Friday, July 28, 2017

DIY: Wooden Oar to Paint Brush Decor!

The other day, I was perusing the isles of my local big box craft store with the previous night's Art Teacherin' Book Club on my mind. We were joined by the amazing Barney Saltzberg, author of Beautiful Oops (among 62 other titles!) You can still view his live chat here. He said some things that really stayed with me: "You need to build your imagination muscle. Don't look for ideas, they are already there!" He shared with us that "art finds him" and that he has built his imagination muscle up so much that he can see what most people fail to. 
With those words ringing in my years, I stopped in my tracks when I spotted these oars on the Wooden-Thingies-You-Can-Paint isle (actual isle name). I was like, "Big Box Craft Store, you say Oar, I say Paint Brush Decor!" And marched outta there with a cart full o' oars faster than you can say, "take my fistful of coupons and can I score that teacher discount, please?!"
Now just HOW I was gonna paint them was still yet to be determined. In fact, my first attempt was what I'd like to call shabby sh** (just a step above shabby chic). Then I remembered Lichtenstein's painting Brushstroke. And I was totally inspired. 
So I went the cartoon-style route. It really made the painting process so much easier. Lay down flat areas of color, allow to dry and then add the high- and low-lights using black and white. 
Once I had these bad boys in my cart, I was so excited to see more inspiration in the mundane. Before I knew it, I had my cart full of Wooden-Thingies-You-Can-Paint...but decided to return them to their shelves for another day. One project at a time, right? My hoarders-therapist (aka the hubs) woulda been so proud. 
Now, I will admit, when I got them home, and these oars looked every bit like an oar, I was fearful I wouldn't be able to pull this off. Then I happened to look at the paint brushes I'd been using and realized that they had the long handled look as well. With a little skillful painting, I might be able to transform them. 
My name is Cassie Stephens. I used to suffer from Painting-Dysfunction. Every time I approached a surface for painting, I would convince myself that I would create a complete mess. It was not until I discovered alcohol relaxed and realized that I could always just paint over it, that I was able to paint with ease. Now I have no problem consuming alcohol enjoying the process and painting without worry. It's just a canvas or a Wooden-Thingie-You-Can-Paint, after all! Don't like it? Paint over it!
Blah, blah, blah, here I am doing the boring part of laying down the color. 
By the time I'd finished painting the paint portion of the brush, the handle was dry enough for me to add the white and black accents. They have a British and French accent, by the way, respectively. 
Ta-dah! I am really so stoked about these, y'all don't even know. I'm excited to paint the secondary colors and hang them as a color wheel in my art room...stay tuned!
 Did I mention I was stoked? I'm a little stoked. 
 Now that these guys are finished, I'll have to stroll down that Wooden-Thingies (ahem) isle once more. Thank you, Barney, for the inspiration. See art. Look for it. It's everywhere, y'all! 
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27 comments:

  1. These are super cute Cassie! I love them!

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  2. LOVE these! What a great idea!

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    1. Thank you! Every now and then, I get a decent idea :) It's usually followed by a burning smell ;)

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  3. Such a great idea Cassie! Once again you are wonder woman!! I am thinking of using your idea (smaller scale) to make bathroom passes for my kiddos. I have tried real brushes but they get gross and dirty- I will spare you the details!!

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    1. I'm loving YOUR idea!! I just might have to steal that one, thank you for sharing!

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  4. Caroline Nay7/29/2017

    Such an awesome idea! Can't wait to try it.

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  5. Can I just say...I want to be you when I grow up?!?! So fun. You are like the energizer bunny. She keeps going and going and going from one great idea to the next! Thanks for the inspiration!

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    1. Aw, you are very sweet! I'm a mess!!

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  6. Oh my goodness! These are so cool! Thank you for the inspiration!! 😊

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  7. This is such a brilliant idea. That imagination muscle of yours is pretty buff!

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    1. haha, I like the idea of a buff brain!!

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  8. Love these! I wish I still had an Art room to put them in!! Maybe my own Art studio/private classroom someday...

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    1. I know, I kinda wanna hang mine in our house...pretty sure that would not fly!

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  9. These turned out amazing! I love the cartoon aesthetic, and I'm a sucker for primary colors. The polka dot backdrop a la Mr. L. rocks!

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    1. Yeah, I gotta say, the dots make the photo!!

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    2. These are amazing!!
      I am trying to find the ors to make some! where did you find them??

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  10. These would also be super cute hanging to designate color tables! I'm doing it!!! Thanks :)

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  11. I found them and I'm already painting!!!
    Thank you for this super fun idea!! The kids will love this!!!

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  12. Jessica Tingler8/07/2017

    I bought out my local Michael's I love this idea. I've just finished painting the primary colors and I've got to go to a different Michael's to get the oars for the secondary. I can't wait to have these in my room. Thank you so much for sharing and being awesome! I wouldn't have gotten through my 1st year without you!

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  13. Thank you Cassie for the wonderful idea! Just curious... how expensive were the oars?

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  14. Good Idea
    Painting your wood and covering holes would be much better as per my view.
    as when holes are digged by using dowel jigs, you can get a perfect shape. But color is also most important for finishing.
    i got such details on Doweljigs.
    Thanks.

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  15. I know this is an old post but I came across it from Instagram. I went to Michael’s today and they are $8 a piece.

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  16. Hey Cassie Stephens, I read the post entirely and couldn’t help thanking you for sharing with us this piece of informative resource. Could you please explain the Type of wooden paint brush a little more, so I can enhance the knowledgebase of our community website Drillly. Of course, you can do it in another post! Any effort appreciated!

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Thank you so much for your comments. I appreciate each and every one :)

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