Paint Everything!

Recently I've been venturing on a new quest. Through my research and blog-writing on the Pre-Raphaelites, one of the things that has struck me the most is how this group of gifted young men (and women!) were really simply a group of friends with a common romantic sensibility who got together and enthusiastically and fearlessly painted every surface they saw. The image of these bohemian gents and ladies running around Red House painting walls, furniture, ceilings, floors...everything....was a vivid one, and I was inspired by it.

So I decided to try a project for a friend's birthday. I started with a wooden box, and decided to try my hand at painting it. Soon after I made this resolution, I came across a book on Amazon that I would highly recommend to anyone going on a similar venture to paint their world like the Pre-Raphaelites did (aka, leave no surface untouched). It's called Mediaeval Folk in Painting and it's all about painting wooden surfaces (boxes, clock fronts, etc) with medieval figures. The figures are more straight-up medieval (with the flat look to them) than the Pre-Raphaelites (who took such imagery and medieval myths and made them more realistic looking), but it's a great launching point for creative juices, and general tips.

Anyway, I was thrilled with how my project turned out, and ....I just opened a shop on Etsy (yeah, this is the shameless self-promotion part). I'd love to try my hand at more painted boxes, and expand to other furniture and house accessories. In fact, when I was at Michaels Craft Store, I saw a pine wood chair on the top shelf that reminded me a lot of the ones Rossetti painted for Topsy.

Maybe someday I'll try my hand at it!