Visual Arts Forge & Foundry

DIY: A Patio Privacy Screen

haze — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 10:36:22 -0700

Since the Memorial Day weekend, my husband and I have been working on restoring a lot of our vintage furniture finds to create an outdoor living space on the patio behind our garage. I'm happy to say that the project is near completion and we are down to the wire and working on some finishing touches.

View 1: The completed patio space, currently open to the neighbor's yard

One of those "finishing touches" is a 6 foot by 4 foot mural that will serve as a privacy screen between our patio and the neighbor's yard. The neighbor intends to install a fence some time this summer. This is all well and good as he recently removed the stand of trees that offered quite a lot of privacy to our space. Still, I don't relish the idea of looking at the back of his fence and I'd like it to feel more like home. Hence, the privacy screen.

The artwork will be done on 6 foot by 4 foot piece of plywood, sealed with a polycrylic finish, and mounted on steel legs that will be sunk into the ground about 2 feet. The bottom of the painting will be positioned about a foot above the patio's pad. The brushed nickel finish on the legs should make them barely noticable so the painting should feel as if it is a floating screen.

We're faced with a forecast for mostly inclement weather for the remainder of the week and so I am working on sketches to present to my husband for his consideration and approval. I am uploading the digital sketches as I have them completed but I expect to have them completed today.

The Farmer's Wife: Scaled to 6' x 4': Intended medium: Acrylic on plywood

Mock Up showingThe Farmer's Wife in place as a privacy screen

The Hostess: Scales to 6' x 4': Intended medium: Acrylic on plywood

Mock Up: The Hostess

Bringing Up Dolly: Scales to 6' x 4': Intended medium: Acrylic on plywood

Mock Up: Bringing Up Dolly

WallFlower: Scales to 6' x 4': Intended medium: Acrylic on plywood

Mock Up: WallFlower

Prodigal Matriculation: Scales to 6' x 4': Intended medium: Acrylic on plywood

Mock Up: Prodigal Matriculation

06/14/2008
We finally settled on the Farmer's Wife so today I took the opportunity to sketch her onto the previously primed, 6' by 4' piece of plywood that will used as a privacy screen.

Once I was settled and happy with the sketch I drew in the outlines.

The 6' x 4' privacy screen, primed, sketched, & outlined. The original 18x24" painting that inspired the digital version as well as this piece is hanging on the garage.

The outlines dried quickly so I was able to start color blocking the art.

The Farmer's Wife, color-blocked on the 6' x 4' privacy screen.

Once the color-blocking was dry we were able to build and bolt her to a frame, created from [3] 6' pieces of angled steel. This frame keeps her floating above ground level and will also prevent her from warping in the weather.

Back View 1: Post holes were dug and filled with quick setting cement.

A wooden frame holds her in place while the cement dries and cures over night.

The next morning, 06/15/2008, the cement was covered over with ground and I finished painting The Farmer's Wife.

Once the painting was dry the wooden frame was removed.

I am allowing the painting to cure for a few days before she is fixed and sealed with an acrylic overlay. This overlay will protect her from the weather and insure additional lightfastness. The use of high-grade acrylic paint also helps.

A diary and photo album of the project is posted in the Su Casa group if you're interested in following along with the development and getting a better view of the space itself. The finished project also appears as a "Before & After DIY".

Lion Brand Yarn Company

haze — Tue, 27 May 2008 07:26:04 -0700

lionbrand.com

The purpose of this website is to enhance your enjoyment of knitting, crocheting and crafting with yarn.

On our award-winning website, you'll find nearly 1,500 free knitting patterns, free crochet patterns and free craft patterns, with new ones published weekly. There is also free instruction to help you learn to knit or learn to crochet, free yarn-themed screen savers and other goodies, the Charity Connection where you can search for knitting and crochet-oriented charities, a free gallery where you can upload and share your projects with others and a free weekly e-mail newsletter that is packed with free patterns, tips, contests and features.

DIY: Groove Tropicale: Creative Shoes Challenge

haze — Sun, 25 May 2008 04:30:44 -0700

Question: What do you get when you cross a boring pair of foam wedges, acrylics, and a few hours of your time?
Answer: You get my response to the VAFF creative shoes challenge!

I started this project with a pair of Groove wedges that I purchased at Ross for $9.99

Groove Wedges: Found on sale at Ross for $9.99

To begin the project I masked the Groove tag with a bit of blue, low-tack tape. I could have cut it off, I guess. I simply chose to preserve it and not run the risk of cutting into the webbed upper or spoiling any of the seams.

Using regular acrylic paint, I painted the outside and edges of the webbed upper a deep fuschia, my fave color of choice for this spring and summer season. I left the inside natural so it would retain its softness.

Once the uppers were dry, I painted the base of the shoes white. This helped to seal the foam and aided in preventing a color-shift in the final design. I dried the white base coat with a blow dryer and dry brushed unbleached titanium for texture and to relieve some of the absolute whiteness.

Once the texture was dry I sketched the hibiscus and leaf details, painted them as shown, and now they're ready to rock.

The finished project: View 1

The finished project: View 2

The finished project: View 3

The finished project: View 4

The finished project: Detail

Want to create your own?
Here's a short list of materials you'll need to get started!

All the angels want to wear my new shoes...

haze — Tue, 13 May 2008 03:33:20 -0700

On April 29th, Fab posted a very inspiring "Guess Who" that featured an absolutely gorgeous pair of painted wedges.

04/29/2008: Fab posted this gorgeous pair of designer wedges. Sale price $413.00

The sale price was still a bit too rich for my blood but - still - I felt inspired and set about to create my own, artful pair of hand-painted wedges. As luck would have it, I got very busy with work and didn't get to Payless to pick up the canvas shoes that I needed to start this project until this past Sunday. Yes!!! They were on sale and it [really] doesn't get much better than that.

The original American Eagle Liddy Canvas Wedge purchased at Payless Shoe Source on sale for $19.99

Once I took a look at the shoes I was a bit concerned. The canvas uppers are great - not a problem. But the faux cork wedge is of a composite material that had a hand much like synthetic rubber. Unless you're using paint, specifically designed for plastic, this creates a very serious issue with durability of the finished design.

With this in mind I painted the canvas uppers a bright fuschia. I used textile paint but, honestly, any acrylic paint would do. Since the finish on the soles was still intact it made clean up easy and I was able to wipe away any errant brush marks with a dampened cloth.

I let the painted uppers dry over night as I considered the issue with the soles. What I needed to do was mar the somewhat shiny satin finish - just enough to create a tooth in the material - and I was sincerely hoping that the raw product would be a bit porous in order to hold the paint.

First I tried using a 3M scouring pad. This definitely degraded the finish but the printed "cork" was still a bit too dark for my tastes and I didn't feel that the material was degraded or porous enough to hold the media. 120 grit sandpaper proved to be the perfect fix. With a light hand I distressed the covering just enough to open the pores of the material and lighten the cork printing.

Once this was done to suit my personal tastes, I wiped them down with a damp cloth, dried them well, and tested my Prisma Color markers in an inconspicuous place. The art gods were with me because the marker took to the material and, once dry, was permanent despite repeated and agressive rubbing with micro fiber cloth. Yes! Ladies, I was in business and in less than an hour later I had my very own swanky sweet pair of artful wedges!

My finished work: View 1

My finished work: View 2

My finished work: View 3

My finished work: Detail 1

My finished work: Detail 2

So please tell me true: What do you think of my artfully painted wedges?
The total ticket, if I were starting from scratch and had no supplies or brushes, was less than $40.00. Here's a helpful list of materials you'll want to pick up to create your own. Just don't forget the sandpaper: 120 grit.

Scrumbling: Freeform knitting and crochet

haze — Thu, 08 May 2008 06:46:41 -0700

Freeform Crochet by Margaret Hubert

Prudence Mapstone Photo Gallery

freeform crochet and knitting demo

International Freeform Fiberarts

Lion Brand Yarn Company

This variety of bookmarks is intended to help inspire any and all fiber artists who wish to break away from patterns and repeats and create something truly individual and uniquely one of a kind.