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Art and Artifice

A Cape Cod artisan carries on the age-old craft of decorative painting.

DECORATIVE PAINTING BY LARS MICHELSEN

TEXT BY NANCY BARR

COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY BY GEORGE PEET

At first glance, every corner of the comfortably weathered guest wing of the historic 19th-century Cape Cod home in North Chatham speaks softly but patently of age. From the slightly crooked window frames, old plank walls and rich finish of the red-painted doors to the worn rug disappearing up the steep staircase, this room exudes a mellowed charm as only old things can.

But all is not what it seems. In fact, this room has been recently refurbished and many of the finishes and fittings are brand-spanking new. Even the deceptively realistic and somewhat threadbare carpeting on the stairway has been cleverly feigned out of paint.

This new “old” room was the work of decorative painter Lars Michelsen, with the assistance of his brother and business partner, Peter. Over a period of several weeks, they carefully stripped the peeling paint on the walls, beams and woodwork. They also undertook some light carpentry, including replacing rotted window frames with new ones, being careful to replicate the imperfections and uneven lines that characterize historic construction. They then repainted in a warm red color drawn from the room’s focal point: a genuine antique prop from an early 20th-century stage set.

Even after all this work was completed, the hardest part — and artistry — of the job still lay ahead. In the final week of the project, Michelsen brushed layers of transparent glazing over the painted wood to simulate historic surfaces and added intricate decorative details, like the trompe l’oeil (French for “fool the eye”) rug, to create a unifying theme and to tie the remodeling and renovation improvements into the historic beauty of the antique home.

“My job is to come in after a renovation and to make the new fittings look as old as the original materials,” says Michelsen. “We enjoy painting in the old manner and using materials and tools from the time frame of the house we are working on. In effect, our techniques renew the spirit that can be taken away by modern improvements and renovations by giving them back the patina of age.”

To restore or effect an aged look, Michelsen uses several different decorative painting techniques, including antiquing, crackling, distressing, flaking paint and verdigris, along with cosmetic carpentry. He describes his approach to such work using the Japanese “wabi sabi,” a term referring to the elusive beauty of things that are old, worn or broken. Practicing wabi sabi means honoring the natural qualities and beauty—the mellowness—acquired by materials as they age: the patina of an aging metal sculpture, the burnished tone of the wooden arm of an old rocking chair, the quiet beauty of a weathered shingle wall.

“A certain level of decay is an aesthetically pleasing thing,” explains Michelsen, who goes to great lengths to preserve the flaws in old wood when refinishing it, to replicate the distressed effect of an old finish or to blend layer upon layer of color and glaze to achieve just the right depth and patina that only come with age. “With restorations, I have to take away the old treatment, redo it new, and then the finishing touch is to make it look old again.”

An essential part of the success of such projects lies in the interest and commitment of his client. “They have to be dedicated to the project as a work of art because it takes so much longer to achieve and there are so many details to consider,” says Michelsen. “My kind of painting can cost double the price of a ‘regular’ paint job because it takes two to three times the preparation, not to mention the expense of special materials. After I finish preparing and painting a room, the job is only two-thirds finished for me. I still have the decorative finishes to apply.”

Historic restoration is just one aspect of Michelsen’s work. Decorative painting techniques can produce many other custom finishes and textures to highlight and unify a home. Maybe your house has large walls with no architectural detail. He can add character by simulating three-dimensional features with two-dimensional paint, such as a window with a view or a vine growing up a stone wall. A metal or vinyl door can be faux-grained into mahogany or walnut. Dated tiles and cabinets can be painted and glazed for a fraction of the cost of kitchen remodeling. Michelsen can also shape plaster of Paris to simulate sandstone or mimic Venetian plaster in cerulean blue, burgundy or whatever color you may choose. He can distress a finish to look old, or rub a bee's wax patina for a very rich and deep surface. He can apply compound to your sheet rock walls and sculpt it to simulate slate, finishing with several glazes of gray and brown to achieve a very rustic effect.

Michelsen is the third generation of his family to make a living by turning functional objects into works of art. He first began practicing the craft of decorative painting at age 12 and has worked as a professional artisan since the age of 19, when he was commissioned to paint a safari-themed mural on the wall of a boy’s room in Boston. Since then, Michelsen’s work has taken him from Cape Cod to California, Denmark, Michigan, Vermont and back again. He spent 10 years in painting and furniture-restoration apprenticeships around New England. During that period he studied 120 years of painting restoration and other applications at companies like E. K. Perry, the oldest painting company in Boston (whose projects have included restorations of the State House, Trinity Church and Symphony Hall). At another firm, A.R.J. Inc. in Brighton, he learned molded plaster restoration while working on historic sites, including the Old North Church.

Today, Michelsen’s Harwich-based business, Cygnet Painting, carries on the traditions and craft started by his grandfather in Copenhagen. Cygnet’s specialties include faux finishes, trompe l’oeil, faux bois (“false wood”), restoration, furniture and antiqued Venetian plaster. Michelsen also paints fine art and specializes in murals using a 17th-century Dutch glazing technique to achieve luminous effects. His mother, Tonni Michelsen, is Cygnet’s “mistress of stenciling,” whose forte is custom-designed patterns taken from nature, painted onto the wall or furniture and finished off freehand.

Michelsen notes that while decorative painting is considered a craft, he believes the product of his efforts to be “works of art.” Whether decorative techniques and finishes are used to personalize a condo or restore a historic dwelling, the result, he says, is “a timeless effect.”