Lazure Painting Technique
“These walls breathe, change, and live in contrast to the opaque finality of normal interior painting.” — Martha Werman
Lazure Interior Painting
Wall Wash Lazure
Organic:
Casein Milk paint x 2 coats
Beeswax binder, water, pigment x 2+ coats
Protective coat.
Acrylic:
acrylic/latex done with lazure brush
Steiner’s color theory has strongly influenced its practice. For example, he associated specific colors with activities and moods of
life and painted them accordingly: green for eating, yellow for spaces where people congregate and pass through, rose for developmentalintegration, lavender for sleep (or blue/purple).
A lazure wash is airy and transparent. It is created by being laid upon two coats of casein milk paint which establishes a white reflective base for the color layers. Often more than five coats in total are washed onto the wall to create enough color to be sufficient. In the garage series pictured here, 2 colors were used, with 3-4 gradations from light to darker, from near the window to deep into the back corner where it is at its darkest. The ceiling was painted with the lightest hue of each color. First yellow, and then red laid on top. One actually distinguishes both colors upon these walls.
The washes were mixed by combining powder pigment with water and a beeswax binder (ordinarily casein beeswax). There are 2 coats of protective layers (beeswax + resin). The system can also be done with an acrylic wash, but this leaves it more opaque in character.
The technique requires a minimum of 2 persons, because it dries quickly and its success depends upon maintaining a wet edge. The wall surface of this room is textured plaster and emphasizes the “old world” look. Brushes are large and high, about the size of a brick.
The system also has an organic component in oils and powder pigment for unfinished wood furniture, where the grain remains visible through the color wash. It has a silica component where color will permeate concrete when using pigment with the aid of a silica binder.
The cost is calculated per square foot of wall to be covered and depends on how difficult it is to reach the area to be painted.
(Below): The walls of this bathroom above the wainscoting are painted in the wall wash technique called Lazure Painting. It is an organic system of paint consisting of color pigment (powder) dissolved in water and bound with beeswax.
Each wall can appear different, even though three layers consisting of primer and casein milk paint (here it is A.B. Casein because of the moisture expected in this room), are always the basis for the color wash. Variations in the way the color is absorbed by the wall are common. There is an appealing old world quality to the wall that draws the eye repeatedly. The effect is also dramatically different with different types of daylight and absence of it.
Staircase area, vintage home, Cambridge, MA
Lazure Exterior Painting
Painting Concrete
Silica binder and primer.
Colors custom mixed.
Silica binder, water and pigment.
Minimum 3 coats total.
Lazure Painting on Wood
Painting Wood
Wood has to be stripped or unfinished, the colors are custom mixed. Organic oils are mixed with powder pigment.
Usually minimum 5 coats. Shows the wood grain while sporting color!
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