Featured Artisan Enhancements Premier Retailer, 3 Oaks Studio

Following her love for painted finishes and a desire to teach and inspire others, Vicki Shoemaker opened her first 3 Oaks Studio location in Clovis, CA in 2005. Today 3 Oaks Studios can also be found in Fresno and Paso Robles as well. Vicki calls her businesses DIY Boutiques, offering consignment furniture, home decor, gifts and a large selection of faux finishing products. We like to sell the best says Vicki, and Artisan Enhancements is proud to be a part of the faux finishing product line up at 3 Oaks!

According to Vicki, customers are introduced to Artisan Enhancements products from the moment they enter her stores. In fact, the front door at 3 Oaks Studio Clovis is sealed with Artisan Enhancements Clear Topcoat Sealer! Vicki teaches a wide range of workshops for her customers in all three locations.

For those new to painting Vicki recommends her Get Going workshop and for customers interested in taking their paint finishes to new levels, Vicki offers a series of Keep Going workshops. This is where Artisan Enhancements really comes into play at 3 Oaks Studios. Vicki loves the Artisan Enhancements slogan Elevate your painting style, and says it does exactly that! The Keep Going workshop is an all day affair and attendees are introduced to Pearl Plaster, Easy Crackle, Crackle Tex, Fine Stone, Stenciling and more. Vicki also offers a project based workshop she calls Paint Therapy in which customers take home a completed project at the end of the evening and have the opportunity to try a variety of products along the way.

Vicki’s personal favorite AE product is Easy Crackle because she says it is just that and there’s no messing it up! She likes that it does precisely what it says, is easy for customers to use and is versatile in that you can apply it heavy or light for different degrees of crackle. She also likes to show customers how to apply the Easy Crackle to cabinetry in a way that creates a subtle, aged crackle in just in the right spots.

Vicki and her husband Steve recently created quite a buzz when they painted their 1948 Ford Flatbed Truck with Chalk Paint. Artisan Enhancements exterior grade Clear Topcoat Sealer was applied with a Topcoat Brush to seal the paint finish. Just a couple of months later, the truck was on display at the annual Fresno Home Show where Vicki says people came to the show just to see the painted truck first hand.

According to Vicki, Pearl Plaster is a favorite with 3 Oaks customers. Here she says she brushed it all over a dresser that was used in her 4th of July window display. Vicki also likes to use Pearl Plaster over Graphite to create a zinc effect.

The Artisan Enhancements stencil line has been popular with Vicki’s customers as well and Vicki is especially partial to the Croc stencil, which is available in two sizes. She says she uses it over and over again, pushing either VP Antico or Pearl Plaster through it to create a unique finish, usually on dresser tops.

Here Vicki lightly troweled VP Antico over the Large Moroccan stencil for an aged plaster design finish on a painted side table. Vicki’s customers run their hands across these raised stencil finishes asking, what is this?

Vicki has spent a great deal of time researching products and seeking out the best lines to offer her customers. She states that other products are often not consistent or easy to use. I love Artisan Enhancements and can’t say enough good things about it! says Vicki. Well, the feeling is mutual, and we are thrilled that Artisan Enhancements art finishes and sealers are among the products carefully selected by Vicki for her customers at 3 Oaks Studios!