About
ABOUT THE CLASS
The Fast and Easy Twist on Walls Class is a one day workshop designed to
teach the beginner how to have professional looking walls. The secret to
this look is something created by Linda Coffman after eight years of working
with the dual roller. Instead of the "lace curtain" look of eight years ago
with the country scene in decorating, Linda has learned through trial and
error how to copy expensive walls and do it in half the time it would have
taken a professional. All this is done with the double pan and double roller.
The class instruction is demonstration and hands on. Linda teaches you
how to have perfect ceiling edges and perfect corners!! Besides that, she
teaches you how to pick the colors that will work no matter what store
you buy your paint at. She teaches you how to manipulate the paint with
the double roller to have a leather/suede look, Tuscan/old world/old plaster
wall looks, rustic, Southwestern, and marble. She works only with latex paint
and paint conditioner. Besides teaching all this, she tells you that you cannot
fail with the "Basic" look, taught in class. But, if you want flashier walls,
you can learn "tricks of the trade" when she goes into her Intermediate
time in the class and the Advanced time. All this means you cannot fail
because you can reach for an idea from the Intermediate section or the
Advanced and put it on top of the Basic look. You actually stumbled onto
a BETTER look that you planned!
Every time Linda learns something new in the faux world, just to keep the
look on the cutting edge, Linda shares it with the class. This year the newest
thing is tissue paper and rustic torn rocks. Please view the "rocks" she has
done in the Gallery. Remember, it's not just putting the tissue on her
way, instead of the way taught today, but it is the "twisting" over the
tissue from the class that makes for a winner of a wall.
Linda has had accomplished faux finishers attend her class and say they
grasped more of the concept of glazing from her class than their
previous knowledge. Also, for a muralist, Linda provides a great
money-maker for them as she teaches how to have the base faux
go on quickly so they can use their artistry over the faux.
One surprising outcome to teaching all around the country, is that Linda
inspires when she teaches. Some of her one-time students have kept
in touch by email and phone and have received Linda's counsel on
starting their own businesses. Remember the warning label to this class:
BEWARE: your neighbor will see your walls and want you to do theirs!!
Wa -la - you are beginning your business!
For further questions about Linda's approach, please email her
at linda@twistonwalls.com
BIOGRAPHY
Linda Coffman received her degree in Elementary Education from the University
of North Dakota. (Too long ago) She has substituted in schools for almost 20 years. 19 years ago, Linda began wallpapering through the help of friends who hired her to come along and "dip" the wallpaper. This was rewarding to her and she eventually gathered her own clientele and had a very busy wallpaper business in the Minneapolis area. She wallpapered residential and commercial.
Then, around 1995, her clients began asking her to "rag, bag, featherdust, sponge" and she began to learn about the painting world. Linda took a class at a local paint store known for teaching the latest looks. There she learned about "glaze".
In 1997, Linda saw an infomercial about the "double roller" on TV. Only four easy payments of $24.99! After a year, she decided to plunge and get her first double pan and roller for $59.95. Actually, she earned it from teaching faux finishes at a local Sherwin Williams store. Soon she was on tall ladders in tall Minnesota foyers, using her new "toy". The monochromatic colors she choose, suited the customers and soon, the word of mouth spread and everyone wanted this marbly look. But, as her rollers became more worn, she started getting a BETTER look than the video showed! Then came the addition of the secrets she shares in the class.
Today Linda creates new looks from an idea she tries or copies expensive looks she sees. But, she tackles them in half the time. The look is NOT the "crispy curls" of the original advertising. Her favorite look is the old world/Tuscan look.
In September, 2001, when Linda was finishing "twisting" a church sanctuary, she had the "inspiration" to join her husband as he traveled teaching a one night workshop on piano in all the community colleges and community education programs in Minnesota. Her husband, Craig (see his website: craigsinstantpiano.com), was very popular and he was pulled to commit more time to traveling. Linda created the workshop and fine tuned it by practicing on neighbors! In January of 2002, she joined her husband "on the road". They traveled all over Minnesota. As her husband expanded his teaching to Texas, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Illinois, Wyoming, and Colorado, she came along and he set her up to teach the same night that he teaches.
In June of 2004, Linda and Craig moved to Arizona to be with her mother and father.
Their daughter attends Northern Arizona University and their son is a manager for
Data Doctors. Now they travel Arizona, California and the states already mentioned.
Both Linda and Craig love teaching and have fun at each class, as if they've never
taught the class before. They both love keeping in touch with former students to
encourage them to succeed in what was shared in class