The key to my heart

Because I paint so much at the library, Georgine, the librarian, has given me my own key.  I secretly (okay, not so secretly now that I've written it here) never want to give it back.  It's not that I use it when I'm not painting, I just like having it.  I love libraries.  Home libraries, public libraries, school libraries, and the little tiny free libraries that are popping up in towns across the country.  These are like oversized mail boxes, where you can take any book (to keep!), as long as you leave a book. 



Library columns before.  Could have just given them a fresh coat of white, but what fun would that have been?



When I was painting the doors there this summer, Georgine asked me to give the City a quote for repainting the columns, and I told her I would only do it if it was a faux finish, as I 'm not in the straight paint business. There was actually a good reason to do a marble finish on them, which you can see by the close up of the base. Not only was the white badly scuffed, but the bases were wrapped in carpet, disguising sloppy glue joints that plain paint wouldn't hide. The carpet was beginning to peel away, looking even scruffier than the joints, so though I hadn't bid this into the job, I went ahead and removed it, then spent most of a day scraping off the glue residue, before coating everything with bonding primer.

Base before, with scruffy carpet which doesn't seem to have prevented the columns from being scuffed up.

There are lots of ways to paint marble, and for realism, I prefer to create it from layers of glaze, as the translucency is what makes it believable. In this case, however, durability and ease of touch-ups were the most important feature, so I chose to use a Woolie tool and full strength industrial grade paint. It's not likely these will ever chip, but if they do, anyone can dip a fingertip into two of the four colors I used, and dot it onto the bare spot. The repair will blend in without a trace.

Though white columns were appropriate to the decor and architecture, marble columns have more presence, and hide scuff marks much better.

So, now that the columns are done, I've had to come up with a way to keep my beloved library key a little longer.   I've promised to letter a short quote on the beam above the columns.  It will of course, take time to find just the right quote, and then because I am planning to letter it to appear carved into the beam, painting it won't go quickly, either.  That should keep "My Precious" safely in my pocket another month or two!  After that?  Perhaps the story hour room needs a Hobbit mural?

There are more samples of faux marble on my website, theartofthehome.com, as well as all the information on how to hire me.

Need tips for marbleizing something yourself?  Feel free to email me at dawnmariedelara@gmail.com, or just post it in the "comments" below.