Have you ever brought home a treasure from a tag sale that needs a new life and you have no idea what to do with it? Have a decorating problem and would love to have a creative way to solve it? With that touch of whimsy? Well then you must call Julia Vosler at her studio - "Interior Creations - Design & Decorative Arts!"

I look for local talent in order to provide my real estate clients people they can use when they move into their new homes. I received a recent mailing and went onto her website. I was enthralled with the variety, quality and scope of her talent. I then decided I wanted to meet this most talented artist in Katonah. I met with the elegant and serene Julia in her lovely studio. She is surrounded by the items she is breathing new life into. Julia believes that everyone needs a sense of humor in their lives, to enhance their homes in order to truly personalize the life you share with your family and friends.

A former Pace University Art Student - yes, Pace has a stellar Art Department where they also learn the business skills side of art - she has been doing this for twenty years. She is always learning new techniques and welcoming new materials. She takes at least one professional seminar a year to learn what is trending, new products and to learn from guest artists. They are held at the highly esteemed Long Island "Finishing School International." Her techniques include Silver leaf, Gold leaf, faux bois, faux bamboo, faux linen, sky murals, wall murals and even glow in the dark ceiling murals. I find her faux denim walls amazing!

She will reproduce with paint damaged irreplaceable wallpapers in order to fill a void on a wall. She will continue over the back of a door seamlessly with the pattern of a bath tile. She lives and breaths her craft. "You never know where you are going to get your inspiration. I want to surpass my clients expectations. I have to pinch my self when I realize that there is nothing else I would rather do. As I repeat far too many times, I have the best job in the world - making people happy!"

Julia wants to appease all of the senses. Textures are just as important. When doing a faux limestone wall she will also incorporate faux grout. There are many a cocktail party where people argue and wager as to whether or not a surface is faux or not! She uses all water based paints, with low VOC. I tool a sniff of one of her bottles from her rainbow of colors in her workshop and it smelled as mild as an eau de toilette!

There are two areas she feels need more attention in a room. Her crusade with her clients is to show them how wonderful it would be if more attention were paid to ceiling and floor crown moldings. Long a fan of crown moldings as a way to properly grace a room I asked what more could she do! She is able to give them more depth and impact with shading. Plus those vast white ceilings have to go! Give them more dimension! Those huge white canvases on the ceiling are crying for her care and attention! She truly is passionate about her craft.

Julia trains like an athlete in order to do her work and her ladder workouts. It takes stamina. Like Michelangelo when he was creating the ceiling of The Sistine Chapel, Julia scales to the top of her "bakers racks" which is what she calls her scaffolding when she is doing a ceiling. For exacting brushstrokes she incorporates her "Yoga Breath" to keep her steadiness.

The examples I have posted here are but a fraction of her portfolio. Enjoy what she has on her website and then as she would say - "Go Faux It!"

Julia Vosler - My Interior Creations Studio - 914-488-5499 www.myinteriorcreations.com

Posted by:  Karen Benvin Ransom