Before and After, Part Six

For the first chair post, click here.

We left off after the top of the chair was sponge painted with a Vintage White paint. At this point, I sanded and decided I liked it that way, so then I got started with the design. I had this sort of lattice-like big plaid background in mind. I double-loaded my brush with Thicket and Sunflower paints and painted on the plaid pattern, let it dry, sanded it down, and decided it was too bright and I needed to tone it down a little. So I took my sponge (just a regular kitchen sponge that I cut in half for painting with) and lightly sponged on some more Vintage White:

To me, it looks like a lawn chair that has gotten so stretched out over the years, people are afraid to sit in it. Here's a closer view:

It's not perfect and I can't paint a straight line to save my life, but I liked the way it came out after the addition of the white sponge overlay. At that point, I was ready to paint some flowers and to spare you the long, drawn-out details, here is what I ended up with:

I think roses may be my favorite flowers to paint (it's a good thing, too, because I paint them on EVERYTHING). My leaves need some more practice, although they're tons better than when I first started painting. At least now they sort of resemble leaves! (Just don't look too closely.)

It needed something more after the roses and leaves were done, though, so I went for a blue-ish hydrangea type of flower. It doesn't really look like a hydrangea, but I think it's pretty and gives some nice bright color to the whole piece. They're a little more blue-ish in real life than in this photo, though.

This chair/stool now sits in a place of honor in my bedroom. It has a dual purpose: it holds the closet door shut while also holding a stack of clothes that I need to put away. Fancy, no?

So here's some info you probably weren't wondering about, but I'm going to tell you anyway. I first started painting after hearing my mom talk about this lady she saw on PBS that made it look really easy. Well, I ran across the show one day when PBS was doing a pledge drive, so I ended up watching about four episodes of "One Stroke Painting with Donna Dewberry," and let me tell you, I was hooked! I started out painting (mostly roses) on newsprint until I felt comfortable enough with my work to actually let other people see it. I bought a teaching guide and learned how to paint magnolia flowers, which I ended up painting on the lid of a small green trash can. That was six years ago, and over the past few years, I've used my new-found hobby to adorn all sorts of things: plaques that I painted with flowers and last names for Christmas gifts, tons of birthday cards, a lampshade for my best friend, table tops in my house, shelves, a canvas painting with scripture for a wedding gift, and lots of other stuff; most recently, this chair and the bed board from previous posts. One Stroke Painting really is awesome, and Donna Dewberry's techniques, besides being completely gorgeous, are super easy! I've even considered, more than once, teaching my children to paint using this technique. But I'm still in the "considering" stage.