New Canvas Art

This Halloween was not as exciting as the previous years. Normally we have a huge party with around 65 or more guests with our garage /shop decorated to the hilt, music and lots of food and drink.
That being said, I had time to pursue what I love to do best. Work on canvas. Here is a new piece of art I created yesterday. The canvas measures 24 x30

This new / old house

Back in July we put an offer on a house, contingent upon selling ours.
Well it turns out that we ended up purchasing the new/old house before our house sold.
We will be getting the keys to the new/old house in a couple of weeks and currently still trying to sell ours.
Talk about stress! I will keep praying that we get an offer soon!
At the same time I am excited to be moving and can't wait to get my hands on the new/old house. I keep referring to it as the new/ old house, because it will be new and different to us, but it is an older home that needs a lot of updating, personal touches and TLC. I have lived in my current home for 27 years and dearly love it, but our business has grown and we currently need more shop space and the new place has a large shop on it as well as an acre of land, which we will love.
When we finally get to start updating the new place I will be posting all sorts of before and after projects. I can't wait it will be so much fun!

Following up from my last Painting tips post. I had just finished explaining the woes of taping off....
After you have the room completely prepped. Using a really good brush like I explained earlier, begin cutting in the ceiling, then each corner, around all window & door casings as well as the baseboard. If your working alone, once this is done on one wall then begin to roll your paint onto the wall. Start at one end of the wall moving the roller up, down then slightly at an angle then back roll that entire area to make a smooth finish. Continue doing this until the wall is completely covered.
Tips:

• Roller should be free from fuzzies, either buy a professional grade like Purdy brand or wrap tape around the roller before using it then remove the tape. This should remove most of the fuzzy stuff that may end up on your walls.
• Do not overfill your tray with too much paint. Pour paint into the well of the tray, but not completely full. You don't want it running into  the flat surface part of the  tray. Roll the roller into the paint and then roll back and forth  onto the flat surface of the tray so that the paint covers the roller uniformly and is not dripping with too much paint .
• When rolling the paint onto the wall you want a nice even coverage. Don't apply too much pressure against the wall with the roller either or you may end up with ridges of paint that the edges of the roller leaves behind. Just a nice firm , even pressure is good.
• When taking a break or waiting for coat one to dry, put your tray, roller and brush inside a plastic garbage bag. This will keep it from drying out.
• When closing a paint can, lay a rag over the top of the lid, then hammer shut, this will prevent paint from flying out all over the newly painted room.

Finish the entire room in this fashion. Once you have the room painted one coat allow to dry and repeat for the second coat.
Tips:

• Even if the paint you have purchased claims to be one coat coverage it more than likely will need a second coat. Check your corners, ceiling line, trim areas as well as middle of walls with a discerning eye in a well lit room. (Do this after the paint has dried of course). You will more than likely see inconsistency. The second coat of paint will also give the paint job a consistent overall look as far as the sheen is concerned. ( In other words if you chose a Satin finish for your paint it won't look satin in same areas and dull or flat in others.)
• Remove tape as soon as the second coat is rolled on, do not wait for it to dry.
• Clean up any seepage or drips now.
• Two people painting a room is always quicker and more fun. Have one person cut in the ceiling, on top of window and door trim and part way down the sides, while the other person is on the floor doing the exact same thing along baseboards, trim and corners. When the guy on the floor is finished have him be the "roll on guy" while the other person continues moving the ladder around the room cutting in all the upper areas.

Paint finishes: Paints come in many different sheen levels. Generally the choices are:

• Flat or Matt
• Eggshell
• Satin 
• Semi Gloss 
• Gloss

Starting at the top of the list, are dull and flat looking with no light reflection. Each succeeding level gets a little shinier. The Flat or matt finishes are usually not as easy to wash dirt and grime from, although many paint lines now have these choices with claims of being washable or scrubbable.

 Eggshell has a very slight sheen. This is my personal favorite. Washes nicely with a fairly matt look. 

Satin is a good one for households with kids and or pets or with a tendency of flies, such as farm houses. It washes slightly easier than the eggshell.

If you want a really shiny surface than semi gloss or gloss is the way to go.

My canvas art!

Hi everyone! It has been several days since I've posted. As I mentioned in the last post I was leaving to take a class with a very talented and inspirational women, Deb Drager http://www.ddrager.com/

She inspires me and many other students to realize what is inside, how to translate on canvas the beauty of art and the beauty inside each individual. Here is photos of what i did in her two day canvas class.

The first canvas is 12" x 24", with several different types of textures applied, along with stenciling, patinas, glazes and 3D pieces added.

The second canvas is a diptych (meaning "two" "fold", any object with two flat plates attached at a hinge.)
Two 6" x 12" canvases attached in the center to hold them together so that they  become one piece of hanging art. On this canvas I used many of the same ways to apply textures as the first, with the addition of using actual metal grids as part of the artwork.

Both art pieces can be hung in any direction, depending how you like them.

Pointers on DIY great paint job!

Today:   Cold, windy, rainy, not one of my favorite October days.
But tomorrow I get to go to a class and learn creative thinking and design translated on canvas from a very talented person ,Deb Drager. She is awesomely creative! http://www.ddrager.com/
 For two days I get to do something that I love to do, but can't seem to fit it into my life much these days.
Hopefully that will change sooner than later.  I'm sure when I get back I will have some great insights to share with you all.
For now though I would like to give you a few tips on painting that can make the experience of transforming a room in your home with color a joy and not a hassle.
After you have gone through the decision making process of choosing just the right color (this may take longer than the actual painting process.) Round up some help to move out the furniture or at least push it to the center
( that is if your not painting the ceiling). Remove all wall hangings and outlet and switch plate covers, please do not paint over these while they are on the wall (makes it look very tacky.)

• However if you would like to paint them to match: 
•  Make sure they are clean and dry
• Sand them lightly with a sanding sponge
• Spray with a spray primer such as Kilz Or Bin( found in any hardware store) .This gives your final  paint something to adhere to so that it will not easily scratch off . Allow to dry
• Brush on a couple of coats of your paint color and allow to dry overnight.

Moving on....fill in any small nail holes or gauges with spackling compound, this dries quicker than joint compound and doesn't shrink as much. Allow to dry, sand smooth with sanding sponge. At this point spot priming with a primer over these fixes will give your final coat of paint a much more consistent  look. If you have larger repairs to do, use joint compound to fix these. At this point you will have realized you should have planned for another day to begin painting because joint compound will take quite a while to dry. Using a fan will help speed up the process.
Lay down drop cloths and cover any other necessary furnishings.
Now the painting process may begin. Oops! Almost forgot. The dreaded taping off. I don't tape off trim and ceilings etc., so it's easy for me to not mention it.
There are twos ways to look at this process Good or Evil or perhaps both. What I mean is, if your going to tape off  there are some things to consider. It seems that no matter how well you tape off you will inevitably get some paint bleeding under the tape. So my suggestion is to remove the tape as soon as your are finished with a wall, then using a damp rag immediately wipe off what bled through. Unfortunately, allowing the paint to dry between coats will not help this situation. By the time you get the second coat of paint on and remove the tape, what bled through from the first coat will already be dry. And never mind the ceiling, if you didn't paint your ceiling first, before the walls, you won't have any ceiling paint to fix any bleed through that occurred there. It is much quicker and easier to get a really good brush with the bristles cut at an angle (sash brush) and one that has soft bristles. Using that and a damp rag to clean up immediately anything that you may get on the trim. Same for the ceiling, even though this is much more difficult for most people it's worth a try. If it doesn't work for you then revert to the taping off. uhhgggg! Just make sure you remove the tape ASP. Much easier to remove and clean up any boo boos......
My next post will continue where this lets off...more pointers on a great paint job!

About what I / We do

 Hi, My name is Angie. As I mentioned above I love transforming the "ugly" into something beautiful.
The past nineteen years I have owned my own business transforming peoples homes and businesses into unique and beautiful spaces they can enjoy. In the art of faux and decorative painting as well as murals and choosing color schemes for my clients. Another one of my passions is re purposing vintage furniture pieces as well as other decorative elements. Creating one of a kind canvas art pieces is one of my new passions. (If I could only find the time to pursue my creativity in this department .)


My husband joined me in my endeavors about seven years ago and we have been business partners ever since.
Yes we work together 24/7. AND Yes it can be a challenge, but it's all worth it, we compliment each other on different aspects of our job and our lives. Where one lacks the other picks up. Anyway that could be a topic for another blog. Husband and wife work teams.....hmmmm interesting.


Getting back to this Blog..... one of our newest ways we have been improving  and fixing ugly in peoples homes and businesses is resurfacing existing counter tops. Yes, you heard me, counter tops. The one thing that people would dearly love to change and are hesitant of the mess it will make and the cost of having granite, marble or some other stone surface installed. We will come in without removing your existing counter, resurface it with a beautiful imitation of granite, marbles, stone, concrete or anything you can imagine.

Before

Before

After

After

•  Handcrafted beauty
• Affordable elegance
•  Easy to clean 
• Exceptional value, but a fraction of the cost. 
• Designed for new construction as well. 

In the photos above we have also completed a  re-stain on the cabinets and added hardware. Yes they are the same cabinets, just beautified!

Transformation is my passion

Transforming the ugly into something beautiful to the eye is what I have always had passion for. Weather it be walls, furniture, clothing, food, my back yard, home, faces... almost everything and anything. It seems that I never stop creating, planning and contemplating my next project. Does this sound at all familiar?