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Monday, April 14, 2008

A "Blank" Canvas

“Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint you can on it.”


Danny Kaye ~(Musician, Comedian, and Entertainer 1913-1987)

The joke in my family when I was painting on customer's walls, and the walls of our own home to "practice", was...." If you stand or sit still long enough, Mom will paint you." And that meant paint ON you. Which actually happened once or twice...but, that's another story!

I "try" to keep the paint on paintable surfaces....here is a surface that is paintable...but unexpected one!
These are fun to paint and the red brick reminds my of Redware Pottery . For this set of tiles, I started with red brick tiles from a home improvement store, choosing the ones that have a flat even surface. Then cleaned them with isopropyl alcohol and base coated them with black paint.

Before I go on.... black chalkboard paint would be fun to use on these, then you could write or draw on them and then erase!

After the black is dry, I use a gray watercolor pencil to draw out my design. (This is my original design, so please create one of your own!, thanks!). You could use a stencil here too. Then I block out the design with white to help the strawberries and pottery to stand out against the black. Then paint! After the paint dries, seal it with a matte sealant.

If you'd prefer ready-made ones....I have these offered on The Primitive Gathering, which will be updated tomorrow on the 15th. I also painted a little chickadee on wood for the 15th...please stop by and take a peek at all of the artist's offerings.

14 comments:

Dogpatch Primitives said...

oh Suzanne, you never cease to amaze me! Such talent!

Susan McShannon-Monteith said...

Wouldn't it be wonderful to have painted bricks below one's feet as you meander through the garden.
With fruit as beautiful as yours the birds and bees would stop to take a look thinking it was real!
xo Susan

Cathy ~ Tadpoles and Teacups said...

Lovely!! What a wonderful idea, and thanks for the tutorial.
:)
Cathy

Anonymous said...

What a innovative and fun idea. And it looks great too!

Lana Manis said...

That chickadee is so "tweet" & the strawberries look good enough to eat!

Ruth Welter said...

Wow Suzanne, I love how you painted on the red brick tiles. That is so beautiful. I've never seen anything like it before.

I love your bird too...he is so sweet and reminds me of the nice weather to come.

PAT said...

The bricks are fabulous Suzanne!

Pat

Doreen Frost said...

Suzanne. These are beautiful. Wonderful, wonderful job. There are so many great things you could do with these. I love Susan's idea..that would be stunning. :)

Have a wonderful day.

Hugs,
Doreen

Joyce said...

Hi Suzanne,
Thank you SO much for your sweet words of support for our family and your prayers! Mercy it has been a wild weekend....tiresome.
But we are THANKFUL that all will be well in the end. The kids are a bit banged up right now but they will get through this.

Your new brick tiles are wonderful.....you do such amazing work. I love it all.
I always liked Danny Kaye....I was thinking the other day that I needed to watch "Hans Christian Anderson." It's been a long time since I saw it. It's sooo good.
Thanks again!
Joyce

Donna said...

Beautiful, Suzanne, and what a great idea! You really CAN paint on almost anything!
Hugs,
Donna

Cookie said...

beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!!!

I always seem to come away from your blog with such a contented peacefulness. I'd be indebted forever if you could bottle a bit of it and send it to me!

Pretty please... with sugar on top?

Anonymous said...

Hi Suzanne!

I'm playing catch up today! Those bricks are just wonderful! Can they be used outside or are they for display inside only? I'd love to make a few to intersperse into veggie garden paths. Great idea!

Manuela

Holly Tree Primitives said...

These are beautiful Suzanne. I can alwaya count on you to knock my socks off! Wonderful.

~Michele

Samantha said...

Love the strawberries- reminds me of summer and strawberry shortcake(can't wait!)
I like to paint on dark backgrounds, too,it really makes the colors "pop".