Meet Dan.
Dan’s passion is painting and when he’s not painting he’s hiking, fishing and exploring this beautiful country he calls home and spending quality time with friends.
Dan’s story
Dan was born in Germany in 1989 and called this beautiful country Australia his home since 2020. He found his passion in painting and completed his apprenticeship in Painting and Decorating in 2008 and has been painting since.
When we asked Dan what he loved most about painting he said:
“The transformation. Seeing a dull space transform to a clean and fresh-looking home; it brings a smile to my face. And, it can increase the value of the home. I remember my first week where we painted a small apartment that had blue, orange and red painted walls and I couldn't believe what 3 coats of white did to the apartment.”
Dan was employed most of his painting career until he decided to take a leap of faith in himself and start his own business in 2022.
European Finish’s story
Welcome to European Finish.
The name of a business says a lot about a person, where they come from and the pivotal moments in their lives that shape them as a person.
European Finish has a story to tell.
Dan is from Europe and he wanted to share his story, his background and his extensive knowledge through the name of his business. His skills, the quality of his work and his experience come from many countries throughout Europe and he wants to showcase this, allowing his clients to witness and expect the very best from him.
Dan left school when he was 15 and started his painting apprenticeship. After 3 years his apprenticeship was finished in Germany; in this time he had the opportunity to apply English and French wallpaper, apply Italian Stucco Veneziano (Polished Plaster), install and painted Carports made of Swedish and Russian Pine, spray paint boats and ships which crossed many rivers in North Europe, installed and painted Swedish wooden sheds and industrial painting in Denmark. Throughout his apprenticeship Dan had two colleagues who taught and supported him.
One of them was just 10 years older and he didn’t just show Dan how to paint, but also gave Dan the responsibility of leaving him at the job by himself, trusting in his work ethic and knowing Dan would get the job done.
Dan also had the opportunity to learn from an older gentleman from Poland who taught him in a different way, showing him the old ways of Painting and Decorating, passing down traditions and much wisdom, even when his German was hard to understand.
This man, this mentor, learnt painting in Poland in the 50s, somewhere on a farm with limited tools and materials. He was like a MacGyver under the painters and helped Dan to find solutions.
Half way through his apprenticeship he got his driver's license and was then able to drive to jobs himself and very quickly I started to pick up small jobs for the neighbourhood. Hearing his experience, the way his learnings shaped him as a painter felt like Dan was being passed down a lineage of such. He was shown how to apply himself and his work in a different way.
European Finish is made up of multiple countries across Europe, and Dan is honoured and so very grateful to offer his work, his skills to the Australian community.
A major part about Dan’s business and his morals is his love for the environment.
Just like in most trades there is so much waste being created every day, and this of course affects the environment and this beautiful Earth we call home.
Some of the waste that Dan has noticed immensely in his career is the plastic floor sheets, tape, single use brushes, rollers and empty buckets. These things he has witnessed being discarded in the most uncaring ways– so Dan promised to himself and to the environment to do his part, to do better.
Dan does the best he can; he reuses any and all plastic as many times as he can until it is truly unusable; no single use here. He also will opt for fabric sheets, these being much more durable and environmentally friendly. He looks after his brushes and rollers, extending their life by keeping them sealed in a box and cleaned thoroughly.
He also tries his best to limit the use of tape, he is extremely mindful of the materials he uses, ensuring to use as little as possible– especially when tape is a single use item. And what made our hearts sing was that instead of throwing away the empty buckets, he cleans them thoroughly and then takes them to a school for children to use as flower pots. Unfortunately there is a lot of waste when working on a renovation of a space, but Dan knows that every little bit helps, the smallest of changes, the smallest of acts make the world of difference.