before and after

there's a used furniture place near our new house.  a nice person who is also a mid-century fan recommended that i take a look when i had a chance.  i have been there several times with no luck.  recently, however, i hit the jackpot.  the set was an old stanley furniture bedroom suite.  it had a full-sized bed (we gave that away because who wants a full-size bed these days?), a tall dresser, and a long dresser (which we will use as a side board in the dining room), and a mirror.

here is the "before", still at the store!

it's kinda hard to see the detail, but each drawer has its original white paint, an applied wooden disk, and a spade shaped pull.  the pulls are made of some sort of pot metal, and were brass plated (and not useable in the state they were in).  we thought the wood was walnut in the store, but once we got home figured out it was mahogany.

it was definitely a labor of love.  the former owner was a smoker, so the whole thing had to be stripped and sanded to get rid of the smell and the yellowing.  john worked on the dark parts, on which he applied several coats of danish oil.  then a few coats of wax.  i took care of the white parts, which were sanded, primed, and spray painted with white gloss enamel.   the pulls needed to be brushed clean and then sprayed with metallic silver paint.  we also filled the drawers with cedar tongue and groove panels.

the best part?  all pieces were $300!  the worst part?  it took FOREVER!!

now the "after" (only the low dresser is pictured), in our new dining room.  now it's ready for accessorizing (my favorite part!)  

and i know, the cords need some work.

lulu

this is the second one. her name is "lulu". i know that because the old photo she was inspired by tells me so. it's inked in on the border of the picture. she is collaged on canvas and then spray painted on top using stencils. i think there were about 5 or 6 stencils in total. the background is collaged with paint chips from the home depot. (don't tell them). i had fun with her. my favorite part is her skirt, which is made from a piece of hand-made paper from india. 12x30"

i have still been a bit down lately. i don't know if i'm having trouble adjusting to not teaching, or what. when i left school i was afraid i would miss the interaction with people, and i think i do. i am a introvert at heart, but i like being in the presence of people when i am working. i have spent lots of days alone, which is nice because i get a lot done, but some days i miss the camaraderie. i also think that i am having a hard time adjusting to not having ben around as much. he is a lucky guy, having lots of friends and a full social calendar. but he is not home as much. i am really glad for him, and swell with happiness that he is having fun. but i still miss him. i know i need to get used to it. in 3 short years he will be away at college, working on completing the transition to the wonderful mature person he will be.

ok...time to work. i cut a series of stencils yesterday for another spray paint/collage piece. it's a house, and i plan to make a large piece using the house stencils with the stencils from the two women i have already finished. i think i will do a piece with only the house, too. we'll see how it goes.

spray paint!!

ok, so i had a really fun day. and i made this. with spray paint, and stencils. it was so incredibly fun. i spent over 4 hours playing with techniques, literally painting myself into a corner and back out...over and over again. it was a true day of artistic problem solving, and exactly what i needed.

i have 2 more to try...unfortunately i left the canvasses in the studio, so i will have to go down first thing and get them while i'm on a roll. i was so into it that i almost forgot to feed the dog and make dinner.

if you look really close (you can click the image to make it look bigger in a new window) you can see that her dress is collaged underneath with an old calculus book. and the texture in the background is paint chips. they are now painted over, but i like the texture the create. i also wanted to keep it a little out of control, hence the orange. i sprayed it on at random before i put down the stencils.

the piece is 12x30".