Elite Artistry : Artsitic Faux Finisher & School : Portland, Oregon : About

Ellie can turn dull walls into dramatic backdrops that coordinate a whole room. Her painting techniques and personal

touch will bring your room to life and her artistic finishes and faux finishes will give your home a custom look that will enhance the visual effect of furnishings, floor, and window treatments.

Ellie's background is in the theater. She began her studies in Quebec, Canada, and traveled on to Europe where she developed and refined her own style. After many years, she returned to the U.S. and majored in set design, costuming and directing. After becoming

a mom, Ellie decided to stay at home with her kids. She began her interior painting career by painting the nursery and playrooms, she realized she was on to something. Originally desiring to work her own hours and be available for her kids, she went into business for herself and created Elite Artistry, where she transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary. Ellie has been painting and finishing walls residentially and commercially since 1995.

Ellie has completed custom murals and custom designs for Oregon and Portland Metro area businesses and homeowners. Custom murals are painted on a prepared surface in acrylic or water-based paints. In each case the murals and faux finishes have been designed and developed with customer input and suggestions to enhance the room décor, colors, and layout and to meet the wishes of the customer as much as possible.

Elite Artistry, LLC is dedicated to customizing unique finishes to compliment your décor utilizing the finest, greenest, environmentally friendly and utmost high-end decorative painting products available. Ellie works with interior designers and homeowners to create inspiring and refreshing environments. Whether you are interested in having an invigorating vibrant effect or a calming, soothing and zen-like feel, Ellie is able to transform your ideas into finished works of art for your wall space.

Our faux Finishes range from ultra contemporary using the hottest new metallic paints and plasters to old world European textures using smooth and heavy bodied plasters. Imagine updating your dining room using a gorgeous, rich two-toned metallic plaster with an elegant Damask stencil, then over glazed to achieve incredible depth. Your dinner guests will be as impressed with your walls as they will be with your gourmet meal! What about that empty space in your basement or off your kitchen where you’ve dreamt of creating a wine room? Ellie can create the room to feel like you’ve walked into an old European wine cellar using anything from faux brick, frescoes, a scene from Tuscany, or hand-sculpted grapes base relief. You could have your own private get-away to enjoy good wine and food with your friends. Or, for something truly unique, create a new feel to your back deck or yard with an outdoor mural by Ellie.

Ellie is one of a very few decorative wall finishers who does hand-sculpted plaster relief. This is a lost art. Ellie received her inspiration for this type of work while living in Europe for seven years and being surrounded by plaster relief in various buildings. She fell in love with type of craftsmanship and has been studying it for years. Despite her extensive searching for schools or teachers, she ultimately had to rely on her own research to learn this craft, (the craftsmen who originally did this work were called stuccadores). She also has taken ideas from the Jefferson Building Library of Congress, which is her favorite building in America. She makes her own molds and with her skill and talent can create true elegance in your home.

If you want to spice up an existing space, in the process of doing a complete interior makeover, or building new, be assured that you will add value to your home and will want to stay put for years to come! Please contact Ellie for a complimentary consultation.

We’ve heard a lot about going green these days. Now there are products that are green, can beautify your home, and actually make it safer for your children and you. Modern Masters has developed a new line of finishes called “Shizen” which means in Japanese, natural beauty. These finishes, developed in Japan, are all natural and are much safer in your home than traditional paints that can emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are harmful to our health. Breathing some paints is as harmful as standing behind a car and breathing its exhaust.

The Shizen line uses natural products like sea shells, cork, and diatomaceous earth to produce beautiful finishes for your walls. These products provide several unseen benefits in addition to beautifying your home. For example, diatomaceous earth is natural occurring, soft, chalk-like sedimentary rock that is easily crumbled into a fine white to off-white powder. It is a natural bug repellant and is moisture absorbing.

Another product, Shizen-Kai, (pronounced Ki) means “seashell” in Japanese. Combining the texture of natural soil, sand, stone, and seashells with zero VOC, Shizen-Kai provides a natural pearl-like glittering texture finish with outstanding hardness and a strong resistance to mold and mildew.

This product has the ability to absorb VOCs out of the air. They’ve done tests where Shizen-Kai has removed formaldehyde, a harmful VOC found in many home products and materials, from the air. This product was developed in Japan to make their schools and hospitals safer.

Only preferred applicators, those trained in the art of applying these finishes, are allowed to use these products. Ellie van Dijken-Ellis of Elite Artistry, LLC, has been trained and is a preferred applicator. The Shizen line is not available through retailers, but only through preferred applicators, like Ellie.

Whenever Possible Elite Artistry uses Recycled Materials

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