspire readers to view ordinary living space in new, innovative, and creative ways.

Karen Aude is an arts writer and collage artist. Her articles have been published in several regional and national magazines and newspapers, and she is the author of Heather Braginton-Smith, a posthumous retrospective on the work of the trompe l'oeil artist.