Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Drop Cloths Rock!

So…what have I been up to in the last few weeks: Painting enormous canvases!Six to be precise.  Over five feet high and four feet wide, these were one of my biggest challenges yet!  Now, you must take into account that my house is the size of a dolls house, not to mention the fact that the only place I have to work is the family/work/junk room in the basement.  Not a happy household for a while I can tell you!  But it was definitely worth the disruption just to see the look on my client Gloria’s face when we hung them yesterday.

IMG_6705blog I was on a bit of a tight budget so buying pre-stretched canvas was a no no.  Way too expensive for a project this size.  Guess what I used?  Drop cloths of course!  Those things have a multitude of uses as we all know, and are perfect for making a custom sized canvas.

I purchased 1 and a half inch width furring in 8 foot lengths and cut it all to size, then screwed and glued it all together.  I washed all my drop cloths so that they would shrink and so that I could stretch them more easily onto the frames.  I think it was at this point that I lost it!  Have you ever tried stretching canvas onto a frame on your own?  Not a pretty sight!  I think I went through about 50,000 staples, 6 band aids and a trip to the chiropractor! 

IMG_6583 I primed all the canvases with 2 – 3 coats of primer and then started the background painting.  I was lucky that Gloria gave me pretty much free reign on the composition which gave me a lot more freedom to work.

Sizing everything up was tough as I had  to prop the canvases up on any and every flat surface including in front of the t.v. and the sofa (my husband was still on it at the time!).

At this point I’ll let the pictures tell the story:

IMG_6592blog 

IMG_6629blogDSC06183blog

IMG_6660blog

IMG_6662blog

DSC06186oooblog

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_6661blogDSC06185blog

 

And yesterday they were at last in their final resting place and boy do they look impressive if I say so myself!  What makes me happiest though is that Gloria and her husband Sean LOVE them!  And if they are happy, so am I.

037blog

044blog

072blog

070blog

082blog

060rblog

If I ever decide to take on a project of this magnitude again I think I would have to charge a gazillion dollars - or move house!

Hope everyone is having a great week!

45 comments:

  1. Wow Anji, this is amazing!!! You are so talented. You are an inspiration - as always, to me! -

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love it, Anji!! You are very talented.
    Have a great day.
    Hugs,
    Marie

    ReplyDelete
  3. Girl, You have talent!!! These are gorgeous...love the colors!

    ReplyDelete
  4. FABULOUS Anji! Drops cloths are just amazing. They look incredible in place. Always a good thing when clients like what you've done....

    ReplyDelete
  5. Amazing Anji!!!
    No words can compete with your art! You must feel as if you have created perfect beauty for there home and you did.

    Now whats next for you?

    You know you are so right about the Drop Painters Cloth's...My Mother just had her sofa slipped covered in a painters drop cloth, washing it first several times drying it and off it went for sewing!!
    It turned out fabulous :) So many great use's for them.

    Waiting to see what next you will create.
    xx
    Dore

    ReplyDelete
  6. WOW! Lovely. I can see why your client would be happy.

    ReplyDelete
  7. UNREAL! I cannot believe you created that! How gifted! Love, Me

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anji, They came out beautifully, no wonder your clients were Thrilled. I figured it was a big house. Great idea using the drop cloths!!! Wish I would have thought of that on my last big project. That and a little gal I teach art to did a mural on canvas for the just say no project last fall. she spent $100.00 on her canvas roll. Good thing she won $1500. for the project. (her first painting too) !!!!!! I'll have to kep that in mind for future use an dget a friend to help!! LOL
    Its going to be forever etched in my mind your trying to stretch that canvas alone!!!!!!
    hugs Lynn

    ReplyDelete
  9. I see you got published in the new Digital Studio - congrats Anji!

    ReplyDelete
  10. That is so cool. I love that you didn't spend a lot of money....and yet...amazing results. Great!

    ReplyDelete
  11. ANJI!!! OMG!!!! These are so, so, amazing!!!!! Beautiful job sweet friend and the best part? You are so smart to use the canvas drop cloths!!!! I love them so much ~ to use in my art, to use as curtains and just look at you stretching them over a frame. You inspire me girl!!! hugs and love, Dawn

    ReplyDelete
  12. OM WORD Girl...These are fabulous!!!! I mean absolutely STUNNING!!!
    Your friends must be so excited about the finished look & they really just make that staircase now. I'm so excited for you...to get such a large scale job & be able to accomplish it so beautifully, your are creative genius...really!
    Big Hugs Sweet Friend & Congratulations on this amazing piece of work!
    Susie

    ReplyDelete
  13. I am wowed right down to the ground! One of the reasons I like traveling from blog to blog just seeing the sights, as it were, is that I get to stumble across the beautiful works of other fellow artists. Girl, you are so good, you took my breath away. My goodness! Had we at our studio your skills for such work, I think you'd find bloody bandaids, loose staples, flecks of paint, and spare shreds of drop cloth all over our home studio!!!
    So glad I took a stab at something new today and found your blog!
    Rose McGuinn

    ReplyDelete
  14. Love it! Is it bad that I am jealous of your talent? :-)
    Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hey Anji! Just stumbled on these amazing works of art! They are SOOOO beautiful, and to think you painted them all by hand!!! No photoshop used here, ha ha...but you've still managed to create blurs and shadows behind the leaves & flowers...so perfectly, they jump off the page.

    You go girl! You never cease to amaze me!

    Hugs,
    Stella xxx

    ReplyDelete
  16. BEAUTIFUL work, Anji. Oh my. It's add the perfect touch to Gloria's grand entry. You had me giggling with your "50,000 staples, etc." ha! What amazes me most is that you painted them from what looks like a B&W photograph.

    xoxo,
    Jami

    ReplyDelete
  17. Breathless...the amount of work in these is AMAZING, and they are striking and beautiful.
    Hugs Lynn xxx

    ReplyDelete
  18. Those are amazing. They came out great. I have used drop cloths before as well. We used them as a backdrop for vacation bible school. We have a huge sanctuary, so we had to go big.

    Once people see the awesome pieces you did, I bet you are going to get lots more orders. Just don't paint your husband.

    SMiles,
    Teresa

    ReplyDelete
  19. Again, I have to say how much I wish I lived next door to you - I'd have you hired for years!! These are extraodinary Angi and I hope you were generously rewarded for your god-given talents!!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Forgot to mention, congrats on the Somerset publication! It is so Maggie Taylor-ish! Beautiful work.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Congrats on the publication! I am so glad you stopped by, my cousin is an illustrator. You should stop by his blog and check out is portfolio, its awesome and he is really cool. You are so talented!!

    http://camfloyd.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  22. Wow! You are really talented. Gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
  23. These look beautiful; they add a lot to your friend's house! I had to stretch canvases when I was an undergrad, and now would do anything to avoid it, so I do sympathize...

    ReplyDelete
  24. Wow, they are gorgeous! You are so talented!
    Thanks so much for visiting and for your sweet comments!
    Blessings,
    Cindy

    ReplyDelete
  25. I am in complete and total awe. Those are PHENOMENAL! And drop cloths?? I never would've thought!

    ReplyDelete
  26. That is an extremely smart written article. I will be sure to bookmark it and return to learn extra of your useful information. Thank you for the post. I will certainly return.

    ReplyDelete
  27. It was very useful for me. Keep sharing such ideas in the future as well. This was actually what I was looking for, and I am glad to came here! Thanks for sharing the such information with us.

    ReplyDelete
  28. This is the precise weblog for anybody who needs to seek out out about this topic. You notice so much its almost arduous to argue with you. You positively put a brand new spin on a subject that's been written about for years. Nice stuff, simply nice!

    ReplyDelete
  29. I certainly agree to some points that you have discussed on this post. I appreciate that you have shared some reliable tips on this review.

    ReplyDelete
  30. I certainly agree to some points that you have discussed on this post. I appreciate that you have shared some reliable tips on this review.

    ReplyDelete
  31. I really appreciate your professional approach. These are pieces of very useful information that will be of great use for me in future.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Great article, Thanks for your great information, the content is quiet interesting. I will be waiting for your next post.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Nice post, things explained in details. Thank You.

    ReplyDelete
  34. I certainly agree to some points that you have discussed on this post. I appreciate that you have shared some reliable tips on this review.

    ReplyDelete
  35. It was very useful for me. Keep sharing such ideas in the future as well. This was actually what I was looking for, and I am glad to came here! Thanks for sharing the such information with us.

    ReplyDelete
  36. I am extremely impressed along with your writing abilities and also with the format in your blog. Stay up to the excellent high quality writing, it's rare to find a nice weblog like this one these days.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Great article, Thanks for your great information, the content is quiet interesting. I will be waiting for your next post.

    ReplyDelete
  38. I am extremely impressed along with your writing abilities, Thanks for this great share.

    ReplyDelete
  39. That is an extremely smart written article. I will be sure to bookmark it and return to learn extra of your useful information. Thank you for the post. I will certainly return.

    ReplyDelete
  40. I certainly agree to some points that you have discussed on this post. I appreciate that you have shared some reliable tips on this review.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Very informative, keep posting such good articles, it really helps to know about things.

    ReplyDelete
  42. very informative post for me as I am always looking for new content that can help me and my knowledge grow better.

    ReplyDelete
  43. Very nice post. I merely stumbled upon your journal and wished to mention that I even have extremely enjoyed browsing your weblog posts. finally I’ll be subscribing on your feed and that i am hoping you write once more terribly soon!

    ReplyDelete