Credit: Mark Hoffman
It takes unwavering patience to be a decorative painter in Phoenix. There is craftsmanship in this work, more love than labor. Inside high-end homes, interior walls are a blank canvas. An artist slowly brings rooms to life. There are antique finishes. Metallic. Crackle. Stripes.
No matter the look, the pace becomes an ungodly crawl. In an eight-hour day, a decorative painter may use only one quart of paint.
That's not the part of Daniel Crookston's job that tests his patience most. Not really. Inside these homes, clients expect dust and fumes to be contained to one room.