Something Fun

I found this piece at a local Thrifty Shopper.  It was a piece I found weeks ago.  It's funny because when I found it I had a whole different idea for the design, then how it actually turned out.  It was going to be a safari themed piece.  I had been collecting different "Safari/African" pictures and I had this awesome picture of a lion head that I had planned to put right in the center.  The bottom was going to be an African sunset on the Serengeti with just the silhouette of a heard of animals moving across the plains.  I was going to flank the legs with various animal prints and finish the back with a large picture of a giraffe. But if you take a look at the picture on the right.... this piece, wanted to be something else.

 Okay, without sounding crazy, remember I told you that a piece can "speak" to you, not actually in words, but it talks, and it almost creates itself.  I have had pieces start out one way and totally change coarse mid way through, and that is what happened here! I layed the foundation colors, and suddenly, it was begging me for a whole different concept.  It went "Folk Art" on me. Moons, stars, country hearts, and houses! Wow, a long way from the Serengeti! But I went with it, I just let it tell me how it wanted to be painted, and as always, was very happy with the end result.

I kept some of the animal print on the legs, and the sunset is still there on the base, except now it is behind a row of houses, not a band of African animals. 

I wasn't sure how the color palette would work either, the blue seemed so different then the, Autumn combination of rusts, plums & greens, I had originally chosen, but after it was done, I couldn't imagine it not being there.  The top is my favorite, I love the combination of the designs and how the corners symbolize different things.   These symbols are what make it a very Folk style piece. 

I also love to add embellishments, as you know, I feel it is what makes the piece mine, so to speak.  I added them to the sides and the bottom level, just to add some whimsy. I found this great wood shop that sells these cut outs for dirt cheap,  http://www.craftparts.com/ just looking through their online catalog can give you so many fantastic ideas, it's awesome.  They also sell a really great lacquer, which I used on this piece, as well as, there paint pens, both I recommend highly.

So, the moral of this story is, let the piece "speak" to you.  You'll feel it, really! In your gut, you'll know whether something is working or not...Don't try and force it to be something that it isn't because, truth be told, you won't be proud of it in the end, at least that's how I feel...