New Under the Sun

My studio looks out onto our front entry, an atrium. This was my view when we moved here:

 

A brick wall is not very inspiring.

Then I added a big metal sun. I love suns and have quite a few around the entry.

At least it was something to look at besides a brick wall.

When we were in Bandera a few weeks ago, some of the antique and western art shops had old or distressed furniture. I was thinking a table or old stepladder would be nice under the sun, with a plant or two. Not wanting to pay $25 or $30 for an old table, I looked in thrift shops here in Kerrville and found this table (at the appropriately named shop, Finds*) for $2. It’s truly junk, particle board with veneer peeling off and blobs of wax on the top. With so little to lose, I knew I could just have fun.

One ugly table, $2.

The legs were a bit wobbly, so I shored them up with Gorilla Glue.

C-clamps are so handy!

Stripped off the loose veneer, cleaned it up and spray-painted it dark green. When that dried I painted over the green with thinned-down yellow acrylic paint and wiped most of it off. Next I tried spatter painting, but I ended up with more drips than spatters, and not Jackson Pollock-level drips, either.

Using a big rough masonry brush, I stippled with yellow, brown, gold and a little red. A couple of coats of varnish, and voilà, our “new antique” for under $10:

I’ve had the yellow pail for years. Finally found a place for it. 

Don’t you think the sun seems happier now?

My new studio view.

* Finds consists of two adjacent stores. One is more boutique, with good china and furniture. The other has just about everything else, from tools to yarn. Sadly, they no longer carry clothes. This table came from the cheap side. In a previous post about furniture restoration, the shelf came from the boutique side (and cost a lot more).