Seeing is believing – or is it?

By Jim Bridges / Signals contributor

April 24, 2008 07:35 am

— If you are not familiar with faux painting, it is the technique of making one material look like another. For instance, painting drywall to make it look like stucco. Or painting a metal door to look like beautiful wood. One of the first things noticed at the home of Benjamin and Doreen Banks was a beautiful coffee table. He said it was made of composition board. But your eyes will tell you something entirely different. He had used faux painting to create the look of maple around the edge, burr walnut in the center and cross-grained walnut between the two. The inlaid look was like ginkgo leaves. And that was just the beginning. Doreen saw a picture of a round table in a magazine and told Benjamin she wanted one like it. They found a table for $6; he cut a round piece of pressboard to put over the round top that was on the table. Then he used faux painting to give the look of inlaid woods - quartered oak, heartwood of oak, maple, teak and mahogany. It was beautiful.
Among the things learned on a visit to the Banks' home is that the technical name for the art of faux painting is “graining and marbling.” Benjamin has a book published in 1949 that gives a concise synopsis: "Little is known concerning the true origin of these crafts, but there is sufficient evidence to support the belief that these specialised branches of painting were developed in England during the 18th century. Early examples were often crude until the 1850s when that genius Thomas Kershaw, of Westhoughton, England (near Bolton), and his contemporary, John Taylor of Birmingham, England, achieved a degree of perfection, which to this day is seldom equaled. Their fame spread to the continent, where, at a Paris exhibition, it required a practical demonstration to convince skeptical critics that the works shown were painted representations and not panels of the real woods and marbles."
Benjamin was introduced to faux painting in Manchester, England, where he was born and reared. One day he saw an old man painting by a garden gate using a rag and paints. One side was painted cream while the other side looked like wood. He was fascinated by the work the man was doing. He was 15 and, as was customary, was ready to leave high school and planned to study engineering. His father, who had died just before he was born, was responsible for supervising all the painting and decorating of the staterooms, etc. on ocean liners in Southampton drydocks. Benjamin got in touch with a painting and decorating company and went to work for them. Next he enrolled in a seven-year apprentice program in Manchester. After working during the day, he attended classes three nights a week and one full day.
He completed the apprentice program at 22, left his employer and went to work for a brewery where he could put his schooling to work. He and the other 60 painters and decorators of the maintenance staff kept up 2,500 public houses and hotels the brewery owned in Manchester. He hadn't been there long before the manager asked him to become the grainer to the trade. This said a lot about his work, as only one in a 1,000 could do this. The school told him they had taught him all they could and offered him a job as an instructor. For 10 years, he taught in the evenings and worked during the day in Manchester.
After 20 years with the brewery, he was named a superintendent. This meant no overalls or working with his hands; it also meant he got a briefcase and a company car. This was a drastic change for him.
“At the end of the week I hadn’t achieved anything,” he said, “and I wasn’t use to that.”
After a year, he asked to go back to his former job where he worked with his hands. They wouldn’t let him do that, so he left the company and went with another brewery doing the same thing. He didn’t realize it at the time, but a really big change was in store.
Benjamin and Doreen have two daughters, Carole and Linda. Carole married a GI from Rochester, NY and moved to the states. Later, Benjamin came to the U.S. for an interview as a grainer and marbler in Rochester. He was offered a job, and he and Doreen immigrated. Of the many jobs he did there, the most notable were at the Eastman Theater and the Hyatt Hotel. In 1994, the Builders Exchange of Rochester gave him the “Craftsmanship Award” in recognition of exceptional craftsmanship shown in the creation of granite and stone faux painting at the Eastman Theater while singling him out as the mechanic chiefly responsible for the outstanding work.
When asked about the most interesting job he has done, he named the Royal George Hotel in Knutsford, Cheshire, England. His assignment was to recreate wainscoting from the 18th century in the original stables that were being converted for use as game rooms. Also included was a large dining area next to the ballroom. When he finished the hotel a sign was put up that advertised, "The wainscoting built in the 18th century has been refinished."
Benjamin was 65 when he began using his talent to paint pictures, a number of which are on display in their home. He did a mural in the living room and decorated the master bath for Doreen. He has built several pieces of furniture and applied his graining technique to enhance their look. He is proud of an almost-completed workshop in the garage, the first such area he has ever had. It comes just before he celebrates his 80th birthday. In his workshop were many of the brushes he uses in his work.
Doreen was also born and reared in Manchester. She lived just around the corner from Benjamin, but they didn’t meet until they were both visiting the Isle of Man off the west coast of England. They married in 1947.
After Benjamin retired in Rochester, they moved to Palmetto, FL and lived there for ten years. Daughter Carole moved from Rochester to Tansi and then to Midtown, near Harriman. Benjamin and Doreen moved back to Rochester, but in 2003 they moved to Lake Tansi Village. Daughter Linda lives in Bellingham, WA.

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