Monday, February 27, 2012

Hand Painted Stool Art!

The creative process is definitely in full swing! I have added some new products to my store...stools! I have wanting to add stools for some time. They are time intensive but well worth it (I hope you will agree).

What goes into making a stool? I start with wood stools that I buy from one of my suppliers. Next, look for any imperfections in the wood and fix them. If there is a knot I make sure the wood is sealed and protected to make sure the knot sap doesn’t seep through and discolor the paint. Then I fill in any indentations with wool filler as well as any gaps along the seams. Then I sand the whole thing to prep it for the first coat of primer.

After applying the first coat of primer, I sand it and then prime it again. Then sand it again! Whew...I am already tired. The prep process is a lot of work, that's for sure.

Now that the stool is prepped and primed…the fun stuff begins! After deciding the design I want to do, I choose the base coat. The base coat is the base color of the design. In my sunflower stool, I choose a deep red. After the base coat dries I start adding the design element, such as the sunflower.

 Now that the sunflower on the top is done, I look at the stool and see what else it needs. That’s when the sunflowers on the sides appear. I take one more look and decide that the wood support underneath needs some color as well.

When I start the stool, I have a basic idea of what I want. However, as the process begins it changes and morphs according to what I “feel” it needs. To finish it off I seal the whole stool with sturdy polyurethane for durability.


One stool can take me from 4-10 hours. That is why the price varies on my stools. The longest time it took to paint a stool? 12 hours! That was the Noah’s Ark themed stool.  So far I have completed 6 different stool designs: Tuscan Sunflower Stool, Noah's Ark Stool, Rooster Stool, Pirate Stool, Cupcake Stool, Frog Stool.

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