Though I’ve put paintbrush to furniture dozens of times, I still am often plagued with doubt when I try something new or different or if I use dark wax or go a little heavy on the distressing.
I can be a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my creative endeavors. I rarely think what I make is good enough. I believe in The Nester’s philosophy that it doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful, but I have a hard time applying it to my own handiwork. I will nitpick myself to death, sometimes tweaking and tweaking and tweaking…
Uncertainty, tweaking and doubt came into play big time this week as I was painting a pretty little Franch side table with cabriole legs. I knew I wanted to French-ify the table even more, painting the legs and base a pretty French gray. But the topped begged for a more special decorative treatment.
Here’s a look at the table in progress, after I’d painted the top antique white and the base medium gray. Forgive my super-messy workspace. I suffered a paint spill as I was mixing up my gray because I failed to secure the pour top. Oops!
I thought about stenciling the top with a French saying or poem, as Marian, aka Miss Mustard seed did on this beautiful piece. But I didn’t have a stencil, I didn’t want to make one and I didn’t want to wait to buy one. Then, I thought of using the wax paper transfer method I used on my handpainted fromage tray to create an image on the tabletop. But since the tabletop is larger than a sheet of paper, I worried that the ink would smudge if I attempted to do the transfer in stages.
Other decorative painters, like Korrie from Red Hen Home, have used overhead projectors to transfer images onto furniture, and that’s definitely the method I would have used if I had an overhead projector.
So, I had to find another way to put this French advertising image from The Graphics Fairy onto my little table:
Source: graphicsfairy.blogspot.com via Amy on Pinterest
I decided to freehand it in chalk on the tabletop, already flirting with disaster because
- I am not an artist
- I do not have a steady hand
- I don’t think I have particularly pretty handwriting
Here is the table all chalked up. I simply sketched out the words, ribbons and some of the flourishes from the Graphics Fairy image in pink chalk, adapting it to fit my surface. I had a moment of panic — several actually — wondering if the pink chalk would disappear with sanding, but I decided to risk it.
Though I wasn’t sure at this stage whether I really “liked” the tabletop (or whether it met my vision of perfection), I dove right in and started painting the letters in gray. I used a variety of artists’ brushes to fill in the letters and fine lines. But, as I mentioned in Point 2 above, I don’t have a steady hand. So, the lines definitely weren’t crisp and some were pretty shaky. And I felt like I had overdone it with some of the flourishes. So, I painted over those.
By the time I got all the lettering done, it was past 11 p.m., I was stinky and sweating from working in a stuffy from working in a hot garage. I called in my husband for an opinion. “Be honest,” I told him, and he assured me that he liked the table.
“I want you to tell me the truth.” I commanded. But he didn’t waver.
I still wasn’t sure. So, I decided to shower and sleep on it.
The next morning, I still wasn’t sure about the table. But I decided to go all in.
I started sanding the table, giving the legs and base a pretty heavy distressing. Then, I went to work on the tabletop, erasing much of my painting with the sandpaper. I’ll admit I was a little reckless in my sanding, using coarse grit in places and not using very gentle or evenhanded strokes.
I still didn’t know if I liked the table.
So, I decided to wax it. One coat of clear wax. More distressing with sandpaper.
I still wasn’t sure about it.
So I attached it with dark wax (mixed with mineral spirits.) I waxed and wiped and buffed, until my arms were aching. Then I waxed some more with clear and filled in some spots with dark wax and buffed some more.
Finally, I had finished the table. Or gotten it to a point where I was finished with it.
But I still wasn’t sure about it. So, I snapped a few quick photos with my phone and posted them on Facebook with the question, “What do you think? Should I repaint this tabletop?”
I received not a single negative comment. So I decided to put the table up for sale in our booth at Golden Antiques & Treasures. For all the work this thing required, I priced it at a steal.
These photos make the top look really blotchy for some reason, but it’s not that blotchy. Might have something to do with the filter I put on the photo when I was editing it.
I do love the little pinstripe detailing on the side. I think I did the right thing by painting those areas ivory.
And here’s the tabletop, freehanded and handpainted without assistance of a stencil, wax paper or overhead projector. Again, the finish is not as blotchy as it would seem from this photo.
I still don’t know about this table. It’s not perfect — not quite what I envisioned — but maybe it is beautiful in its own right.
Maybe if or when somebody buys this table, I’ll feel better about it and my efforts.
Linking up to the following parties:
Twitter: DearEmmeline
says:
I think it turned out great. I especially think it looks very nice with the heavy distressing. If you tend to be a perfectionist though and get antsy about freehanding it you might try the pencil rubbing method that I used for two different pieces when transferring images (with typography) from The Graphic’s Fairy. I get frustrated with my freehand lettering so this method works for me!!
http://www.dearemmeline.blogspot.com/2012/06/it-started-with-transfer-and-paint-pen.html
http://www.dearemmeline.blogspot.com/2012/06/custom-wedding-nesting-tables-tutorial.html
Thanks for that tip. I’m going to check out the technique and I’ll probably put it to use on another project.
And thanks for your kind words.