While still living in an apartment, I had been collecting fishing lures I’d find on the beach called Buzz Bombs. They are made of lead so I picked them up to keep them from contaminating the water. They are kind of pretty little things, so I decided to paint them and restore them to reuse! My choice of paint?
Nail enamel!
I have a bunch of it but it always caused my nails to peel, so they sat around collecting dust!
Nail enamel comes in all kinds of colors and effects, and they come with their own brushes! They are strong and weather resistant. Many sparkle, others look like foil and there are the pearl finishes….Some offer interesting depth. When layered, I can get all kinds of unique finishes!
Looking at that paint, I had an idea: why not prep and paint those Buzz Bombs and maybe use them again for fishing? So, I started sanding and base coating the little diamond shaped lures. I made some of them look like fish and even put eyes on them. Others were painted with metallic colors and got a dose of sparkle….Still others were finished in a pearlized, two-toned finish.
I did try to use a few of them but didn’t have any better luck catching fish. It was fun trying, though.
When I moved to the house I currently live in, the painting stopped while I focused on paying bills and working, but the painting picked up after I retired. It even expanded to other metal objects such yard decor folks buy to put in their gardens. When they rust, people throw them away and I get them from the recycle places!
My first large project was a rusty garden hook with ivy vines, and dragon flies. A couple of the vine leaves and one dragon fly had fallen off. So, I carefully sanded all of the pieces and attached the broken pieces back on with JB Weld! Then, I base coated it with black Krylon spray paint. Then, the painting began and the project was finished with attaching a little glass lady bug on one of the leaves. It now graces my back gardens!
The next big project was this very large wrought iron flower that is about three feet in diameter! Lots of sanding and base-coating in white, and I worked on this flower in the late evenings and into midnight while my husband worked. This project took a whole winter to finish! I hung it on my studio door but it faded and I had to repaint it.
All of my work is done in my studio. I have a nice work bench to work on, a fan for ventilation and cooling, a heater for chilly days, a diopter lamp and plenty of nail enamel and tools for work my magic…..
This flower is over three feet in diameter! I painted both sides TWICE because it faded in the sun on the front door of my studio.
The wrought iron flower basket was next, and still is mounted on a stump that holds Stump Bowl. I put a new potted flower in it every Spring.
I painted Sunny using a color scheme I saw in a catalog for another Sun garden ornament….
Admiral Bunny was originally found on EASTER SUNDAY about three years ago. We found him lying at the base of a crumbling West Beach cliff. He was somebody’s lawn ornament that had fallen as the yard above shrunk. I saw that he looked like a chocolate Easter Bunny with his ear eaten off so I painted him to be just that: an Easter Bunny with its ears eaten off.
These three flowers came to me all together and I painted them as one project, painting their stems first, followed by the leaves on the stems, then the backs of the flowers and finally, the front. A little clear coat and they are now in my Reflection Gardens.
Amethyst Flower was next, along with Hawk Flower. These two items were brought to me together, as well, so I began working on them together, but finished them separately because they required individual detail work.
Amethyst Flower now graces the Reflection Gardens in the back….
Hawk Flower is now a part of a growing Shrine for the Seattle Seahawks, in the front yard.
I bought this pounded copper Seahawk Head yard ornament in Leavenworth, last summer. I had it on display in the front gardens all year and noticed it was corroding. So, I took it in and worked a little magic on it, making it my own! The Driftwood tree was given to me by a very good friend before she moved away and I’ve decorated it with little glass ornaments and painted buzz bombs, including Seahawk ones!
Now, there is something very popular, uplifting and trending in my neck of the woods: Rock painting!
Somewhere along the way, some ladies began painting glacial pebbles that are ever present on this island into lady bugs. Then, I suppose, someone else decided to paint rocks their way and then HIDE them under bushes in planters or just any conspicuous place in town for others to find them!
The idea is when you find a rock, take an image of it, post it on the “Rock” Facebook page that applies – in my case, that would the “Whidbey Rocks” page – and then hide again, somewhere else.
The cool thing about these rocks is that they inspire many folks who didn’t think they had an artistic bone in their body to paint cool little symbols, words and even sayings that are positive and uplifting or just simply symbolic in their own way.
I found one while running errands in town….
Who ya gonna call?
I hid that one and haven’t found one since, but then again, I really haven’t been looking when I’m in town….I’ll starting that project soon….I’m currently selecting rocks to paint. I do that when I’m weeding and working in the gardens…
I find these little outlets just the little diversion from my other hobbies.
It's All Relative.... 