Well, hello there.
Do you ever look at art and think to yourself, I can do that? I know I have a healthy self-confidence and all, but I think this A LOT. Sometimes these scribbly things sell for millions. Yes. Millions. Or I’ll see a piece that I swear my 3 year old could have done. Don’t get me wrong, they really are beautiful pieces and of course, I want one. But still…. can they really be that hard to make??
I like to go on to 1stDibs.com to see what’s out there in the world of antiques, art, and such, and I’ll get dumbfounded by the prices on this stuff. Jawdropping. But hey, We can do this!! You and I, we can make this ourselves!! Don’t believe me? Here are some examples of what I’m looking at…
Still not convinced? Check out these rooms with great art… Art that we can definitely use as inspiration for the treasure we’re going to make.
I have had this canvas that I bought about 10 years ago sitting all dusty in my garage forever! I even tried to sell this thing at a yard sale and no luck… but maybe she was destined for something else?! I think I bought it from TJ Maxx or something like that, so I’m repurposing. I started by spray painting it with oil based white, which took two coats to get the color out.
Inspiration Come To Me!! This is the hard part.
What to paint??
After doing a little bit of homework, I decided that I needed a picture to inspire me. Yes, I knew I wanted to make something abstract, but it’s kinda hard to just bust that out. Where to start, ya know? So, I read that some artists will find a picture and then zero in on a detail of it or crop only a portion and replicate that. I found this picture of a pagoda on istockphoto.com and really loved the colors… and hhheeellllooo, it’s a pagoda, which is something I’m kinda obsessed with.
It’s so small, (they don’t want people stealing their stuff, like I did – whoops!) so I copied it and enlarged it in Word… which kinda made it all blurry, a good thing for me! I’m on my way! I made the decision to just use horizontal strokes and get the spirit of the picture. I used some acrylic paint that I had from other projects… nothing fancy.
Painting took me about 2 days, since I had to hide to keep the boys from messing with my toys. My paint!!! (Now I know where they get it.) And I didn’t get a photo. I can be such a ding-dong about this stuff! After I was done, I coated it with a gloss medium. This is not necessary, but I was thinking a little gloss would look vvveerrrryyy nnnniiiiccee.
Here’s where it went from DIY looking to much, much better… I don’t want to say professional ’cause I’m no artist, but if you did a good job painting, yours would definitely look pro. I decided to frame the canvas in natural wood.
Here’s what you need (you can use this saw if you don’t have a miter saw). And you’ll need some wood glue, stainable wood filler and stain, if you want to stain it. That’s it!!
Go to Lowes or Home Depot and they sell craft wood in the lumber section. Looks something like this…For 4 pieces it cost me $8.50.
I measured and cut the wood to size and at a 90 degree angle on the sides. I highly recommend that you place the wood pieces on the side and mark the angle with pencil – I accidentally sawed one wrong and this saved me some time later figuring out where and which way to cut.
Once I cut, I stained the pieces… If I did this again, and I think I will, I would only stain the inside where it will be glued to the canvas. But as a first-timer, I stained everythang.
I glued two sides at a time, opposite sides, so I could bungee tie them to the canvas and to each other. If that sounds all loco, here’s a pic… and a sneak into my masterpiece =)
After trying two other types of glue, wood glue worked the best and my tugs haven’t loosened it up, so my advice is to use that. Just make sure to wipe the glue with a damp cloth on the front – you don’t want glue chunks messing up your hard work! After you’ve bungeed or clamped, let it dry for a few hours or, better, overnight if you have the patience (I did, but not because of patience!). I actually glued my wood pieces so there is a lip on the front, not just level with the canvas – I recommend doing this. I think it looks pretty cool. Oh, and if you have a fairly deep lip, then you could even put a little something on it, like a shelf – that would be pretty cool, too.
Once the glue is dried and you’ve put all the pieces on, your corners may look something like this
That’s when the wood filler comes into play. Use a scraper to wiggle the goop into the gaps, and then slide the straight edge to even it out. Once it looks filled in, grab that damp cloth again and wipe the filler off the actual wood. Let it dry, and then you may need to (don’t freak) sand it a bit. I am going crazy with all the sanding lately, and this only took me a few minutes, so no biggie – Pinkie Promise!! Then just spot stain the few areas that haven’t been stained yet (or if done the easier way) stain the remaining edges of the wood.
To hang I drilled two holes in the back and used this wire I had lying around. Easy peasy, baby.
And then you’re DONE!! See how it kinda looks like my inspiration photo… Maybe, squint a little!! I know it seems like a TON of steps, but really you could knock this out in a few days and then you’d be marveling at your amazing skills every-single-day. There’s that healthy self-confidence again. Thanks Mom.
Since this post is super long, I’ll show you how I styled it tomorrow.
Later Amigos!
