Playing with Paint

I love to paint, but it's usually only on furniture or sometimes a wall or two.  I've never tried painting a canvas before.  This is all about to change, my friends.

Sadie+Stella's e-design of my living room recommended that I try painting a large canvas to go in the niche above my TV.

Before starting all of this redecorating, I had a long Tuscan countryside painting up there - lots of yellows, red, and green.   I definitely need something to replace it, but haven't found the perfect piece.

So, it looks like I'm going to attempt a canvas.  Sadie+Stella recommended stenciling an ikat or geometric pattern or doing an abstract with the colors in my living room.   I've been searching around the Internet and Pinterest to find images that I like and it looks like I'm going the abstract route.

I wanted to share a couple of images and tutorials that I found.  I don't advocate copying an original artwork and passing it off as your own creation, but I think it's OK to use someone else's art as inspiration to create your very own unique piece.

These two are by Jen Ramos, the blogger behind Made by Girl and the artist known as Cocoa and Hearts.  I'm drawn to the colors in these pieces.

Source: cocoaandhearts.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

Source: cocoaandhearts.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

The next two are from an artist named Georgia Gray.  I think I might have a thing for stripes?

Source: georgia-gray.blogspot.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

Source: blog.effortless-style.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

Lisa, at Trapped in North Jersey, did something similar for her daughter's bedroom:

Blogger Elise Blaha Cripe was inspired by these pieces:

Source: blackeiffel.blogspot.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

She used them to create her own piece:

Source: eliseblaha.typepad.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

The blog Oh Happy Day gives a tutorial on how she made these pieces:

Source: ohhappyday.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

Do you read Oh Happy Day?  You should, but it might make you green with envy.  It follows the life of Jordan, her husband, and 2 children as they spend a year living abroad in Paris.

Here's another fun canvas that I might try with the kiddos.  All you do is paint on bubble wrap and press it on the canvas:

Source: hypheninteriors.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

Here's another one to try with the kids.  Grab your crayons and hair dryer and voila!

Source: instructables.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

I'm thinking I'm going to be doing a combo of the lines and fingerprint paintings.  I want to put some sparkly gold accents in there as well.  I have NO idea what I'm doing, but that hasn't stopped me before.  I'm going to give it a shot and will share the results with you soon.