It's been so wonderful to have skype sessions with my two lovely friends Nikki (Addicted to Art) and Alison (Words and Pictures) during lockdown and really it's been the only time I have sat and created anything. I've spent so much time in the garden and, since we have been allowed out more, Ken and I have spent at least two days a week visiting National Trust places and beautiful gardens, so between that and walking on our local Ranges to try and keep fit (a bit!!) there really hasn't been much time left.
When wondering what we could do for this session I showed the girls some little houses Ken had cut me from wood and we agreed we'd each have a set of three and couldn't wait to see the outcomes.
As I worked on the painty layers and decided to add some small windows and doors I began to get the feel that these belonged in a farm yard, what do you think?
Photo taken outdoors in the garden.
Process steps
*Seal with gesso using a palette knife to spread it over.
*Scrape cobalt blue and grey acrylic paints randomly over the walls and dry.
*Sand the sides.
*Scrape on some resist paste and give a coat of white chalky paint and gently heat to wipe away leaving some of the previous colours showing through.
*Use a blending tool and foam to add some yellow oxide and tita buff , both mixed with a little glazing medium - this ages the paint a bit.
* Rub with some dry kitchen towel, a wet wipe and buff the walls before scraping some white chalky paint randomly down all the sides.
*Paint the roofs black.
*Sand the edges again and rub in some brown distress ink.
*Outline where you want the windows and doors with a pencil then cut away the paint layers with a sharp knife. Darken them by using sharpie pens.
*I knocked in two rusty nails for chimneys.
Photo taken indoors in a light tent. They could almost be in a snowy setting.
Side view straight on.
Photo showing side windows
Nikki's version. I love the gorgeous tissue layers, the beautiful bright colours and the sequencing of the phrase over the three layers.
Alison's version. These are very much in her beautiful shabby, cottage garden style and the added stamping, painted flowers and rusty elements really bring them to life.
Please click the links to be transported over to see more details of these fabulous wooden house sets.
xxx