How I Became a Decorative Artist
by Barbara Rocha
(Editor’s Note: This article is from Barbara’s blog Paint A Lifestyle. Barbara owns a Decorative painting company based in Ontario, Canada. It is a great story about doing what you love!!!)
I love colour. I find that colour transforms 
a space like nothing else. The colour of fabrics, paint and the direction of the sun, all affect how you feel about a room. I had a client say “I saved their marriage!” They had been fighting over the colours in their home and it was becoming serious! This, is why I am passionate about colour!
I started my love affair with colour when I fell in love with theatre in public school. I began to create sets and play with lighting. I went to Your University to study Theatre Set Design and through the 4 year process I realized that colour effects us in ways we have yet to comprehend. I even had a Design Professor tell me that I would make a great Interior Designer one day…well I guess she planted a seed and today, although I am not a “Interior Designer” I do design and create spaces using paint and decorative painting applications.
This journey continued when I began to create window displays under the company name – Paint By Design, for a downtown shopping centre, this progressed into painting the backdrop because I couldn’t do anything about the “Merchandise” that was going in the window so the some of the eye catching WOW had to come from lighting ( 3 years of university – check) and the backdrop ( 4 years of painting – check, check) – this helped pay off my university loan and feed my need to paint.
I worked for a few painting companies where I leaned wonderful skills both painting and business skills alike. What to do, and sometimes more importantly, what NOT to do. I wanted more so, I would call up manufactures of decorative paint products and took their courses and later taught a few.
Paint A Lifestyle came into being when Carolyn Trott and I partnered up and began painting homes – for money – WOW – this was amazing! People actually paid us to create beautiful finishes. This wasn’t work this was fun! I was blessed, great friends and fun creative work.
I love painting. Creating custom paint finishes for clients has been my driving passion for years and I am grateful I found what I love.
As a Wife, Mom of two amazing girls and the Principle artist of Paint A Lifestyle I understand that life is hectic. I understand that I can’t be everything all the time, and shouldn’t have to be. So I surround myself with talented amazing people, I try not to micro manage and when I get stresses I eat chocolate…its a vice.
I do have to give a great deal of credit to my Husband and my organized better half! We moved in together and a week later I lost my job. It was a good thing – made me strong and tested our relationship, he loves the creativity that surrounds his life like whirl wind and has supported me in my crazy painting adventure, making Paint A Lifestyle work. He’s my peanut butter and I am his chocolate..
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