new life furniture aRt: November Show at Sweet Salvage

my winter aspen secretary displayed in

the november Sweet Salvage show

note to self: learn how to use a camera.

dang! the "Before" pics didn't happen. who knows what button i was pushing. fiddle-dee-dee. you will simply have to trust my written description of what these three interesting antiques looked like before I got my hands on them. the following projects were prepared in a little over a week during the end of october first part of november.

note to you: nothing is stenciled. zip. this is all free-hand work.(i must explain this because people keep asking!) D:|

julie from one of the most exciting shops in the valley (Sweet Salvage on 7th) sent me to my workshop with three amazing antique pieces she had previously scouted out. my assignment: to embellish two in her white-on-white theme for the november show. the third piece i was granted full-reign to do with what I would, as long as it also had a basic white background.

first item:

white on white striped bureau

this beautiful low profile old bowfront bureau was a deep, dark, rich cherry wood color. the little gold key holes are awesome, as are the cute little wheels. it was admired in the pre-show exhibit the night before the sale by a young mother of six. she successfully snagged it the following day! it went to a good home in mesa. (sniff)

i had to completely stuff the key holes with thin strips of rags to keep the paint out, in case you were wondering.

a word about manipulating the piece to appear genuinely worn & weathered. i am annoyed with furniture that someone obviously spot-sanded randomly or bashed with chains all over the entire thing. i don't know about you, but i've never seen anything damaged or nicked across every flat surface in the natural world.

is it not usually the edges that get the most wear? around moving parts?

around contours?

and around darling little key holes?

see this pattern of wear? ^ cool, right?

i did that on "poipose". so you see, wear patterns are also aRt!

next item:

vine heart secretary

this slim-profile secretary used to be a light ash wood. the crowning trim was broken off.

my cheerful handyman of the hour was dave hale. he needed wooden pegs. none were found in the workshop. so he lickety-split whittled a scrap of wood and made his own! genius. sheer genius. the other peg holes were filled with the original pegs broken-off deep inside. he suggested it was better to buttress the top by adding supports attached to the back.(i later shaped these supports myself with a heavy duty blade). again - he crafted exactly what he needed right in front of my eyes while singing a tune that was stuck in his head. I can't remember, but i believe it was paula abdul...

we applied wood glue like fairy dust and clamped everything to sit over-night. the end result is a very sturdy repair. dave! you rock, dude!

top piece firmly in place.

the vine motif, checkerboard and stripes were applied with very little measuring or marking in an original blend of "raffia" white and taupe. this seemed too dark once i finished, so i white-washed the entire thing with white thinned with my favorite medium, floetrol.

um, not to be confused with the other flotrol. that would be gross. catchy tune, though.

both techniques are done in a watercolor style with watercolor art brushes.

(the inside of the secretary is the original wood, stained but unpainted. :( no pics.

again, note the "natural" distressing. i chose areas most likely to chip or wear. i teased the surface with a flat screwdriver, a blade and my paint can opener. viola.