Black and Blue

Y'all know I love to redo vintage/used/tossed aside/old (shall I go on) furniture, but on occasion, like we have discussed in past blog posts, I have to do a new piece.

Okay, I can hear the sighs from here! No whining please! Don’t be disappointed in me. I’d actually be lying if I said I didn’t like to (occasionally) do a new piece. It’s fun, to just be able to prime and then start painting, skipping over a lot of prep work. Come on people, you feel me, don't you?

As I’m sure you’ve heard me say a thousand times, I’m Goo-Goo over a little shop in North Syracuse called Fireside Unfinished Wood Furniture. It’s a Mom and Pop shop, no frills, bells or whistles, but that's what makes it great. It’s chuck full of unfinished wood pieces, and everytime I walk in there my brain nearly has a spaz attack over all the different pieces I could paint. No really, I feel faint if I’m in there too long.


So, in my Etsy store I sell a lot of pre-made furniture, because I can reproduce it in a variety of styles for a diverse group of people. I buy several different tables from Fireside actually, that are easy to paint and easy to ship. This little telephone stand (which my kids laugh at because “…Mom, who uses a telephone stand for a telephone anyway? Like, Dugh?”) is one of my biggest sellers. I’m sure if you look at past posts you’ll see the variety of ways I’ve painted this table for people. Its FUN!
http://thedecorativepaintbrush.blogspot.com/2010/10/halloween-treat.html
http://thedecorativepaintbrush.blogspot.com/2010/05/telephone-stand.html

Well, when Leslie wrote me about what she wanted her table to look like I was excited to get it started. I love customers like Leslie (yet, they also make me a bit nervous too) and I’ll tell you why.


Leslie is an artist herself, a photographer and writer. She knew exactly what she wanted. She sent me pictures (of her home, other art pieces in the room). She described the colors to me perfectly, it was wonderful. I had a perfect visual as to what she wanted her table to look like. Then, the excitement turned to panic. I hyper focused. She’s an artist. She knows exactly what she wants! What if I don’t produce it? Aaaaagggghhhh!

Do you notice a trend? Artists are filled with a lot of self doubt? Ask any of us, it’s a very common thing. Whenever we do a piece of art work, in any form, we are putting ourselves out there, openly exposed, naked, standing in open judgment, to be looked at and….okay, I’m back sorry about that, I was on a therapists couch for a minute, anyway, back to Leslie, I just wanted to get it right.

Later that night I was painting in my head, as I always do, some people count sheep, I paint, hey, whatever works, right? And that’s when her design came to me.

I’ve gotten in the habit of leaving my phone next to my bed, so when I have these brilliant creative brainstorms at 3:00 am in the morning I don’t have to run to the bathroom (with a flashlight and sticky note) and scribble it down, I just grab the phone, let the glaring light burn out my retina, and (with only one eye open under my covers) I type in what I’m thinking. Once the image/idea is out of my head I can go to sleep. So, after I regurgitated this idea from my brain I fell asleep. Got up the next day and started painting.

This piece came together fast after that. If I’m going to be honest, in the past, the thought of putting black and blue on the same canvas would have freaked me out! I think that was what was holding me back. But lately, especially after this breakthrough, it’s really been working for me. I’ve actually used it in a couple of upcoming pieces as well, and I really like the look. Funny, how your color palette changes over time, kind of like your taste buds? I hated seafood growing up, pregnant with my daughter, couldn’t get enough of it, now I LOVE IT! Life is CRAZY, isn’t it!

Leslie loved with her piece by the way (“Few!” She said, whipping her hand across her brow.) If you get a chance you should check out her websites http://www.lesliecarolwood.com/ http://www.gosoakyourhead.com/. She’s got some really interesting and inspiring things, I’m sure you’ll enjoy them.

Happy Painting!

MARY




http://www.skiptomylou.org/