Kansas City has fared better in this down economy than other places. But that doesn’t mean we’re unaffected by what happens nationally. The downturn in the economy has affected us all. A lot of faux finish artists have gone out of business. And companies that sold us products have gone by the wayside.
So one of our challenges as faux finish artists is to stay on top of all the changes in our industry. Some of the products we used to love and use regularly are no longer available. And our most recent challenge is in the paint we buy. “Paint & primer” in one is the new marketing strategy some paint companies are using. I think it is a ploy to hide the fact that they’ve changed the formula and the paint doesn’t work like it used to.
Now if you are just painting walls, the new paint will cover and give you the color you want. But for us as faux finish artists, the paint is just the first step. It’s the canvas we use to work on. And when the paint companies reformulate we know it immediately. So the brand we’ve used for years and used to swear by is now causing us to have to modify our techniques and add other products to make it work like it used to.
One of the problems paint companies are facing is the rising price of titanium dioxide: the stuff that makes the paint color cover what’s underneath. Here is a chart showing the price of titanium dioxide over the last few years. 
As a result of the increase in price, companies are switching to white clay. Clay is absorbent. So when we put glaze on top of it, it acts like a sponge and sucks it into the paint.
The first time this happened to us we were able to adapt–that’s what artists do–and still get the look we were after. But in order to achieve the end results, we had to work a whole lot harder.
So we are on the hunt for a paint that will allow us to give us the results we’re after without a frantic scramble to “fix” the paint that doesn’t work like it used to.
We’ve heard rumors the Behr may go back to the original formula because they’ve had complaints. They will probably do what Coca Cola did and keep the new and roll out “classic”.
No matter what, we’ll keep adapting and searching for the highest quality products to give our clients great results.