Ask Mary

Mary Jennings

Click on the picture to read my biography.

I would like to answer your design questions.
I can not reply to each individual,
but will post the questions and answers on this page. PLEASE include your name, phone number, e-mail address, and how you heard about Custom Artworks and Creative Solutions.

Questions and Answers:

QUESTION: WHAT IS TROMPE L'OEIL?

ANSWER: One of the most frequently asked questions I get asked is, "How do you pronounce Trompe L'Oeil?". I provide the complete answer with translation as well as pronunciation. Then, I jump into my explanation of how loosely the technique's term is being thrown around by the general public. Across the board, people understand more and more about the business of decorative painting and faux finishing (that's pronounced fau). As a matter of fact, many people learn so much about this business either from classes, workshops, HGTV or other learning channels on Cable TV. That competition is getting pretty crowded. Notice how I didn't say stiff. I am delighted, in part, to have such a well educated clientelle. It truly makes my job easier when I don't have to pause the creative juices from flowing to explain, "wash" or "double application glazing".

However, when it comes to relaying the pure form of Trompe L'Oeil, that's when I get a bit testy. So many designers and other artists have used the term so freely it reminds me of the way my son randomly applies ketchup to fries, just can't get enough of it.

I have been personally witness to the term "mural" being replaced by "Trompe L'Oeil" almost completely. It seems to me that "mural" is not good enough any more. This concerns me.

Trompe L'Oeil means, "fool the eye". This is not the same as believing a mural of rose bushed in a garden is wallpaper and not hand-painted. That's just well done decorative painting of a wall. Fool the eye occurs when you have created an image (column, doorway, chair with table, drape, vine, hallway, bookshelf, tile floor, marblelizing, woodgrain, window, etc.) realistically, in perfect proportion and perspective that it fools the eye into thinking that what has been painted truly exists in its 3 dimensional form. To achieve this fooling the eye, the artist must exercise skills in mechanical painting, fine art painting, faux finish painting, and decorative painting. Composition and design abilities are important to fully achieve this con. Even when the artist signs their name, it must be done in a way consistent with the painting as a whole. For example, if I were doing a painting of a memo board made of cork, with items on it, I would sign my name by etching it on the wooden frame around the board or putting it on a note stuck to the board.

For those of you designers and clients who are well informed, it will be no surprise to you that truly well executed Trompe L'Oeil requires a higher rate charged then purely faux finish, decorative painting , or mural work, even if it's done by the same skilled artist.

Now, that school of Trompe L'Oeil is out, perhaps you will use a more informed eye when someone describes a wonderful Trompe L'Oeil they with to create or have created. So, can someone teach me how to order a cup of coffee from the coffee houses in town? That whole process just boggles the mind.