Monday, November 15, 2010

Antique Boards Given a New Lease on Life

Hands Across the Sea—Two joined antique floorboards, approximately 36 x 20 inches. Yes, that's a knot hole!

M Y   A R T — This is one of those pieces that has "crept up" on me. As I've explained in this blog before, some of my pieces are my favorites from the second I paint the first square, or pick the first image. Other pieces don't touch my heart until they're finished. Still others hang on the wall a while before I "get" them, which is, most likely, beyond odd since I created them! This one is in the last group.

These two boards were from a bunch of wood given to me by a friend that, unfortunately, had to take down an antique barn. They're probably 200 years old, if not older. I've created three complete pieces of art on these two boards alone. The first two completed attempts didn't do the boards justice, and I sanded everything off—completely—the joys of working on wood. I stripped the paint and paper off just like you would do on old furniture. This one, the third attempt, was, as they say, the charm. 

The majority of images I used on this piece date to WW1, and flowed together in the production process like they were meant to be together. On top are several layers of clear polyurethane, and a layer of a special gold glaze, which includes not only a bit of gold leaf, but some ground up fish scales, which give the very slightest hint of a pearl finish. The effect is subtle from head-on; you can barely tell it's glazed. From a 30 degree angle however, the glaze takes over, and in some lighting, the images almost disappear completely and all you see is the grain of the wood with a gold tone over them. If you close your eyes and rub your hands over the boards, you'd swear nothing was done beyond the polyurethane—no paper "bumps" between images can be felt at all. Sometimes I'm not sure if I like more the look or the actual textural feel of my wooden pieces. I always encourage my viewers/buyers to run their hands over my art and touch them as part of their experience of appreciation.

12 comments:

  1. Quite a nice piece. The dimensional and textural effects sound awesome... maybe one day blogs will enable "reach out and touch" technology so we can experience those parts of the art!

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  2. Old barns are really cool to look at and admire. Not too far from where my sister lives in Bucks County, PA there is this beautiful home that was converted over from a barn. So, the brand new house is really kind of old too.

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  3. Ish: that technology will make it to webcams first, lol.

    Woody: I have a friend in politics that lives in Bucks County!

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  4. I REALLY LIKE THIS ONE. WW1 MAKES ME THINK OF DAD.

    OFF TO THE DOCTORS THIS AGTERNOON. WISH ME LUCK.

    GRANNY

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  5. Casey and all, If you haven't seen this yet, Earth as Art from the USGS check it out, it's amazing.

    http://eros.usgs.gov/imagegallery/

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  6. Now this is a piece I'd very much like to own. In addition to the wonderful old wood and the beautiful art, I'm drawn to the shape and size of the piece. So many interesting images, too. Just a truly wonderful job, Casey!

    Bucks County isn't very far from where I live. :)

    Good luck at the doc's Granny! Is there any hope he'll declare you sane? Hee hee

    Katie

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  7. Bucks is a beautiful area. Whenever I feed up with NY, I drive down there for the weekend and breathe in the fresh air.

    I'm wondering what politician your friends with?

    Lower Gwynedd is also really nice.
    They have a 3 Stooges museum in town.... :)

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  8. @ Katiie, I guess your near the Jersey Shore?

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  9. my friend has something to do with the Democratic party down there. we went to college together. I'm not sure if he heads it up, or what he does, but he's a "big shot" lol. it's funny, all of my best friends from college are very successful in their fields. I'm the only poor one, lol. but we're all still really good friends.

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  10. YOU SAY YOUR THE POOR ONE BUT I THINK YOUR VERY RICH WHERE RICH MATTERS. YOUR HAPPY IN WHAT YOU DO AND THAT CAN MAKE YOU RICH IN BODY AND SOUL.

    BLOOD PRESSURE WAS HIGH BECAUSE OF WHITE COAT SYNDROME. LOL. MY DOCTOR LOOKS LIKE A HIPPY FROM WAY BACK IN THE 60S. A LONG PONY TAIL HANGS DOWN HIS BACK. A VERY SMART MAN.
    KATIE, SANE WHO ME? I'M NOT SANE THAT'S THE REASON I HAVE FUN IN LIFE. ACT A FOOL AND EVERYONE WILL LOVE YOU. LAUGHTER KEEPS LIFE INTERESTING. I DON'T TAKE LIFE
    TO SERIOUS.

    TIME TO SAY GOOD NIGHT PAL GOOD NIGHT.

    GRANNY

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  11. Woody,
    I'd love to live right on the beach but I actually live quite a bit west of the shore. We're only 5 miles from the Delaware River and about 15 miles south of Trenton. In the country. :)

    Granny, glad your checkup went well!

    Katie

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