Most mornings I wake up at 3 a.m.
My internal clock is on French time.
Really France is more than just six hours ahead of us.
If France was founded in 843,
(I did the math),
She's 933 years (8,173,080 hours),
plus six hours,
ahead of us.
Photo via DayLife
Time has become her friend.France seems to patiently yield to time
and grants its effects, a connotation of value.
Stones, the heirs of time, bearing the signature of
Water & Wind,
Water & Wind,
are given prominence.
Plasters and woodworkers leave their fingerprints
behind in walls
and their works become the aura's of art.
Photo via Lookmom
Plaster and lath is a lost art this side of the Atlantic.
Plaster and lath is a lost art this side of the Atlantic.
I find it ironic that it took the manufacturers of
gypsum board, drywall, sheetrock,
(or whatever you want to call it),
gypsum board, drywall, sheetrock,
(or whatever you want to call it),
30 years and three name changes,
to convince people to use it.
to convince people to use it.
It saved on time and money.
So now we use drywall and spend money to
imitate time.
imitate time.
Strange world we live in.
Photo; Peter Vitale
It's difficult to fake time.
Photo via Veranda
But some people do it better than others.
Martin Alan Hirsch who owns
in Louisville happens to be one of the best.
Nobody does washed limestone better!
His Old World European style Villa
is completly faux finshed.
is completly faux finshed.
The corinthian columns, Italian plaster archways,
engraved stonework, and faux finished
rusted balcony railings are all faux.
Michelangelo faux renderings have been applied in an eleven layered fresco style to the front of the villa, along with imitations of old, worn wood window frames.
These have to be some of my favorites.
The vintage French posters applied to faux aged walls.
This strie effect is also nice.
If you would like to see more of his work,
or perhaps take a faux finishing class,
click here.
Short of moving our clocks up to French time,
we can get a fabulous faux painter!
Bisou..
14 comments:
Just lovely. That washed limestone effect makes my heart ache!
Bonjour Shawn...beautiful, as always. After testing lime paint out (successfully) on a small project I keep thinking of what I could do with my recently plastered living room. 12 foot ceilings. Daunting. But so very tempting. It'll be like the fall I ordered 400 tulip bulbs to plant myself. Lots of self recrimination half way through, but probably worth it. Trish
Beautiful, as usual.
Cheers, Shelly
Shawn, thanks for this thoughtful post and gorgeous rooms. I'm still fixated on floors, and I love the chevron and stone floors in your photos here.
Beautiful post. Years ago I lime washed (my version anyway) the walls in my home. Loved the way it looked but oh, what a process. I think I am inspired.
Have a wonderful weekend.
hugs,
Barb
Gorgeous images :D
could not be more beautiful! The image of the sitting room with all the gold guilding is how I imagine heaven looks like!
The faux work of the broken plaster with the French poster applied is incredile
~ now that is master work,
always inspiring...
Karen
Just like the people in France I live in your future ;)
Nice post this is !
Yummmm, so gorgeous Shawn... I love the look of time-worn stone and walls ~ you always feature the most gorgeous things and this artist is amazing at imitating years of aging!! xxoo, Dawn
I am going to give it a try somewhere.
Maybe my bathroom.
I will be back to analyze LOL.
Lee
Thanks!
Wow... Mr. Hirsch is quite an artist.
The last wall detail reminds me of what John Saladino often uses in some of his projects... the scratch coat. For those who are unfamiliar...it is the first coat, of a three coat process, that is put over the wood or wire lath, and is combed to give it tooth for the following coats. The second coat of a traditional plastering job is the brown coat... followed by the final skim coat, which is very smooth.
Beautiful photos!
Bonjour!
Just found your post and so happy I did. You have a lovely blog, I've been going through your old posts and enjoying so many beautiful things. I'm partial to anything French! I'll be back soon.
Oh how I love your posts. You are so right the French know how to handle time as do the Italians. When we do it here in the UK it just looks dirty, maybe it's the weather :)
lovely !! Their work is fabulous
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