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Hong Kong & North Bethesda have something in common – the Hong Kong finish. “We used the Hong Kong finish,” says Joan Bixler of Bixler Studios in Reston. In stores, in residences, and in her latest endeavor at Montgomery County’s new conference center called Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center off Rockville Pike, the Hong Kong finish, a phrase she coined, keeps popping up.
Named after a sample of wallpaper removed during the renovation of the Hong Kong Embassy, the Hong Kong finish blends gold, bronze and taupe into an aged metallic look that can be modified to suit a place’s movement and color requirements. It’s the latest of many faux finishes in Bixler’s painting palette.
‘A nice way to work’
“I’m big on the total package,” says Bixler, who often starts on a small area and then lets the owners see how painting the ceiling and trim really “makes it snap.”
Down the Detail Path
With a start at the School for Commercial Art at Georgia State, Bixler completed her studies at American University and credits those days of cutting, pasting and lining up artwork to her attention to detail. “It kind of paved the way for me to get detail oriented,” says Bixler.
“Over the years, I’ve done a lot of high-end residences,” adds Bixler, who especially enjoys painting foliage. Her first big break came at the 1983 NSO Designers’ Show House when she designed a powder room with trompe l’oeil panels that looked like built-ins.
Big or Small
Bixler has a crew of artists to assist her when jobs are large, such as the month-long endeavor at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center. And she is always listening to what the homeowner or commercial client wants.
“Joan is one of the best people I’ve worked with,” says Clare Pellerito. She and her husband, Tom, wanted to change the look of their two-story morning room in Vienna. Bixler suggested using a color washed, ground stone application to carry the stone flanking the fireplace to around the door and under the breakfast bar. The door was aged and the walls were faux painted to create the greenhouse atmosphere that the Pelleritos wanted.
Enter Bixler Studios
Clean edges and color are important, says the artist, who also considers what’s around the space and includes it in the design. It could be a frame or a bowl that inspires Bixler, who says the depth of her work depends on how much detail a client wants. Often, when homeowners buy these large estates, the ceilings and trim run together, Bixler adds. That’s where Bixler Studios comes in.
The contemporary furnishings provided a starting point in the Howells’ family room, which frames a smoky red wall in the adjoining wet bar, while the formal settings are done in a more subtle wall treatment.
Out of the ordinary
One of Bixler’s signatures is her bold use of color. That’s why Kathy and Phil Howell worked with her to achieve a showplace for dramatic artwork and contemporary furnishings in their Fairfax home. Smooth and course textures, silver-based metallics, glazed trim, and crushed marble blended with Venetian plaster establish a one-of-a-kind first floor. Squares of faux wood make an ideal backdrop in the library, while the family room’s patterned sofa provides the inspiration for the powder room. “I wanted something different, out of the ordinary,” says Kathy, and Bixler delivered.
