One DIY Project Completed.

Last week my studio was a little crazy. While working on my summer DIY from my previous post, in a burst of creative energy I started on two more projects. I even grabbed my camera (yes, I was fearless!) and started filming my progress as I worked. I held the camera in my left hand as I painted with my right hand all the while describing my technique. I don't think any of it is good enough to share, at least not without a lot of editing, but with the right set up I could definitely get into it. Is Youtube in my future? Perhaps. Maybe a few segments on Cityline? now that would be fun. But enough daydreaming...

Here is the inspiration that started this whole project. These gorgeous carpets from Modern Weave. They are sooooo beautiful but not in my budget at the moment, so I decided to make my own.

I had an old abstract landscape painting that I painted a few years ago, on a stretched canvas. A good size for a carpet at 48" x 60". The idea was that I'd paint it and then remove it from the stretcher to use as a carpet.

The look/feel I was going for is from the Modern Vintage collection. I used my fave Benjamin Moore paints and instead of a brush I used my trusty brayer to apply all the paint. By using the brayer all the textures and even some of the original painting show through giving it that vintage look.

From the Benjamin Moore Colour Trends 2012, Earth & Sky I used Wythe Blue, Sharkskin, Fresh Olive, and Battenburg. I also used Crown Point Sand and Lemon Chiffon. There are only hints of the old colors (cobalt blue and unbleached titanium) of the painting showing through in spots. By using the Benjamin Moore paints it will hold up to the wear and tear that a carpet would get.

I could have started with a large piece of new canvas but it made more sense to me (and my wallet) to recycle and re-use the  painting that I didn't want anymore. In this detail you can see how painting with a brayer picks up on the texture from the previous painting on the canvas.

Here is the finished canvas. At this point I could remove it from the stretcher and fold the ends under and use it as a carpet as I had planned, but I decided to put a wire on it and hang it in the bedroom just to see how it looked.

Well, you guessed it. I think it looks great here and works well in the bedroom. I like it so much that I'm having second thoughts now about using it as a carpet at all.

I think I'll live with it for awhile and perhaps it will stay on the wall for good. Then I'm back to square one and will have to paint another canvas to use as a carpet in the living room. Stay tuned.

*Please note you can see the colors I used as well as all the colors in the many Benjamin Moore collections here in the color gallery.