OIL AND WATER AND PAINT

 

Another beautiful summer weekend gone, but enjoyed immensely.

I finished a few projects and started many more over the last few days.

Summer days are so darn long I can work for hours.

 

 

One of the finished items is this Seaside bookshelf.

I painted it in a beachy aqua then in a vintage white. I also added the sea shell motif to the base.

 

 

George helped me with photos for an upcoming spray tutorial on these next chairs.

He is great at some things but not so great behind the camera so far.

We are going to work together to teach this old dog some new tricks and maybe youll start

to see Georges photography featured here.

 

 

I bought six of these solid maple chairs and painted them aqua.

While painting I started to get some really great cracking in the finish on each of the chairs.

 

 

Crackling usually happens when there is some oil on the surface under the paint.

Not so much the paint wont stick but trace amounts, enough for it to reach with.

In this case most of it is on the upper back rest, front and back.

This oil is probably from hands grabbing and moving the chairs over the course of the last 40 years.

 

 

I do prefer to go over my projects with soapy water before painting but sometimes think ahead about

 the finish you want, the older it is the more likely you can expect some paint reaction on the surface. 

 

 

Read More..

I love the water!

Water is big part of my life, from sailing to freediving to drinking it every day.
I became a certified SCUBA diver about two years ago and it has been a great hobby. My dive buddies and I have dove in the Gulf of Mexico many times in about 80 of water. We have seen alot of really neat things that most people never have to opportunity to see in person. One time we saw a live shark! It was swimming around are boat as we were preparing to dive the wreck we were anchored at. One of my friends spotted the shark and I immediately dawned my mask and dove in to get a closer look. It wasnt a large shark, probably 3-4 feet but it was still a shark.
A little over a year ago I bought a 29 sailboat that stays in the water in the Panama City, Florida. During the summer you can find me down there nearly every weekend enjoying the wind and water life. On the boat, SCUBA gear can be awkward so I have taken up freediving.
The freediving I do is pretty much snorkeling, but I train so that I can hold my breathe longer than a normal person underwater. I also have a pair of large fins tat are for freediving and allow you to propel yourself underwater with a lot more power than a pair of smaller "normal" fins.
The water is great and I cant wait until warmer weather comes so I can jump in!

Read More..