Daisies and 'flowers'

Yes, 'flowers' because I don't know if the other flowers here really exist :(

I painted this box in January, but I didn't like the way the roses turned out: they were 'flat' and didn't pop out at me. It irritated me to sit in my patio and look at them every day. So, one day, I painted over them! (You can see the 'underneath' version here.)

But, the pictures below are not of what I did the second-time-around - I didn't take any pictures of that disaster.

Yesterday, I was inspired to give up on roses and paint my favourite flower: the daisy. So, here is the re-painted medicine box my dad made eons ago. I think this version will stay around for a bit. I kinda like my daisies and those make-believe flowers I painted. If anything, I see myself re-doing the border and the sides of the box!!! MUAHAHAHAHAH!!!

I can't remember why I did the 'border' in blue... maybe it was because it matched the
previous bunch of flowers that I did in pink and blue. Maybe. But, my walls are a
deep, dark green. So, any colour will rock with it. 

This shot is 'yellower' than the one above, because I didn't use the flash. I think.

And then, there were four bottles!

What can I say, I'm not good at titles!!! :(

Here are four bottles I worked on at various times over the past month or so, finishing up with the long, slim one, with gold swirls . . . .

This first one is an old Bol's grenadine syrup bottle - which I painted with little yellow flowers, all over. I came back and did the top and bottle borders in yellow, to try to tie it all together: all yellow-and-green.

(this is with Ee Lynn's mum, now)

This next bottle was a lovely, sweet dessert wine bottle, and it represents my never-ending quest to paint a red, red rose. And, as usual, it has ended up a yellow, yellow rose: one with a red centre; and one, with a black centre. H E L P !!!!! Hahahahah!!

Also, while I was it, I tried my hand at some chrysanthemums - which look deceptively easy, but really are not easy at all. Will be going back to mums again, methinks!!! 

I nearly flung this next bottle - used to hold Martini - out the window: it was that hard to get a bloody design down on it!!! After many mis-tries, I finally decided on daisies. And not my best effort at daisies, either. But, ahh well . . . .

This last bottle is one that Chuan found on the beach. He felt that it had an unusual shape, and he thought that I would like it. I did. It was frosted, BUT it had some horrid writing in red - the name of the drink - down one panel.

To get rid of that, I splotched on black, metallic paint all over that panel, and also on the panel immediately behind it. I thought it would look odd with just one black panel. Then, I worked the scroll-work on both black panels. I also covered all the other panels with metallic black scroll-work, but they're meant to be also-rans, and not the focus of the piece.

The bottle is about 13-inches tall, and looks really stately. I think it would look perfect with a red, red rose in it :)

Three bottles

For want of a more inspired title, I am stuck with the one above :(

And here they are, those three bottles themselves! There's a story for each:

We had gone out for lunch, and this bottle - perched on our table, unopened - held some fancy water that we didn't order!!! But, it was such a pretty thing that at the end of our meal, I asked the waiter if he had any lying about. I think it must have cost quite a bit - it was Italian designer water! - because he didn't have any. BUT, someone at another table had one on his table! Waiter-guy happily went over and asked if I could have the empty bottle, and the guy said ok! How nice! (I hope this didn't traumatise my husband too much!!!)

This was a lovely bottle of chardonnay that I enjoyed. A gift from a friend. And what better way to remind me of her, than to paint on an eye-squinting design on it! I used metalics - pearl commas - and a dot of copper here and there, to match the cap and top-sleeve, that I didn't want to paint-over.

This is the other of a set of two bottles that my husband found on the beach. The other is here, and now with my dear friend Mel.

The bottle was clear, and I swirled metallic green paint inside it to green it all over! The daisy-strokes I painted on when it was dry - though I didn't need to wait, of course. Because the bottle is flat, I could only paint on one side. I could do the other side now, I guess . . . .

Another lazy susan

It's just 'acting' here: I haven't given it its final top-coats yet! ;)

The other lazy susan I painted, went to my dear friend Lita.

After painting hers, I was dying to paint one for myself - so I set about painting-on the background (blackboard paint), and sanding it, and readying it for a design.

But, what should I paint on it? "Not roses again, ma?!" my daughter had said, when I told her I was painting grandpa's old medicine cabinet. So, roses were out.

Roses aren't my favourite flower to paint. Nor are they my favourite flower in all the world. I think, daisies are. But, roses were the hardest to learn, and once I'd learned them, I kept wanting to paint them, because I am terrified that I will somehow forget how to, if I don't! Hahahahah!

So, roses were out, and I'd already painted quite a few daisies lately - so I settled for sunflowers, which fit in nicely in my wood-y kitchen :)

Originally, the daisies were painted white. But, they were too 'startling' against the very-black background, and pulled the focus away from the sunflowers! So, I mixed a yellow glaze (the sunflower yellow, and medium) and painted a couple of coats over them. That's mellowed them somewhat, and keep them in the background nicely.

Daisy bento box

Recycling again. This time, a bento box - a gift from my friend Emily who asked that I please don't return it to her!

So, I've painted it for a friend I am planning to visit next month, and it will be filled with my sugee (semolina) cake. This friend is someone I've known for almost two years or so now, but we've only ever written to each other, or spoken over the phone. We'll be meeting for the first time next month, and I hope she'll like her present.

The design is not my own - it is Ros Singleton's and you can find it on her blog. It is so simple, really - and because daisies are one of my favourite flowers (and so easy to get all wrong), I have been in love with this design for the longest time.

I don't use a pattern. I just look at her design, and then paint it freehand.

I've only just finished  the box. I'll need to double-coat it with topcoat, and then leave it to cure/dry.

I didn't use any special paint - just ordinary acrylics, which may not prove the best choice, but I've been having problems with painting plastics, so I think I'll just topcoat this and tell my friend not to wash it too often. And, certainly not in a dishwasher. The topcoat will keep it safe: fingers crossed ;)

The bento box is made of shiny, black plastic. Does NOT photograph well :(

 See that little sprig of forget-me-nots on the bottom? That's there because my basket was a little off: tilted to one side. I added the flowers to hide it. Shhhhhhh...!

Two views of the sides of the box:

I painted a small motive all around the four corners.

Still wet: My 'new' daisy shopping bag!

All of last year, I carried this bag to French class. It said: People r us: Back to nature - and it was a gift from my blogger-buddy and dear friend Ee Lynn. After a year of to-ing and fro-ing from class, it was looking kinda dirty, so into the wash it went. I switched to another bag, and didn't go back to it.

Yesterday, I decided that I'd paint it. I wish I'd taken a picture of the 'before' of the bag, but I didn't. Sorry. Here is the 'after':

Drying on the door of my room

Still wet :(

The requisite close-up of everything I paint ;)

Note to self: Iron the damn fabric before you paint, k. It'll make things soooooo much simpler. Sigh.

More old bottles

From a Johnny Walker, to a small Jack Daniel, to a soy sauce bottle, and an emptied mustard bottle: they're all here :)

... pansies and forget-me-nots

... roses

... another view

... and another

... the biggest bottle: daisies

... drying on the shelf

... drying with the mustard bottle with scrollwork

Yellow and white daisies and forget-me-nots

I have been struggling with daisies for the longest time. You'd think they are a simple flower, and so easy to paint, but they aren't. At least, I am never happy with the way they turn out: always looking stiff and wired and as if they're made of plastic :(

Well, today I tried them again, on an old Nescafe bottle - after watching Rose Stallcup paint them like it was the easiest thing in the world!

I think this is the first time I'm happy with my daisies :)

The daisies are sitting on a bed of green fern - but they don't come out in the pix :(

- a close up -

The other side: I painted the two main faces of the bottle,
leaving the sides clear

The calla lily and a basket of daisies

I have been trying to figure out how to paint this flower - which I love - and here is someone who figured out how for me!



Plus, a lovely surprise for me to find this one today - Ros Stallcup painting daisies:

Something for Sherrie (updated)

I did a little bit of work this morning, and with my angle-brush, added a little bit of shading to the the petals, and to generally bring the piece out a bit. It's not very much, but to me, it makes it less flat.

I floated burnt umber - just a touch - along where I felt the shadows would fall, taking my cue from the natural shadow underneath my gold-dabbed arc.

... without ...

... with shading.

Something for Sherrie

I painted this piece for my French friend, Sherrie ;)

This time, I had the camera out - I was taking pix of my dogs - so, I have a few pictures of the stages of my work:

The background, in blue, with a bit of burgundy at the edges. Nope,
I cannot just have a plain blue anything. Btw, there were
some holes, so I covered them up with a bit of tissue,
to look like a bit of moulding (like that found on doors, etc.)

My sketch of what I want to paint, done in white.

Then, I painted the flowers in with white, so that the colours would look
stronger on the blue of the background.

A pix of the finished piece. The moulding looks kinda nuts to me. And
I sure could use some more practice with my sunflowers.
(Taken with a flash.)

Sunflowers, daisies, and blue rose-buds.
Taken without a flash, in natural light.

This is an earring holder. You stick your earring-studs into them, and they are all there, arranged in front of you, so you don't need to sort through them every time you want a pair! Because it is so light, it can be mounted with double-sided tape. Mine is, and it's staying up just fine :)

It is made from an old piece of polystyrene (styrofoam), which is quite hard to come by these days, because of the use of a kind of papier-mache cardboardy thingy that is now in use. More eco-friendly, and biodegradable, too.

So my days of painting on styofoam are numbered! I'm not complaining, though. It EATS paint!!! :(

Old Horlicks bottle

This bottle has been in our family for years. It's a smaller version of the many bigger bottles mum had! I loved these old bottles that were filled with sugar, biscuits, and so many other things :)

Since the cover was looking a tad old and faded, I decided to brighten it up a bit - and ended up painting the whole bottle. With a field of white and yellow daisies, and poppies :)

... starting with the cover ....

... and ending with them filled with my favourite wafer biscuits :)

It was a quick, fun project, with nothing major or complicated, and I enjoyed doing it!

A field of daisies

My bag

I thought I'd do simple daisies on my bag. But, as usual, nothing is simple with me... but no one wants the long story, so here are the pictures of the finished work instead.

Starting off with my girls having a good look-smell at the bag:

And then, views of the bag, taken from all the different bits I painted - even right at the bottom, where the wheels are ;)