CHAIRS!!

The artists at Second Saturday Studio were asked if we'd do some 'art chairs' for a local charity and they would even provide the chairs.  Of course, we said yes.  No one even thought to ask what kind of chairs...we just said yes.   About two weeks before the event, the chairs were delivered to us.  Participating were, Cheri, Micah, Kelly, Sandy, Gina and me. 

We thought it would be fun to see what we could come up with and it was fun, but it was also kind of a test.  You see, sometimes we say yes and sometimes we need to THINK before we say yes.  As it turned out, everything worked out well and it really was fun...but we did have a couple of things to work out. For instance....we get enthused and then forget that we get 'busy' and before we know it...we've run out of time and the deadline is looming.  Also, the enthusiasm can turn into a 'what we were thinking' situation, as it's difficult to come up with ideas.  Then, too, mishaps happen and you wonder what to do.

In this particular instance.....we really did have a time with scheduling, etc.  There are jobs to deal with, family to deal with, and all the things that women do these days....but we were creative and managed to get through it.  It wasn't Sandy's fault that she fell and broke her shoulder...who knew that would happen?  Sick kids...things like that...no one has a crystal ball...we DID manage to come up with some chairs though!!  I'm showing you some of the chairs, as I never did get to see Cheri's chair or Gina's chair, but I heard they were just great.

First you will see Micah's Ostrich Chair.  Isn't this the cutest thing?  It is a fairly small chair, just fit for a kid....well, Micah could sit on it...but not the rest of us!  Micah paints such whimsical things...delightful, I should probably say.

Then, there was THAT rocker.  That was Sandy's chair...well, until she fell down those porch steps and broke her shoulder.  We could have just not painted that chair...it would have been fine, but we promised  six chairs...so I took it upon myself to paint her chair.  Poor girl...she never would have done a chair like this...but...there was this TIME factor.  I felt it should be a chair for a nursery, after all it is a rocking chair...but ideas and time were scarce and I was working with those butterfly paper napkins at the time...so it felt natural for me to use them.  The chair needed to be sanded and primed...then painted.  (That's like painting a chair twice, you know!!)  And, the priming took a lot of time...the writing and the paper napkins...hardly anytime at all.  So....it turned out ok, but not all that artistic.  I know Sandy's would have been a GREAT chair.

Next...my 'bird' chair.  When I saw this ladder back chair...I knew it would be mine to paint and also that it would NEED a bird.  Well, I didn't have a bird.  So, I had a little metal bird on a stand that I got from Hobby Lobby and I cut the stand off of it, drilled a hole in the chair and glued the bird onto it.

I ended up painting the nest on the bird because it had one just outlined and I thought it didn't 'pop' enough.  How I would explain I wanted it to 'show' better...I'm not sure, so I will just throw that word out there - POP!  It's actually more colorful in 'real life' than these photos and I used a bunch of different colors on the chair.  I had FUN doing this one.

Then, there is Kelly's Abstract chair.  Really COOL!  She used Chrome Paint on the bottom of the legs and, in person, it really looks like chrome.  As you can see...it's quite colorful and different, just like her abstract paintings!  She used spray paint, stencils, and all kinds of things to get the 'look' she wanted.  Love it!

I did not attend the charity event myself....but Kelly did.  All our chairs went for over what we thought they might and everyone seemed happy.  I was just glad they all found new homes and raised some money.  We've heard comments and evidently we've made some kind of statement with them.  Maybe we will do it again next year...who knows?  It was an experience.

I'm currently trying to talk the girls into painting shoes.  Well, I've only talked to Kelly about it...but it's on the agenda for next time we are all at the studio.  No telling what we are apt to do to tell the truth!!! Hope you enjoyed these....take care, pat

PS.  Just so you know (and it's GREAT) Sandy had surgery and she is going well.  (Maybe we can talk her into painting shoes sometime in the future!!)