Recycling with Rik

Nothing is as it seems

On the Boulevard; maybe it's better because the sun always shines

Nance Hall painted on this canvas placed over a table top. The $10 garage sale table was unpaintable, so Hall decided to try this technique in order to make it usable and unique. (Kathryn Stevens/The Spokesman-Review)

The upstairs window shutters have been flung open. Outside, the garden is splashed with sun – asters and daisies in full bloom. A stone path leads down to a cherry tree alive with pink and white blossoms. The sky shines bright blue.

In this scene, only the shutters are real. They came from an 1800s farmhouse in upstate New York. The rest of the scene is painted on masonite in a style called trompe l'oeil, "trick the eye." It's a painting made to look as real as the real thing by artist Nance Hall. The painting and shutters are installed on the fascia of a basement stairwell and serve to "open up" that otherwise visually cramped space.

Hall is a "faux artist," that is, she specializes in using paint to create the illusion of other materials and surfaces, such as carpet or stone, on linoleum rugs, floor cloths, and furniture.

Hall studied art in college but says her art career was put aside for years while she stayed home to raise her children. Then, while on a ski trip to Schweitzer with her son's eighth grade class, she broke her ankle. Shut in, immobilized, the kids in school, in solitude, Hall found her way back to art. "A friend brought my easel out of storage and encouraged me to start working again," she says. "And once I began I determined from then on to make my living, no matter how small, from art."

At that time she happened to read an article on linoleum rugs which are pieces of linoleum with fabric designs painted on them. Hall was intrigued and after thorough research, she began creating them. "The back of the linoleum is what you paint on," she says. "It has a cloth, or felt-like texture which helps give a rug-like appearance."

Hall's linoleum rugs are usually about 24 inches by 36 inches which means she can take advantage of cost savings by purchasing linoleum remnants. She also saves on paint costs by purchasing mistints – perfectly good paint people have ordered but, for some reason, have rejected. "I go to the better paint stores where the quality is high," Halls says. "But because they're mistints, a gallon of premium paint which normally costs $35 is about $5; a quart costs maybe a dollar or two."

In the same article about linoleum rugs, Hall also found out about floor cloths, or "oylcloths" as they were called in Britain. Floor cloths originated in France and became popular in 18th century Colonial America. At that time only wealthy people had rugs. Most people could only afford floor cloths, painted rugs made from ships' sails or other canvas. At first floor cloths were homemade but later were produced commercially. That trade flourished until 1860 when Frederick Walton patented linoleum.

But today floor cloths are back in style because they're attractive and adaptable to almost any room in the house. They can add a touch of brightness to laundry rooms, in front of kitchen sinks, under plant stands or pet dishes. Because they're sealed with polyurethane, floor cloths are durable and easy to clean. "They're so sturdy," Hall says. "You can walk or dance on them."

Hall has also lifted her creations from floor to table top. At a garage sale she bought a kitchen table for $10. When she found the table top wouldn't take paint, she stretched a canvas over it and gave it a faux sandstone finish with fleur de lis embellishments. An oval of glass will cover it.

Hall says she often uses her faux tricks to create harmonious ensembles from mismatched pieces of furniture. "The faux approach is so adaptable, so utilitarian," she says. "You can mix styles and motifs from any period, Grecian to Baroque to French, right up to contemporary, and link pieces visually. It's a great way to make old pieces of furniture look fabulous again."