Once upon a time I thought to myself: Self, you should make some art for your living room walls. It’s time. Those walls have been naked for far too long. Cover ‘em up and give them some common decency. Whip up some kickass and effortless DIY art. It will be fun!
So I coerced convinced Bryan to stop by Michael’s while we were out, because I just so happened to notice that they were having a buy-one-get-one sale on 2-pack canvases. And if you know me it all, you know that I firmly subscribe to the belief that everything is better in pairs.
Long ago I was describing a crafty project I wanted to attempt to Bryan and I concluded my long-winded analysis with the phrase, “And it will be art!” Ever since, we’ve quote that phrase to each other in reference to whatever lofty décor ambitions I’m plotting next.
So that evening at Michael’s I scooped up two packages of canvases and picked out my favorite colors of acrylic paint, securely confident in my ability to “make art.”
Little did I know that this was about to turn into one of my most time-intensive and frustrating DIY projects to date, perhaps second only to “Operation: No More Popcorn”, my gargantuan task of scraping and refinishing our house’s 2000 square feet of popcorn ceilings.
The art had a promising start. You guys said the sweetest and most encouraging things to my Instagrammed sneak peeks…
Day 1
Pretty colors! Flowy shapes.
Day 2
Add that red! Yeah baby! Loving these colors!
And that’s where the sneak peeks ended…
Day 3
We took a sudden and decided turn for the worse with the addition of yellow. Slightly depressed. What to do, what to do?
Day 3, later
Let’s see if more texture/colors helps. We can make petals! Add, add, add. Layer, layer, layer.
Oops. Lost that wispy painterly effect that was the only thing we originally had going for us…
Day 4
I know! Let’s add blue. That’s what we need! Some blue.
Noooooooo! The 90’s vomited all over my canvas! Floral jumpers and mauve countertops and country blue geese wearing pink bowties – stick it in a Longaberger basket and we’re done for!
[Insert depressive mope-y phase here. Insert wails of desolation. Insert beating of self over lack of artistic talent. Insert frustration with inability to channel brilliant mind-masterpieces through hand & paint brush onto canvas. Insert plenty of pity-partying to husband.]
Day 4 later in day
At the encouragement of Bryan, I scrapped it. Grabbed my brush, filled it up with black paint, and slapped it over the surface with vim and vehemence. Oh, it was so freeing! How many times in life do you get to look at the mess you’ve made, decide to call it a day, and then wash over it with a fresh start? This image of my wet, black, angry brushstrokes I call “Frustration.”
Day 5
Bryan was like, “Why are you trying to paint abstract art? You are not an abstract person.”
Gulp. He’s right. I am a type-A, all my ducks in a row, straight and narrow, patterns and precision kind of person. I do not have messy brush strokes in me. I don’t think that way! I can love and appreciate when someone else creates it, but it is laughably far from my personality to try to do so myself.
I found this inspiration image from Apartment Therapy, and thought: Now that, I can do! I eyeballed the shapes with Frog tape.
Day 5, later
Determined that nothing else was going to go wrong and sabotage my art, I painted over the edges of the frog tape with black paint to be sure there would be no bleeding. This step was probably not necessary. I really didn’t care. Nothing was going to get between me and bedecking my naked-walls-in-need-of-modern-art.
Day 6
Remember when I was like, “Gold leaf: not even once”? I used it for my White & Gold Leaf Credenza Makeover and was quick to express my frustration at its imperfect and temperamental nature. So imagine my surprise when I found myself reaching for the leftover package of gold leaf and painting adhesive onto my canvases in short, gummy brushstrokes. I call this set of paintings, “Take 2.”
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Day 6, later
Nooooooo! Out of gold leaf! On the last quadrilateral of the final canvas! The fates are against me. Just six square inches left to cover!
Sometimes being a girl is fun. And then sometimes you leave the craft store in tears bc there is no gold leaf…
— Brynne Delerson (@thegatheredhome) February 18, 2014
Day 7
Left early for work so I could stop at the craft store on the way. No gold leaf to be found. None. No other craft stores nearby. Break down in tears on the phone with husband.
Day 10
Went to a different craft store in a different city. Hallelujah! Gold leaf and a 40% off coupon! Plus some thrift stores on the way home. Booyah! After finishing up the final empty gap, I practically embraced the finished product! Happy dances were had.
Day 11
Using a high-tech level app on my phone that either egregiously lied to me or led me to the shocking discovery that our house sits at a permanent 45° angle, I finally hung the canvases in their [final? temporary?] resting place. (I decided to hang them vertically rather than horizontally as originally planned.)
Eleven days, two trips to the craft store (three if you count the initial visit to buy the canvases), and it’s finally done! I love them, but I’m not sure they’ll always live on this wall. I’m thinking the black and gold could also be great candidates for my new moody dining room… We’ll see!
Have you ever had a simply DIY project snowball into a fortnight’s affair? Do you have mad abstract art skills or do you lack a single artistic bone in your body like me? 😉 Ready to give gold leaf a try (or a second chance)?
More metal leaf projects you might enjoy:
White & Gold Leaf Credenza | Agate Slice & Copper Sconces | Metallic Pillow Covers
Gold Leaf Embellished Curtains | Anthropologie-Inspired Giraffe Trinket Dish
I loved the flowers too and totally adore your gold leaf art now in your living room. So pretty.
I promise that the original flower painting looks 99% better in photographs than it did in real life! If only I had seen your post from today before I started 🙂 I'll have to try following your tutorial and see if there's any abstract in me after all!
i thought the flowers looked fab! but i totally love the gold leaf and it suits you!
Thank you Cassie! Please believe me when I say that the flowers were AWFUL in person – photographs somehow make them look less vomit-inducing 😉 I'm please this "fail" made me give gold leaf a second chance!
Yay gold leaf! I'm so addicted to that stuff haha I really loved how your flowers were coming along but I'm secretly happy you scrapped them for this 🙂
You guys are all so sweet about the flowers! I loved them up until I added the yellow, and then I was just horrified at how adding more kept making it worse 😛 I much happier with the gold leaf!
love the colors in here. i can see how the flowers would have worked, but once you realized they got away from you a little, you did an excellent take 2.
What a great way to put it! Thank you 🙂
Your flowers were turning out so well! But like the others mentioned, I'm glad to see the even bigger success. I'm really digging the polished and sharp lines. And leave it to Brynne to answer a random thought I had while at JoAnn's the other day: "does black and gold go together?" Umm, YESS!!! Well done girl!
Oh, thanks Trisha! 🙂 I just reached a point where everything I was doing was making it worse in my eyes! I think it was a good vision, hindered by my poor execution 😛
And girl, you know I think that gold goes with anything! Haha.
Oh girl! I love your play by play! Hahaha. I feel the frustration, the elation, the tears…I thought it looked great too but I have a soft spot for gold in my heart so I love what you did! 🙂
Thank you Tania! I guess the photos don't accurately convey the disaster-ness of the floral situation 😉 The gold definitely erased all my previous frustration though!
Oh, I love this Brynne! Daniel and I have a very similar story. We had this great idea that we could paint an abstract masterpiece (we made and wrapped a canvas that ended up being a 30×40), we bought a bunch of art paints from Walmart and Michael's and started painting (how hard could it be…really?!). It started out looking decent but of course, we thought it needed more… So, we kept adding to it and then had the brilliant idea that texture is what it needed so we put big paint globs on it. Needless to say, that thing ended up looking like a hot mess. I salvaged it, painted it with kilz (everybody uses kilz on canvas, right?!), painted a Pinterest inspired heart on it, and used it for some of my mini sessions. Now it sits in my upstairs bedroom (taking up way too much space) waiting for us to try again. Maybe gold leafing is what I need…
Oh my goodness, that is hilarious Renee! Love it! (P.S. I use wall paint on canvas too!)
(Not sure how I should have commented but apparently, blogger is what I used…see, I need help!). 😉
What a happy accident! It looks great! I would never have had the guts to paint over it like you did. I don't know if you watch "The Walking Dead." But I am watching it right now and in the house there are all of these cheerful paintings and then they get dark. It reminded me of the all black canvas before the gorgeous gold leaf! It looks amazing! I LOVE IT!
Jenni
I haven't seen the most recent episodes, but I can't wait to check them out 🙂 Thanks Jenni!
This looks great, in fact I love your whole living room set up! Thanks for linking up to The Makers!
Thank you Katie 🙂 The living room has come a loooong way from when first moved in, and I still have many plans for it, but I'm so glad you like it!
I would have never had the courage to cover those beautiful flowers in black!
But like they say, all's well that ends well! You finally came up with a nice piece of art.
Thank you Tanya! It's cracking me up to hear all the love for those flowers, while I stared in horror at my hands after painting them going, "What have I done!?" 😉
WOW the paintings turned out so good love the gold with the black.
Love this new, bold look! I think it goes with your decor better than the flowers. It was fun to see your whole process!
I'm visiting from Whimsy Wednesday Link Party. I would be so honored if you would share this at Brag About It Link Party on VMG206.
http://www.vmg206.com/2014/02/brag-about-it-link-party-no-43-vmg206.html
~ Megin of VMG206
Man, I love reading your blog. And I love your art. Totally worth all of the stress and tears and self-discovery (in my opinion). They look perfect with your curtains. Thanks so much for linking up at The Makers again. Pinned!
Thank you Alexis 🙂 Comments like yours put such a big smile on my face – wish you could see it!
Brynne, this is amazingly gorgeous, but what tops it off is your beautiful living room! Love all your decor!
Thank you Amy 🙂 You're so sweet! It's slowly coming together!
Fantastic! Bravo to you for having the courage to scrap your "failure" and turn it in to a total success.
These look so awesome. Also, I have cried over far weirder things. Being a girl is definitely weird at times…
Love the art and I love your entire room! Thank you for linking up at The Makers.
Corey @ TinySidekick.com
Just wanted you to know I loved this so much, it's being featured on The DIY'ers! http://homecomingmn.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-diyers-52.html
Thank you Kayla 🙂 Heading over to check it out!
You should attempt to make your own art more often! These look awesome, love the hints of gold in them. Great job 🙂
They turned out fantastic!! Thanks for sharing them at the par-tay! xo
Thank you Kelly 🙂 Love your party!
I love love love how they ended up….flowers be damned! Striking gold and black is such a better fit with your room!
Hi I just wanted to say I love the black and gold canvas! And I was wonderimg how you Laid the gold leaf? If it was in sheets or in peices ?
-Thank you
Hi Beth,
The gold leaf was in sheets, although at the time, the leaf I used broke into pieces really easily – when that happened, I just used the smaller pieces to fill in any gaps. I’ve since discovered Mona Lisa brand “Simple Leaf” where the gold leaf is attached to the paper backing (see it in in this post here), and that makes it so much simpler to lay the gold leaf down in sheets!