Can’t make it to our next Venetian Plastering 1 & 2 classes (this Saturday August 16 through Wednesday, August 20)? We just announced a new round of class dates!

Venetian Plastering 1 - The Basics

• Oct. 4, 2008 (Sat)
• Dec. 6, 2008 (Sat)

Venetian Plastering 2 - Stucco Italiano Certification

• Oct. 6-8, 2008 (Mon-Wed)
• Dec. 8-10, 2008 (Mon-Wed)

Venetian Plastering 3 - Advanced Techniques

• Oct. 9-11, 2008 (Thurs-Sat)

Portfolio Builder and Product Update Workshop - For former SAFS students only!

Pay for supplies only.

• Sept. 12-13, 2008 (Fri-Sat)
• Nov. 14-15, 2008 (Fri-Sat)
• Jan. 23-24, 2009 (Fri-Sat)

Textures & Metallics 1 - Featuring Golden Proceed

• Nov. 19-21, 2008 (Wed-Fri)
• Jan. 12-14, 2009 (Mon-Wed)

Venetian Plastering in Vicenza, Italy with Giovanni Polistena

This class is filling up fast and the deadline to sign up is August 31 (less than 3 weeks away!)

• Oct. 26 - Nov. 4, 2008

See full class calendar here. All classes located at Seattle Architectural Finishing Studio (except the trip to Italy, of course!).

Tamara and Alison were working on using Japanese character stencils in the last Textures & Metallics class, but unfortunately I didn’t get any pictures (though you can see plenty of shots of other great work from that class here).

Here’s one of Aaron’s samples that uses Marmorino Classic and an Asian influence:

Have you used an Eastern aesthetic in your Venetian plaster work? Send me your photos if you’d like to see them posted here.

“Stucco Italiano Intonachino sells itself !

project is almost done approx ….9,000 feet
kind of glows on the wall…I’m chalking it up to the double refraction from the lime crystals…it literally glows.

as usual pictures do not do wall finishes justice …I would have to set up a studio there to get good shots.

link here to 9 shots I took the other day.”

Actually here’s a couple of photos from one of Steve’s projects below and a link to his photo galleries here

Like Steve says, hard to do the finish justice, but I was up there a couple of weeks ago, and trust me, it’s beautiful.  Nice house, too.

As those who have had the opportunity to work with true lime plasters know, The reflection of light on a lime plaster surface gives translucence which is vastly different to that from cement-based materials. -PD Marlow  That is the unique nature of the calcium carbonate - it’s ability to refract and absorb light in such a complex manner.

1 - Start with a first coat of Intonachino Medium or Coarse.  This should start to give you enough volume to bury the unsightly texture.  Intonachino can be applied over sealed drywall indoors, over conventional scratch and brown or modified Portland cements and of course over hydraulic lime scratch coats on exteriors.  Let dry overnight.

2- Follow with 2nd coat of Intonachino, same grade as the first coat.  Full layer.  When this goes to set(firm but not completely dry), push a 2nd layer of Intonachino into it.  Use steeper angle on your trowel to push the grain into the set layer.  Let that layer go to set and now you are ready to break out the Marmorino Carrara.  Push your carrara material into the firm layer.  Don’t go in too soon!  You’ll find you are able to start polishing with your Marmorino material and that your Intonachino has created a buffer against the original texture of the wall.

Variations - For a really smooth, high polish finish use another coat of Carrara.  For a distressed, smooth look leave some openings back into the Intonachino.  For a really high sheen finish you can also do this technique with the Carrara instead of Intonachino on the first coats and Classic on the final coats, as long as the original surface is not too rough.

This is a great finish and technique.  Fairly easy to do and great results! Check out one of our Venetian Plaster Classes in Seattle if you’d like a little more help.

On this cool website commemorating Andrea Palladio’s 500th birthday, you can find itineraries for walking tours of Palladio’s villas in Vicenza, photos of his astounding architecture, a collection of quotes about Palladio, and more.

According to the site,

“Andrea Palladio is acknowledged today as the most important architect the western world has ever had. Over the last years, the decline of the modernist movement in architecture has aroused a renewed interest for the classical style and for Palladio’s works.
Spread all over the Vicenza and the Veneto area are dozens of magnificent villas and sumptuous buildings as the everlasting heritage of his architectural genius.”

E-mail us if you’d like to celebrate Andrea Palladio’s 500th birthday during our upcoming trip to Italy…

Anyone who has taken a class here at Seattle Architectural Finishing Studio knows how seriously we take our lunches. Thanks to Leonardo and Kay Lynn’s remodeling, our kitchen is now as beautiful as our food.

Friend of the studio Jennifer Carrasco’s paintings look lovely against the new color of our walls!

Kay Lynn offers a tip on this one (lifted from the fine print): Colors with an asterisk (*) are also available in Pigment Dispersions.

Download the PDF here: Golden Proceed Slow-Drying Fluid Acrylic and Pigment Dispersion Color Chart

Want to learn more? Watch a fun Golden Proceed video by clicking on the link on our home page, or check out our Textures and Metallics photos.

However, many of today’s forward-thinking consumers are more interested than ever in building green and using non-toxic materials to ensure long-lasting, healthy homes.

A must-read article in The Daily Green, written in January, is holding true and proving building green is more than a passing trend.

Excellent taste is also an excellent investment, and natural, lime-based, Venetian plaster is beautiful, non-toxic, and hotter than ever.

Click here to download the PDF: Golden Proceed Metallics Color Chart

If you haven’t taken the class and want to practice creating those colors for yourself and adding shimmer and depth to your sample boards, why not start Monday?

Here are some photos from our last Textures & Metallics Class in April…

Stay tuned for another cheat sheet or two, coming soon…

Grant Johnson, AKA Mud Man, tells us, “I thought I would send you a couple samples of something I am having fun with. I produce these small clay balls, and apply the marmorino and polish with small stones to get various effects. . . been able to get some great marbling effects.”

Click on the thumbnails to see all the beautiful details– great work, Mud Man!