Beginning to End Bookshelf for the Chair Affair

The table & Chair Affair supporting the Community Warehouse

THURSDAY     MARCH 15, 2012

CASTAWAY   1900 NW 18th Avenue

     Portland, 97209

                              www.communitywarehouse.org/

This year I was invited to participate in the table & Chair Affair which supports the Community Warehouse. A great organization that helps folks to set up house for the first time or after experiencing hardships in life. It's a great place to donate all of the home goods that may not be needed at your house any longer. Towels, sheets, mattresses, toasters, silverware... You get the point! 

As a fund raiser, the warehouse allows artist to come in a pick out a piece of furniture or they can find a piece on their own, alter it in an artistic way and bring it back to be auctioned to raise money to support their efforts. This post is to show the transformation of the bookshelf I picked out and it's progression.

In the beginning, it was an old, way over painted bookshelf. After 2 chemical peels and a day plus of sanding, the wood grain was revealed and inspiration began bubbling. 

I took inspiration from a place I see several times a week, Delta Park Dog park. There is a wetland bird sanctuary located right beside the 'park'. Great Blue Herons, Eagles, multitudes of ducks, hummingbirds, and various other birds inhabit the wetland area. I love watching the birds and observing how the weather and light changes there from season to season. One day while pondering what I should do with the bookshelf a heron passed overhead and landed just a bit away as if to say, "pick me!". So, I did! 

 

I really wanted to capture the essence of what I see at the park with the cat tails, tall grasses and the water. The top of the bookshelf had a gorgeous band of wood grain that I wanted to emphasise and the idea of the wet land played perfectly with that. I began by wood burning the grasses, then went back and painted each blade and then sealed each so the color would show even after painting in the water and sunset. 

 

Moved by an Audubon post to my facebook page regarding how hummingbirds pick the fuzz from cat tails to make a nest, the inspiration for the last panel was born. I chose to put a male and female Anna's hummingbirds on the last side. (Anna's hummingbirds stay in Portland year round!) 

The final step was to put on the grasses. I painted grasses on craft paper, layering red, then greens in long strips I then cut them out and glued them on with matte medium. I will add that I used some blue & black spray paint and black gesso to paint the inside area of the bookshelf. The entire piece was then painted with a satin finish poly acrylic to seal the deal :) Here are the finished pictures, enjoy! 

 

Is it wrong to love it too much?

I'm in love with this drawing.
I can't help it, every time I see it I just want to reach in and scoop this little precious thing up and hold it, pet it, feed it and make it feel loved! But alas, it's on paper so I can only view and enjoy. I sketched it out in pencil, went over the key lines with a waterproof ink and then added color with watercolors. It's called a Bewick's Wren and I see them often hanging out with sparrows and house finches often in the backyard. I have enjoyed them so much because they are so cute!
Since I enjoyed this so much I made one for a friend of mine for his birthday and then drew out another.

This time I cut it out and applied it to a mixed media piece. This is one of those where I wood burned a branch over a background of leaves and stained the board. The paper square in the bottom right is actually a piece of metal covered in paper. I wood burned around it to make an attempt at depth. If I knew how I would have 'carved out' the space and sunk the metal into the board. I made the magnets too which was simple. Those are so easy; just paint a little picture cut out a circle and paste onto the back of one of those glass dots made to be accents in topiary and cut flower arrangements. For the final bit of interest, I used an extra large embossing crystal. I think they are supposed to be melted in a pot and then from what I have read, pour the substance into a form to make clear embellishments. But, I didn't use it that way. Attempting to place them on the leaves, some places it worked and other places not so much but then heated the crystals and the way they melted made it appear as if it were dew on the leaves. So I was happy with that experiment. I think it turned out well and it makes me happy!
Experimenting can turn out some cool stuff don't ya think!?!