a string of roses

I wasn't very happy with the single rose I'd painted, so I thought I MUST go back to my one-stroke roses with a vengeance!!!

And I did! :)

Here they are, all strung in a row, on a deep blue background. I've decided that I like this one - and it's going up in my bedroom, which thus far, has escaped being invaded by my art!!! :-|

It was hard photographing this piece, because I'd forgotten to do it before I varnished it :(

So, with the flash, it was over exposed, and one side of it completely disappeared. These pix are taken without the flash, without too much light - because even natural light bounced off the surface and messed up the shot!!!

Just coasting along . . . .

I painted these awful-coloured coasters (apple green and funky pink) with three of my favourite flowers right now, and here are all three, lined up in a row:

And now, for the close-ups:

This electric kettle, sadly, is no more. It's plastic, and me+acrylic paint+plastic = disaster :(

I'd painted on the flowers, and let them dry, and when I tried to top-coat them, they started to disappear . . . .

So, the kettle is all washed and clean now, but the flowers remain: in these pictures:

I rather like the idea of a painted kettle, so I am going to try again. IF all fails, I'll take out my trusty sharpies, and doodle all over it!!! :)

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 roses

This post really needs no words . . . .

(with E's mum, now)

Makeover: Patio bench

This is the 'before' of the bench: all sanded and ready for painting.

I'd been wanting to do this for the longest time, and I finally got up the nerve to actually start on it! 

The bench had been in the rain and the sun, and the paint was peeling, and it needed re-painting badly. Chuan will never let me paint anything without first sanding it, so sand it I did.

Then, it was on with a couple of coats of paint, and more sanding - to make it look old and weathered! Yes, you will be forgiven for thinking me totally mad.

Below, you'll find the 'AFTER' pictures: including the last one, with my three girls testing it, to make sure it is still a good place to sit :)

Re-purposed medicine box

Years ago, my dad made this little box/cupboard/cabinet - and it housed our medicines, and served as our medicine chest. Over the years, it got old and dusty, and when he passed away, and mum moved out of the old home, I couldn't bear to part with this. After all, he had made this, like so many other things in our house, and I couldn't bear the thought of it being left unwanted somewhere.

So, it has sat in a storeroom, gathering more dust, until my husband decided to clean it, and give it a nice, bright coat of paint. He used the left-over paint we'd painted our walls with, and it looked spiffy and new.

BUT: The red cross that dad had painted on the front door was hard to 'hide'. Even after a third coat, you could still see it peeping through!! That's the power of red, or dad's painting!!!

So, Chuan suggested that I paint something on it. And I did.

Here's a shot of the newly-painted box. See what I mean about the cross??!!

I slipped-slapped scrollwork on the two side panels.

A view of the door, and one side-panel. I 'edged' the door, and the side panels in gold
metalic paint (which doesn't photograph well; with or without the flash). Especially,
on the door, it sorta lends a 'frame' to my roses. I also splashed metallic gold on the knob ;)

A little green bottle

I tried something new this time: I swirled paint around the inside of the bottle - instead of painting, or daubing it, on the outside. It's taken a long time to dry, and I'm not entirely convinced that I like the effect. Ahh well, it may grow on me.

I tried it with two bottles. Why? Because after squirting paint into the first, and swirling it around, I found that I'd used too much. SO: the next bottle jumped in to finish it all up.

(These are two bottles my husband found on the beach. And when he saw them, he was pretty sure that I'd enjoy painting them :)   I think they were brandy bottles - clear and colourless, and just about 7 inches or so tall. They're a little concave at the back: just right to slip into your back pocket, and fit nicely over your bum? That kind.)

To state the obvious: this one's painted with a rose, rose-buds, and little-bitty leaves, in metallic acryllics - white, black, and a touch of red.

Metallics never photograph well - with or without the flash. It's either the camera or the photog  :(

A lazy susan

... of one-stroke roses, rose-buds, make-believe flowers and forget-me-nots.

Sitting on my kitchen table... it measures about 15 inches/39 cm across - so,
it's one of the larger projects I've painted.

Shot taken in the evening, with the lights on

... and in natural light

above and below: the requisite close-ups

The background is sprayed-on blackboard paint. I've not painted on the topcoat yet - because it has a light gloss, and the light bounces off it and messes up my shots.

Framed!

This is the first time I attempted painting something along with a frame for it as well.

Here are some roses I painted . . .

. . . and when I'd finished, I used the colours left on the palette to add little bits of interest on the frame.

You can see the deep red on the left corner; it's also on the upper right corner.
I also put some green on the the bottom right, and on it's diagonally opposite corner.
This way, I hoped to pull the whole thing together.

The whole caboodle is finished with two coats of Mod Podge, which gives it a nice soft sheen, and protects the surfaces as well. 

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

Free Jacob's plate!

With a tin of cream-crackers, we received a white, square plate, free. It had 'Jacob's' on the corner, and an ugly design all over it.

SO: I decided that it would be a perfect place to paint some blue roses :)

First, I did the background - and it had to be in black, mainly, to cover the name and the icky design. But, all-black is so blah, so I added patches of blue and red.

Then, it was time for the roses. My favourite rose is the blue rose, so that's what I painted:

The plate, sitting on my husband's laptop

And the obligatory close-up

I am quite happy with the way this one turned out ;)

For Ellen and Rowena

My nieces will be coming to visit :)

Have you guessed their names, yet?!