Monday 16 December 2013

Dabble with Fresco glaze

As many of you know, I have had a lot of time on my hands just lately and I've used that time to do a lot of thinking. One thing that occurred to me was that I have not really used my Fresco Finish glazes very much at all. I wanted to see if I could use them mixed with paint and applied with a brush to a project so that the paint looked like it had been sprayed on rather than painted on.  I can hear you all thinking, why in the world would you want to do that when you can actually water down the paint and spray it anyway? Well, the answer is simple, I just want to be a bit more in control of where the paint ends up, spraying is fabulous but I really don't have complete control over where it goes.

So here is what I did. I am a HUGE fan of Anna Dabrowska and this test piece is hugely inspired by her work.

 
 
I filled a small Artemio wooden frame with all sorts of odds and ends and used some self adhesive mesh (I think this is used by plasterers to join plasterboards together) on the frame and then painted the whole thing, including the frame with Concrete Fresco Finish paint. This is a lovely, neutral colour which I felt would be a good base for my little experiment.

I mixed a little bit of Spanish Mulberry and Space Cadet with some Matt Glaze on my craft sheet and also dispensed a little bit of Hey Pest too. I didn't need to add any glaze to this as it is already translucent.

I grabbed a brush and started by splodging some of the Spanish Mulberry over selected areas, followed by Space Cadet and then used Hey Pesto to fill the gaps, gently blending together where the colours overlapped.I was worried that the colours would become muddied but that didn't really happen at all.


I'm not entirely sure whether it looks like it has been sprayed or not but the results are a nice soft, subtle blend of colours which would have been harder to achieve without the glaze as two of the colours are opaque paints.

I also used a little bit of the Space Cadet/glaze mix to tint my frame. I wanted it to look dry brushed but without the effort of dry brushing and I was really very pleased with this.

Not so pleased with my photos though. I'm having to use my steam powered laptop today and I have no idea why it will not allow me to upload any photos that have been cropped!! Luckily, I found a restore button which allowed me to undo all my cropping, so I'll apologise now for any dodgy backgrounds that you may see!!!
 


Next up, the Treasure Gold treatment.

 

 
 
Followed by some adhesive pearls.
 

 
These colours are really not my comfort zone colours but I am really quite liking the soft, muted effect......very pretty.
 
I love how the Treasure Gold looks on the mesh too.
 
 
I had this little fob watch sitting on my desk that was originally silver. I had painted it with Taupe and added some Treasure Gold to it and am wondering if I should add it to this along with a few other embellishments to complete this project.
 
 
 
At the moment, they are not stuck down, I'm not sure if this will be the final destination for the watch or not. Sometimes, I just need to come back to it another day with fresh eyes.
 

 
So if you have some glaze at home. it doesn't have to be the Matt variety, have a little play and see what you think.

16 comments:

Trish said...

It's gorgeous Lin, I really love the effect the glaze gives.
How do you apply your treasure gold?

yoursartfully said...

Thanks Trish. I always apply Treasure Gold with a brush,I'm more in control of where it ends up with a brush!!!

Lin

Artyjen said...

Ooh! Deliciously gorgeous ;)
xoxo Sioux

Helen said...

Oh I love the soft pastel colours - very different for you, but I like it! Hope you're taking it easy with your shoulder. xx

Hazel Agnew said...

Fabulous Lin. Love the way that you have used a mixture of materials and combined them. Colours all blend nicely. Love it.Now where have I put that box frame?.........

Daniele said...

so pretty, love the colour palette
best wishes
Daniele

Unknown said...

Love it! xx

Lin said...

This is gorgeous Lin..I so love Finn's style!! So glad you have been able to play but don't you over do it!xx

finnella03 said...

Lovely Lin, the effect is really gorgeous, and great you are up to doing some craft bits, take care of yourself. xxx

snazzyoriginal said...

Stunning, am with you on control of spray/spritz so I think I need to give this a go xx

Cocofolies said...

Amazing work Lin, thank you for sharing and for the inspiration once again with this gorgeous frame!!! Have a lovely end of December, I wish you also an Happy Christmas a bit in advance... :) Coco xx

Art By Wanda said...

The box is gorgeous!!! Soft and peaceful!!! I don't know about irl but in the picture I think the watch fob looks too big or bold or something for the rest of it, but pictures don't always have the same feel as real life.

Anonymous said...

Great to see you creating, hope the shoulder healing as it should. That is a very pretty frame, I love the mesh.

Linda M. Cain said...

Love it! Brilliant work as always!

Linda M. Cain said...

Love it! Brilliant work as always!

Linda M. Cain said...

Love it! Brilliant work as always!