Rustic Layered Patina - a damaged redo for an entrance and a finish that anyone, even you can do

This is a bit of a late entry, as this piece has already made it's way to Social Media. In the midst of everything I have been struggling to "blog" but I have time today so I am picking up from where I left off and it starts with this piece...with  a Rustic Layered Patina finish 

We had a few damages with the move up here in fact one of the movers were nothing short of a nightmare with half the content in the truck damaged with no moving blankets, broken side tables,  I could go on and on about this but I won't; I've tried to see the positive in it "looks like it's given me the opportunity to have to do  quite a bit of painting and re-doing" so when the first opportunity came I decided to redo this piece given that it sits in our front/back entrance (it's a weird entrance to the house and we're not sure if it classes as the back or front of the house) 

A re-do, I love a good redo; people change, people move, we redecorate and move with the times, life is an evolving journey and our interiors reflectus and who we are; so naturally... it too also evolves and changes. 

So here's the damage: its been scraped and gauged the sides were  damaged in a similar way also 

It was previously painted in a neutral grey with silver  and if I wanted to go with a flat finish on this I would have to sand and fill all the scrapes and gauges in. But I'm all about getting things done quickly and working in with the piece in front of you and true to my saying of "it's old, battered or damaged, embrace it and do a rustic finish and make it all part of it..." 



A rustic layered patina finish is "simple" to do if you have the know how and I've broken this down and taught it  many times in workshops so I know that even someone with very little experience with decorative painting can tackle this given the right tools the right paints and products and knowledge.

It takes an open mind and a certain kind of bravery to achieve it. I've always guided people through it, standing back and giving directions; so this time I've recorded myself doing it which was a little different, and most of it recorded with one hand while painting so you get a pretty good view of what Im seeing. I will admit it was an impromptu recording but I am so buoyed and humbled by all the positive feedback from those of you who have watched it and the inspiration that it brings for your projects. It's what I love about doing what I do, if I can inspire one person a day to think outside the box then it's a pretty good day.
 

A finish like this isn't something you'll do everywhere, its a feature hand painted finish that should be reserved for those key stand alone pieces, it has the ability to  inject an instant character, mood and story into your space. It's bespoke, old worldly but can fit into both a character and contemporary space with the decor that you have around it and you most certainly will never find a finish like this mass produced, with the layers and layers of colours and unique depth that you can draw from for your interior design. But you can create it yourself with the colours that work for your home.  

The piece has now taken on a completely different look and story, it sits proudly in our front/back entrance. A feature piece with a story to tell and that evokes a reactions when you see it rather than just walk past it. For those of you who think you will never be able to create this finish I encourage you to head over to watch the tutorial; it's a lot easier than you may think... its jam packed full of different techniques and I've written some helpful notes to go with it after you watch it, all you need to is an open mind and a little bravery and you will get to your very own  version of this finish,   Click here to get to the video


 

While Im here I want to share a couple of images that have been shared with me;  these pictures and comments makes ME feel INSPIRED; and I wanted to make a special mention to Sandi and Wendy who were some of the first to watch and send through photos of what the beautiful work they did and send through some of the most beautiful words that got me all warm and fuzzy reading and seeing the results they got. I'm a firm believer that creativity is in everyone; we just sometimes need to be shown the way... 


First up some words from Sandi A :

"I purchased the patina tutorial tonight and just finshed watching it and I just want to say THANK YOU THANK YOU 🙏 for making this tutorial,.....I gave up thinking I would never be able to be shown how this patina technique was achieved. Now I know thank you so much 💖 please keep the tutorials coming" 

and this after she did her first piece based off the tutorial:

"I absolutely love it i love how the whole process starts off really gloomy and its like you don't know what to expect its not until the dark wax goes on it transforms from ugly to amazing my absolute favorite part was dabbing the watered down Obsidian blue in areas it dramatically changed the whole piece again from amazing to stunning..... Once again thank you for sharing this technique." 

Sandi's work:

 

 

And from Wendy M : 

"Wow fantastic tutorial thank you Dorothea! So much information and well explained. I've been wanting to try something like this for ages but have always been too scared. Now I feel inspired to give it a go. I'll be watching this again before I start. The summary notes will be very helpful to have on hand to refer to during the process too. And of course your finished piece is beautiful,❤️ if I can get a result even half as good as that I'll be happy Thanks again!"

and this after she had a go during lockdown, restricted by not being able to access all the colours but she used what she had with the techniques shown and what an awesome result:

"Well I finally managed to give this project a go after watching your tutorial several times :)  .... I learned so much throughout the process.....Thanks again for the tutorial, it was so helpful.  And it was great to be able to refer back to it when my mind went blank during the painting process :)" 




 


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