Decorative Painter Brings Artistic Touch To Interior Finishes

For designer and artistic painter Julie Dale, owner of Artistic Effects Studio, creating impressive and distinguished interiors is all in a day’s work.

Living up to the name of her business, Dale takes something practical—like painting a wall, refinishing a cabinet or resurfacing a countertop—and adds an artist’s touch to each project by adding textures and depth. While she works in many different mediums, she admits to having an affinity for the classics, and loves working in plaster.

“I’m kind of a purist when it comes to the Italian plasters,” Dale said.

Dale earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from Trinity University and completed a two-year professional apprenticeship at the Dallas Theater Center. In addition to her degree, Dale also studied with Leonard Pardon, who is an accomplished decorative artist. She has trained professionally with American and European decorative artists and continues to further her decorative arts education each year.

“I have one of the largest repertoires of techniques, and I have been classically trained,” she said of her skills.

Dale uses a variety of techniques to produce faux and decorative finishes that resemble marble, granite, leather and distressed surfaces, to name a few.

Dale’s background is in performance theater, where she worked on decorative painting and finishing behind the scenes of the shows. After working on the stage designs, she began doing finishing projects in her own home, which led to her opening her own business in 2001.

Her work credits include a commercial project in the Cincinnati area, at the creation museum, and she has also worked on various projects in Kentucky, Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Texas.

The artist works with everything from decorative painting and faux finishes to Italian plasters, and earthen plasters, to wood staining and cabinet finishing. The designer said she never knows what will spark her creativity, although she often finds plenty of inspiration from nature.

“For me, stimulus can come from almost anything from a blade of grass to a rock, it just brings it all up to the surface.”

Although she finds inspiration for her work everywhere, the designing and creative process isn't always one-sided. While the painter admitted its nice working with a client who has an idea or concept of their own, she also likes it when they can collaborate and bounce ideas back and forth.

“Maybe together we’ll come up with something neither one of us would have come up with on our own,” Dale said of the process.

For more information about artist Julie Dale or Artistic Effects Studio, visit her website.