Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Current Art Project: Or, Yet Another Excuse Not To Write.

Well, it's not entirely an excuse.  As you may know, I do some folk art painting for a local craftsman, primarily wooden bowls, saffron cups, pencil cases, etc. He recommended me to a local chap who restores antique cars, built a stagecoach from scratch - and has started building cedar blanket chests.  He'd like them painted with traditional Pennsylvania German motifs and "fancywork". Trouble is, I've never done a project this big, and he wants a reproduction of a particular chest - and the only photo is of poor quality and black & white.  Which means a lot of research, and guesswork, as to some of the detail and colors.

Oh well, I do like a challenge. So here are a few "before" photos as I get underway, and I'll post another when I finish.



All of the work, including pinstriping and scrolling, will be done by hand - no masking tape, stencils, etc.  This will lend some charm to it (I hope) and is in keeping with traditional work from the 1700 and 1800s.

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I just thought I'd throw in a pic of my fave painted river rock - a cheetah.

So that's what I'll be doing over the next few weeks.  (Then there's the A to Z Challenge.)  Oh, and I've buggered up the blog header. Need to get to that.

Sigh.

Do you have creative outlets besides writing and/or blogging?

16 comments:

  1. I am so envious of multi-talented artists such as you. I can't even read my own handwriting! The cheetah is adorable!

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    1. Thank you Jackie! I love the cheetah too :-)

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  2. Maybe...I'm an idiot when it comes to tech stuff, even simple things.

    Perhaps you'll get one as a birthday gift :-)

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  3. Cool project... I hung some shelves. ;) And I still would like one of your painted river rocks. :)
    Jules @ Trying To Get Over The Rainbow

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    1. Hi Jules,
      The shelf I hung in the garage is, shall we say, precarious looking.
      I'll see if I have any rocks lying about :-)

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  4. Great work on the chest! And I dig the little cheetah rock.

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    1. Thanks Alex :-) He makes a great doorstop.

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    1. Thank you Beth. The chest is really beautiful; the gentleman does nice woodwork!

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  6. It looks stately already! Hope you have fun with it.

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    1. Hi John. Overall, I find painting relaxing, although the fine detail and pinstriping by hand can be a little tedious. I also had to use some rusty math skills to convert the proportions of the figures he wants used (from a photograph of a similar chest circa late 1800s) to the current project.

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  7. Very cool! I keep thinking I'm going to start painting rocks but unfortunately it is one of those projects (in the pile of many others) not yet started.
    Stopped by early for the A to Z challenge. Did it last year. Couldn't resist this year!
    Giggle, Laugh, Cry

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  8. Hi Kerrie! Thanks for stopping by. I have lots of prjects on "standby" too :-) Nice to meet you, see you at the A to Z! (I'm on anther computer in case this posts as anonymous.)

    Li @ Flash Fiction

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  9. Looks like an interesting project. My gran also paints river rocks. We use them as doorstops. :-D

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  10. I loved the rock look, very realistic and painstakingly done.
    I paint on fabrics, clay pots sometimes...its de-stressing and fulfilling.

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  11. Very creative. I like to do patchwork quilts, but must admit have been too busy writing to do any for a long time.
    Wagging Tales

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