Art Bunny Blog - The Art Bunny

Tall and Blue

27/8/2016

My most recent commission for Bodhi Furnishings was a tall cabinet of sorts. I was only given the bare wooden frame but apparently it also has a mirror and brass hooks that turn it into a multi-purpose cabinet.

Below is the finished piece. It is mostly dark blue with pale blue accents. I think the piece would have looked nicer in a shabby-chic style but I do as I'm told, and dark blue and brass are a nice combination.

This piece was painted with the following Farrow and Ball colours:
Drawing Room Blue

Funky Record Cupboard.

4/8/2016

This furniture project was a little bit different than my previous ones. Rather than painting the whole cupboard I was told to just add a fun design to the door. The design didn't turn out as perfect as I'd hoped but I think that is part of the charm of a hand painted design.

Smooth with a chalky note. . .

4/8/2016

This is a piece I finished a while ago and I was waiting until I had a photo of it as a complete unit before sharing it, but I couldn't wait any longer! The photo to the left is how the cupboard looked at the start. There are also two shelves that attach via a metal frame on top of the cupboard. I took the handles off like always to make it easier to get a smooth finish, but since I was using chalk paint I didn't have to sand anything which was nice.

Below is the cupboard in varying stages of completion. It had two coats of paint, sanded after each layer, and then a coat of wax which was also sanded down.

Here is the finished cupboard. I sanded down to the wood in some places to give it a shabby-chic look. I love how this cupboard turned out, and the wax gave it a lovely smooth finish. I'll be sure to get a photo of the cupboard with the shelves attached. It looks even better that way!

Somewhere over the Rainbow Chairs. . .

3/8/2016

I was recently given my first set of chairs to paint for Bodhi Furnishings. The seat of each chair had already been treated and it was my job to paint the legs and the back, with each chair a different colour.

To make the colours I mixed different Farrow and Ball paints with acrylic paint. F&B colours tend to be muted so by mixing in acrylics it helped to brighten them up.

There's a poltergeist in my shed!

The eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed that one of the chairs above is purple yet there is no purple chair in the finished set. Well, allow me to regale you with the latest Art Bunny project disaster!

The Tale of the Missing Purple Chair
Each chair was finished off with a layer of lacquer to help protect the paint. After four chairs all was going swimmingly. Then for some unfathomable reason when I started to paint lacquer onto the purple chair the paint started to separate! The blue tones started to come out of the paint in big streaks. At first I hoped it would settle back down but it just seemed to get worse. The only other colour I had at my disposal that would cover it was black, which to honest actually tuned out really nice but it was a shame to lose such a lovely shade of purple. I still haven't figured out what happened - it's just one of those little art mysteries I guess.

Below is the finished set of chairs. They took a bit of time to complete but it was nice to do something new and I'm very pleased with how they turned out. I like the pink one best!

Splat goes the table. . .

3/8/2016

I was given another table with glass panels to turn into a splatter table. This one was to be red. To the left is the table half way through being sanded.

Below is the table after it had been primed.

Below are photos of the table in varying degrees of completion. The red paint I used (Farrow and Ball Rectory Red) goes on a very bright hot pink, and if that's a colour you like I think it would have made a very funky table!

The week I was painting this table red it was a ridiculously hot 30 degrees; so hot the paint wouldn't dry!
I practically ended up painting it in my underwear because the shed was acting like a greenhouse. I know it's stupid to complain about having nice hot weather but it's no fun to paint in!

Below is the finished table complete with splatter panels. Another finished piece I'm very proud of. Splatter panels are a lot of fun!

This piece was painted with the following Farrow and Ball colours:
Rectory Red/Pitch Black/Oxford Stone

Big, Bold Bodhi Sign.

3/8/2016

The guys who run Bodhi Furnishings gave me a big chunk of tree and asked me to paint the shop name onto it to make a shop sign.

I used black wood paint and then added two layers of varnish to protect it. I painted the name on both sides, and it was quite a challenge making sure that they would both be level when the sign was hung up.

Below are both sides of the finished sign.

Below is the finished sign hanging outside the new shop. (You can see the Castle Mews Carpets sign in the background with the logo I designed).

Stupendous Stenciling!

3/8/2016

The back of the cupboard pictured below was originally meant to be covered with a patterned wallpaper. However I couldn't find a wallpaper that suited, so I decided to stencil a pattern on instead.

I designed a stencil that had a mixture of thick and thin lines in an abstract leaf-type pattern. I wanted a pattern that would look good when repeated but had no specific theme so as to appeal to the widest range of people.

The background I painted in Farrow and Ball Tallow. The pattern was a mix of Farrow and Ball Dead Salmon and gold paint.

To the left is the stencil after I'd finished using it and the first test I did with it. As you can see the stencil took a bit of a beating but it mostly held together pretty well.

I'll take another photo of the whole cupboard once it's been put together.

A rose by any other name. . . is a table!

2/7/2016

One of my latest commissions for Bhodi Furnishings was a set of two tables that would become a matching pair. They started off with bare wood tops and silver metal legs; one had three drawers , the other didn't.

After sanding them down and giving them a coat of primer they were ready to be Art-Bunnied (I new term I just made up. I'm rather proud of it).

First thing to do was paint both the tables black (for clarity I will name them drawer table and rose table). I decided to paint the entirety of the drawers rather than just the front as I felt it looked better to have no bare wood showing.

Next up I had to paint little gypsy-style roses on the drawers. To keep a uniform shape and size I made two stencils for the roses - one for the outline and one so that the inner details would be in the same place on each rose. The red paint I used to paint the roses goes on an alarming shade of hot pink and as it took quite a while to dry and darken I was a little bit worried that the roses were going to stay that colour! They did eventually turn red though and I think the look pretty good!

The rose table was to have it's own gypsy rose but this time one great big one right on the top! I really like how this table turned out; it's going to make a great statement piece.

The legs I spray painted with matt black metal paint. My lovely boyfriend found me a perfect sized box that became a little spray painting booth.

These are the finished tables! There were a lot of different parts to these two pieces and some fun design work too. I'm very pleased with how they turned out. They weren't half heavy though!

This piece was painted with the following Farrow and Ball colours:
Rectory Red/Pitch Black

Green and simple.

14/6/2016

Here was a nice wooden dresser for which I painted a single colour on the drawers. The dresser was nice enough as it was but adding just a bit of colour gives a completely new style. There is an extra section to this dresser that sits on top of it.

This piece was painted with the following Farrow and Ball colour: Yeabridge Green

Oriental awesome.

14/6/2016

I was given another cupboard to paint with a free rein on design. My very first thought was 'oriental', mainly because the handles and hinges reminded me of little Chinese dragons. This is what the cupboard looked like after I'd sanded it down.

I had to give the handles and hinges a good cleaning as they were covered in limescale. I soaked them in coke for a day and then scrubbed them clean and they came out looking like new.

I wanted to do a bold statement piece on this cupboard so I decided to do a black and gold Chinese dragon. It was a fairly simple design but I made sure to include all the elements that my research showed Chinese dragon designs usually feature: a long body, beard, whiskers, flowing mane, scales, fiery tail and clouds of smoke/fire.
Here you can see it at the beginning stages.

I chose a sea-green colour for this cupboard to go with the oriental theme. I painted two layers of undercoat and then three layers of colour. This photo show this process half way through.

The inside of this cupboard was a real mess (I think something had been spilled in it once) so I decided to decorate it. I used a gold paper with a leaf pattern.

This is the finished design. I love the way the gold came out on the dragon, and it was fun to add art work. This cupboard did have a few scratches and dents but I think it just adds to its charm. I really like this piece.

This piece was painted with the following Farrow and Ball colour:
Vardo/Pitch Black