The Shape of Things: Venetian Gem Plaster

We hope everyone had a happy and safe Thanksgiving! Welcome back to work! 

With the Holiday Season in full swing it is a busy time to get finishing projects done. It is also the final week of our November Sale on Faux Effects Venetian Gem Plaster. So let's take advantage of Venetian Gem's unique properties and a discount.

Tribeca Bronze Finish with Faux Effects Venetian Gem Plaster

Venetian Gem is an excellent base coat for creating pattern and designs. The thick nature and easy spread ability of the plaster makes it a  great match for shaping with a trowel, sea sponge roller or specialty roller.  The finish above is called Tribeca Bronze and it begins with Tiger's Eye Venetian rolled on with a sea sponge roller. This leaves the plaster with a texture similar to knock-down. In fact, this technique will go over orange peel walls.   The peaks are flattened with an application trowel. Then Palette Deco Bronze is pulled over the top followed by Lusterstone in Charred Olive. The Venetian Gem will polish on the flat areas creating a pleasing sheen.

In the above picture, I'm simply shaping Moonstone Grey Venetian Gem Plaster with a pointed Japan Trowel. The horizontal lines elevate the finish to something more like a wallpaper. Next, I tightly pull Faux Effects' New Stuco Lux Shimmer Tint Base over the Venetian Gem base. When this layer is dry I glaze it with Dark Brown Faux Crème Color and Faux Crème Clear glaze medium. The Stuco Lux has a soft twinkle that really creates a modern finish-love this new product! 

Venetian Gem is the perfect medium to use with specialty rollers.  If you add 1/4 cup (up to half a cup) of Faux Effects' Spatter Add to a gallon of Venetian Gem Plaster then you will have time to trowel the plaster from the top of the wall to the bottom in a width double your roller.  

The Spatter Add will keep the Venetian Plaster thick while slowing down the dry time-giving you time to roll through the base, create your pattern and then trowel/roll in the next section! This helps you go across longer walls or ceilings, keep the pattern shape and clean your roller easier. Bonus points.

The finish above is created with Venetian Gem in Black Oynx, a specialty roller and Old World Finishing Paint troweled on top and sanded back. 

Another plus for Venetian Gem is how well it seals. After shaping the plaster, it is an excellent base for foiled finishes. The nature of the plaster doesn't absorb the foil size and the slightly slick nature of the dried finish gives a nice release to the metallic foil.

The finish below uses the Faux Effects Snakeskin Stencil in Tiger's Eye Venetian Gem, Faux Effects Foil Size and Faux Effects Bronze Foil. 

This leads me to the final way to shape Venetian Gem-over stencil patterns.  I start with a simple troweled flat layer of Venetian Gem in my selected color and I use this same color for my pattern. That was if some product bleeds under my stencil it is no big deal.  

This is Venetian Gem in Ruby over the Faux Effects Alligator Stencil and is a durable classic furniture finish.

Although Venetian Gem has enough build for patterns it also has enough flexibility for canvas work as well. I build all my canvas art with a Venetian Gem base.  From this...

to this..

For canvas work, you may combine all the best features of Venetian Gem:  

• Rolling with a Sea Sponge Roller
• Shaping with a trowel
• Using over a stencil pattern
• A non porous base for foiling

         So many options with Venetian Gem!   If you're feeling inspired why not give this plaster a try.

          

Contact your local Faux Effects Distributor or Faux Effects International at www.fauxstore.com to place your order.

As always, thanks for reading!

Rebecca