Trending Tissue Finishes

As much as painting murals is my favorite work, I have to admit that that every so often, I have an opportunity to create one of my favorite finishes, glazed tissue with raised stencils. And I love it!

Hmmmm….you’re wondering. What exactly is that? It’s a dimensional, textured finish. It’s created by first troweling on a stencil in plaster, creating a raised, or embossed, image. Then the surface is covered with tissue paper. The creases and crevices found in the rolled tissue over the stencil is caught by the glaze that is applied as the final layer.
Take a walk with me through a recent job. The biggest challenge was narrowing down several possibilities. All of them looked so pretty in the light coming through the shutter, but the test would be which would look best without the benefit of the added light.

I’ll be showing you closeups of the winner’s choice in a moment, but this finish was a close contender.

This is a plaster finish in the look of linen. I then troweled my favorite fern leaf stencil for an additional layer of depth.  This was painted in a muted metallic gold paint and then washed with an umber and burnt sienna glaze. One of my other favorites!

But the plaster spoke to my client. The final finish had an extra layer of glaze which gave a beautiful effect. Before I used the final layer of dark brown and sienna that illustrated all the texture, I used a golden pearl glaze. It added a layer of shimmer and warmth that makes the overall finish glow.

Here’s the finished space.

I’ve used this same technique in two headboards that I have finished for the I.M.Smitten Gallery in Trumbull. (check out this extraordinary find at www.imsmittengallery.com )

Take a look.

Lastly, a little more about the I.M. Smitten Gallery. They will be hosting a CHAIR-ity event , November 2nd.

I will be painting a chair that will be available at the silent auction. I can’t show it to yet, because , well, it’s a surprise and I haven’t completed it. Just a hint. There will be gold. Lot’s of Gold Leaf. For any of my readers that have been to gatherings at Smitten, you know what a great party they throw, and folks, I’m being shameless here. It’s for a good cause. Tickets are $50. Let me know if you can join me there. I’d love to see you.