Faux Finishing On-Line

Pro Faux's Web Site Shows Market's Diversity

Not to long ago, perhaps the late 1970's, finding faux-finishing books at the public library or in bookstores was nearly impossible. Since the mid '80's a plethora of how-to decorative painting books, videos, hands-on workshops and television home improvement programs and have flooded the marketplace. Apparently, America's thirst for decorative painting has only been whetted over the last quarter century, not quenched. There remains tremendous interest in learning practical painting techniques that can be used both in the home and professionally.

As a natural extension of our Pro Faux Workshops, we recently launched our Web site which features areas like What's New, Meet Pro Faux, Workshops, Techniques, Commissions, Press, Products, On-line Catalog and more. Visitors have commented that they appreciate the case of navigation and richly colored graphics.

Taking a tour at profaux.com is easy and fun. Click on photos or underlined copy, and suddenly more in-depth information is revealed. Our full menu is found on the left side of the home page, directly under the Pro Faux logo. Form here, navigate anywhere within the site and back again.

One of the most frequently asked questions we get on the phone is "What do you teach at Pro Faux?" To help answer that, we spent a lot of money 10 years ago to print a nice four-color brochure, While we still mail brochures on request, today one can access much more information about each of our five hands-on workshops right on our site. Each workshop option is complete with photos of beautifully painted panels that can be downloaded. Click on the European and Metallic Textures Workshop and see each of the 10 finishes offered. Click on the Autumn Leaves finish, enlarging it to view the actual venation of the leaves. Click on "Workshop Schedule" to see our latest workshop schedule.

Pro Faux is excited to offer a professional line of faux-finishing products at our on-line store. Here, one will find nearly 1,500 paint products and tools to create professional faux finishes.

Many Pro Faux products can be used alone, such as our premixed acrylic glaze colors, while others are designed to be layered, like Sandstone Roll-up, Adobe and Toscana. Descriptions of the products and suggestions on using them for decorating projects are found on the site. Viewers can select their own color palette, making it their very own finish.

Many of our products are unique in the way that they are applied or removed. Steel spatulas and featherweight trowels help the artisan create wonderful layered finishes. All of our Pro Faux bases are tintable. Venetian-like plasters and textured bases can be stonewashed with our dry-powder pigments, sealed and burnished to create an array of spectacular textures.

Other interesting product's you won't find just anywhere include Acrylic Zero Gloss Varnish and Pro Faux Metallic and Iridescent Acrylic Waxes. Acrylic Zero Gloss Varnish is unparalleled in its matte-quality and lap-free coverage on walls. Pro Faux's Metallic and Iridescent Acrylic Waxes come in a wide range of colors, giving the decorative artist unlimited possibilities in the creation of high-end designer finishes.

As textured surfaces continue growing in popularity, people remain cautious about future removal of these textured surfaces. What makes Pro Faux's Adobe texture unique is its wall paper-like ability to be stripped. Pro Fact's Adobe is a fluffy white powder that is simply mixed with water and then applied. Detailed directions are on the Web site.

In the months ahead, visit us regularly for new faux-finishing techniques which can be downloaded for free. This is one of the ways Pro Faux hopes to maintain its original mission statement of "raising the standard of decorative painting in North America." Actually, we now get daily visits to our Web site form many European and South American countries. This is exciting to us as we work to build personal and business relationships while quenching the thirst for fresh decorative painting techniques and innovative products in the wide world of faux.