Laume's Studio

Just popping in with an update on my painting. I was going to start in on the base coat a couple of days ago but I got sidetracked. My cat Fred got run over by a car. I've been sad and moping. I'm still sad, and sort of mad at the world for infringing on me - or rather, reality for infringing on me - but I also know there's nothing for it but to just keep putting one foot in front of the other.

So. I went out to lunch with a friend who is also doing major redecorating and remodeling. She had some painting technique books for me to borrow and I had the chance to look at them last night. After seeing some of the examples up close in the books, I decided to do a few more sample boards this morning with a better grasp of colors and technique. When they were finished I held them up for William and said "Which one do you like best?"

He's fifteen. He replied "I think they both look stupid."

Sigh. "I'm going for an old wall look. Like we saw in Europe. Only I'm not trying to replicate it exactly."

"Well, then, I guess it worked because neither of them look like an old wall."

I must have looked annoyed or sad at this point because he looked at them a bit longer and added "They look a bit like something you'd see in Mexico."

To his surprise, that cheered me up. Because that means I'm getting the rustic outdoor look I want. And I did make it a pinch more colorful than a real old wall, on purpose. I didn't want it to be too gray or muddy. Which is why it reminds him of Mexican art.

To get the newest effect I liked best, the base coat had to be lighter than what I'd decided to go with earlier, but I'd already bought two quarts of the darker paint. In an effort to salvage using it, instead of going to the store to match the new color, I went to the store and tried to determine what even lighter color I could mix with the paint I already had to come out with the base coat color I now wanted to use. Selected it, had it mixed, bought it, brought it home, mixed a small sample of it fifty/fifty with the old paint and......

Voila! I did it! Or at least close enough for guv'ment work. I also lucked out and found an entire gallon of one of the over paint colors I wanted in the premixed discount pile for only three dollars. Not that I need an entire gallon of it - but it was cheaper than a tiny sample of it at the other store and you never know when I might find a use for the rest of it.

So. The paint is mixed and waiting. Got my painting clothes on. Found a roller and paint tray in the garage - cleaned off the dust. I just put my hair in braids to get it out of the way. And off I go.