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Fresco Secco

A specialist technique of painting on a plaster-like substrate to imitate old, cracked and ageing walls. Wall mountable panels made to measure and patinated for a time-worn charm.

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Some Past Projects

The technique I use is one I’ve developed gradually over the years. It is a simple, rustic process done in-studio where I plaster onto flexible hessian then paint my design when it’s dry. This is not buon fresco (true fresco) where one paints into wet plaster with pigments. It is more in the English tradition of wall painting where natural pigments were mixed with size (animal glue) to make simple, hard wearing paint for large areas of wall.

I developed my own way to simulate the crumbling, patinated feel of the old wall paintings I encountered. The panels, once painted, are distressed, cracked and rubbed back to varying degrees then left dust y as they are or finished with beeswax and polished. This, for me, is where the magic happens as colours and brushstrokes mingle and the surface takes on a life of its own.

The finished piece is then mounted onto panels made of batten and ply and strung ready to hang. They start around 20cm2 but can be any size with the right support battens or by creating sets as in the Livia series. [link to Livia project].