Different strokes

The infinite possibilities of decorative painting brought life to villas in Pompeii, Florentine palaces and Charleston in East Sussex. Today, a revival of interest in the artform is once again precipitating a highly distinctive new look in interiors

- Arabella Youens 

THE course in traditional painting techniques at the Van der Kelen Logelain institute in Brussels can involve working seven days a week for up to 11 hours a day. At times, students are required to paint by candlelight, to mimic the conditions in which artists worked before the advent of electricity. Such is the physicality of the work that the upper age limit is 50. However rarefied the results, the demands of this art form are, without doubt, challenging. Happily, the hard work has never discouraged artists: the most luxurious villas in Pompeii were finished with faux marble effects and decorative painting reached new heights of sophistication in the Renaissance.

Today, not everyone working in the field goes through a Van der Kelen-style training. Some are self-taught, others have undertaken some form of apprenticeship. What most share is an ability to turn their versatile talents to whatever is required, such as painting a wall with a bucolic landscape, whimsical beasts or patterns either in a folky or more classical approach. According to the protagonists who are leading the revival of decorative painting, the renewed interest stems from a desire to create something that hasn't already been seen all over the internet. It also speaks of a willingness to invest in decorative finishes that value art and technique over the convenience of something bought off the shelf.

'It's also thanks to the experience of being at home during the pandemic,' says Lucinda Oakes, who has been a decorative artist since the mid-1990s (www.lucindaoakes.com). 'People got fed up with staring at blank walls.' Her father, George Oakes, was a celebrated decorative artist who joined Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler in 1956. As John Fowler's right-hand man, he would add decorative details, such as botanicals, motifs and vistas, for clients. When invited by her father to help with a mural in the south of France, Miss Oakes's career took off.