MAKING PROGRESS

Before

Here she is.....I've layered 4 different colors/shades in light coats of paint on her surface. I still have to apply the patina--have decided to do that myself (it's not as tricky as I thought). I took the commode to Sharon this afternoon--Sharon will paint the faux marble top surface and highlight the lip around the drawers and edge of the chest in a shade just a bit darker (hopefully more gray) than the case paints. We chose a deeper slate gray for the marble base color with darker and some lighter veining.

With the first layer of off-white (which I then had to sand down) I didn't remove the hardware....but quickly realized that I needed to

at least I got a good shot of what the hardware looked like prior to polishing. You can see how dark it is. Andrew polished it today....

I had assumed that the hardware was not original, but once I removed the handles, I realized that they were original and there were still traces of the original gilding on the backs. It is amazing that after about 250 years, the gold held its integrity and was still bright. I love how the hand chased details of the bronzes were revealed when cleaned.

Here are a few more detail photos of the commode.

I can't wait til I pick her up and put on the finishing touches. Roberto will replace the hardware and go over the commode with a clear bees wax and then she'll be ready for her new home.

I think Jones and I will skip the dog park for today...

Have a wonderful fall week-end. It's hotter than you know what here (93* at 2 pm) and the wonderful sweet rain is just a memory.

Mary & Jones & Cole

PROJECTS (and helpers)

Here's a shot of one of my project assistants--Mini Beast just loves to stay close so that he can keep an eye on me (just in case I might be making a trip to the cat food cupboard). Jones is always close, but he hates to have his picture taken......

When I brought the little 18th c. French commode home and really studied her,

  

  

I found traces of old paint. So my brain started envisioning what she would look like painted and I decided to take the plunge. I had never (and now I have) painted an 18th c. piece; so I knew that this would be a learning-on-the-go effort--and I promised that I would not berate myself if I had to redo some sections.

First, Andrew and I completely sanded and filled the shrinkage cracks and sanded again. The top is a 19th c. marriage; so we sanded down the sharper edges to a soft bevel--this takes time and patience I learned. 

I painted one drawer first (there will be at least two additional colors applied) with the Swedish(?) off-white (boy do I wish that Loi were here to coach me on colors) that I chose.

    

It was a first attempt--and I put too much paint on--I'll sand the surfaces to remove A LOT of the paint and I think it will be fine.

But--by the time I got around to painting the sides, my head and hand were working better (I also watered down the paint)

  

The bottom front panel has a little centered detail which the darker green/blue/gray will pick out nicely with the second and third coats.

My wonderful painter, Sharon, will apply a faux marble finish to the top. Probably a very subtle marble and then she will apply the faux patination to the entire commode. This last step is tricky and I'm not going to go there.

I am so immensely grateful. We had a deep soaking rain Friday night into Saturday morning (at times it really poured). And right on schedule, the rain stopped just before I had to head out the door to shop. We need many many more rains like this to bring our lakes and water table to any where near normal. Please keep California (and the entire West) in your prayers.

Well, I'm off to start painting again. Wish me luck.

Blessings for a beautiful week.

Mary & Jones & Cole