Friday, October 12, 2012

Any ideas? Idee?

I'm feeling crafty lately, partly because of all the youtube videos I've been watching on upcycling, recycling and whatever, partly because winter is coming and that makes me want to paint, and glue and so on. So there was this piece of furniture that had been left here by my parents - even they must not have liked it much, and neither did I. But I kept it around because I thought it could be useful. Then the carpenter broke one of its glass doors - hard to replace because they are yellow with circles embossed on them. Then the painter moved it and broke off a leg. Then I helped the painter move it again, and we broke off another leg, at which point he showed me how they were all chewed up by termites. I had initially asked at the hardware store if there was a paint I could use on it and they told me nothing would stick because it is veneered or laminated or whatever. A bit hard to believe, but I said "if you say so" or "whatever" or something like that. I tried to get someone to fix it up for me, I tried to get the glass replaced, but got nowhere.
So when someone offered to take it to the dump for me - not as easy to accomplish in this small town in southern Italy as it was back in SF, where you could leave something on the street and it would be gone by the next morning - I said "please do and thank you very much". Well, he forgot. So I reminded him and he said "tomorrow before noon". That was a week ago, and in that week I've been fretting about the ungodly amount of craft supplies I have - ceramics, jewelry making, silk painting, mixed media, and painting -  and how am I going to organize all that stuff, and how insane it is that I have several empty rooms that I could turn into studios, but no shelves or furniture to stash the stuff in an orderly way, since I abandoned most of my furniture when I moved here, and what a pity that I can't use that ugly piece of furniture with the termity legs........
About 2 hours ago I yanked myself away from youtube and grabbed a paint brush and my half can of a wonderful water-based acrylic enamel that was used here to repaint all the old central heating radiators and that can be used on wood or metal and who knows what. I figured who cares since it's going to the dump anyway......maybe.....someday.....before noon.
(Riassunto per chi non legge l'inglese, visto che e` troppo lungo da tradurre: Vecchio mobile abbastanza bruttino, laminato, con due gambe e uno dei vetri delle finestre rotte, destinato alla discarica. Ho molto bisogno di un mobile per tutto il mio materiale artistico e, ispirata da tanti fai da te video su youtube, ho deciso di fare un ultimo tentativo di recuperarlo pitturandolo di bianco per poi decorarlo in qualche modo - o scrivendoci sopra con la pittura nera, o dipingendovi grandi fiori colorati, o schizzandolo di pittura, tanto per la discarica c'e` sempre tempo. Apprezzerei suggerimenti, solo non ditemi di farci il decoupage con carta da musica o pagine di vecchi libri o altro, perche` deve essere una cosa facile e veloce, altrimenti perdo l'interesse e, come tanti miei progetti, finira` nel mondo molto affollato dei progetti smarriti.....) 

Here's the progress I've made so far. Ecco quello che ho fatto finora.
In the photos it may not look as ugly as it really is, but believe me, it didn't work in any room and was just plain awkward. It's from the seventies or sixties, I don't know, and by the way apparently the broken legs don't make much of a difference since they were in the middle - there are plenty more legs.
So after I get the outside all white - I'm not messing with the inside - I plan on putting fabric in the windows (with tacks) and doing something funky on top of the white. Maybe writing all over with black paint, or painting colorful flowers, or splashing paint on it. Any ideas you might offer would be welcome, just don't tell me to decoupage it with sheet of music or old books or anything like that, because I want to keep it easy and fast or I will lose interest and it will end up in the very crowded never never land of so many of my projects, or the dump.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like the idea for the fabric in the windows.
You can paint it abstractly. Use a towel and dab the paint on or use a brush and splash, or a 5 inch or so roller and just use the edge of it (you get lines) or just let loose on it with color and brush and anything else you have. Or just paint it red!
But be sure to have fun doing it!

ornella said...

mi piace il recupero delle cose...bella idea. Vai avanti così la fantasia non ti manca di certo.Buon lavoro e faccelo vedere a lavoro ultimato. baci

anna maria said...

Patricia, wow, red. Hadn't thought of that possibility. Nothing may work though because it has birthed a strange smell and I've been told there is a product I should have used to prime it. It gives plastic and metal a porous surface for paint. Can't decide if I should proceed or quit!

Ornella, grazie. Se decidero` fi finirlo lo faro` vedere di sicuro!

Tara said...

I like white or anitique white. Did you finish it? I have a BHG magazine with one in hospital green, but I don't recommend the color.

anna maria said...

Hi Tara,
I gave it a second coat of white, but I am waiting for 8 new legs for it, since the original onese were eaten by termites. I tried with the help of one man to get it out of that room, but need two men. Apparently the two that put in there before I decided to paint it, did it in such a way that it requires two strong bodies to get it out.
I will sure be glad to finally complete this project!