Finishing touches and getting started

What a busy week, so far!  Good busy, not crazy busy.  Had my weekly meeting with Cat, about our bookazine, 365 Being, Savoring a Life of Abundance, Joy and Beauty.  Subscriptions are coming in, and not just from people we know!  I find this really satisfying, for some reason. If you haven't already, check out our website, 365being.com, to learn more about this unique lifestyle publication.  You can order it right there, but if you want our introductory special, which gives you $10 off and our premier issue free, email and ask how.  My regular email is at the end of this post, or contact any of the emails listed on the website.

After that meeting, I taught my usual Monday Artgirl.  I was relieved to hear that even though Faithie has decided to switch from homeschooling to public school, she'll still come to class here on Monday afternoons.  Whew!  I need my Monday afternoon playtime!  I need my kid hugs!  I need to start my week with a little Faith.  Mondays would not be nearly so nice without that.  Mondays might become, well...Mondays.

Tuesday's project was to finish my part of this beautiful dining room...

I don't get credit for the satin striped upper walls.  My job was to turn the dark pink wainscoting into burgundy leather, and spiff up the trim.  Before shots?  Ummm...oops.



The nice thing about glazing wainscoting is that the small area makes it easy to work the glaze before it dries, so the results are always good.  The bad thing? Spending the day on my knees.  Lucky for me, nice houses have nice carpet, which has nice padding!



I created the leather glaze by rolling the glaze on with a Woolie roller, then removing some of it with plastic grocery bags.  On the trim, I brushed the glaze on, then as soon as it dried, hit the edges and details with a touch of gilding wax (Rub n Buff).  As I said, I didn't paint the stripes, but in case you were wondering how to get the subtle effect of a satin stripe, the fella who did it masked off the stripes and brushed on clear Polycrylic.

Leather glaze always looks good in a traditional dining room.  In fact, this is the second dining room this summer that I've painted with this classic treatment. 

 But that was just the beginning of the week.  On this next project, I did get a before shot.  The sample is the big board leaning against the fireplace.  The project is the fireplace (actually four fireplaces).  I'm playing in the mud again, at least on the two upstairs ones...

Inspired by a photo he spotted online, of a fireplace faced in a huge sheet of agate-like marble, this young art collector asked me to create something similar for him. 

It is really fun working with a homeowner who is totally into color, and loves commissioning custom art.  One contractor today commented that it looked like a lot of work.  I laughed and asked him if it really looked like I was working.  Of course, if anyone makes that comment at the end of the day tomorrow, when my arms are lead jello, I might not giggle quite so loud.  Check back here over the next couple of weeks to see how these progress.

Questions? You can leave them in the comments below, or email me at dawnmariedelara@gmial.com.

Want to see other fireplaces or more plaster techniques I've done?  Check out my website at theartofthehome.com.