Monday, February 2, 2009

Unfinished murals

Deep breath. No, I didn't work on the novel all weekend. I did want to, though. Is that a start?

Well, too bad if it is, because I can sense another delay tactic on the horizon. If you've been to my website recently you may have noticed this in the upper left corner:


It is, coincidentally, the upper left corner of The Unfinished Mural in my living room. And over the past few weeks, perhaps because I had to move the furniture so it wasn't blocking the radiator when the first cold snap hit, I've been noticing the unfinishedness of it all, and thinking I might need to buy a new jar of Mod Podge (surely the old one can't still be functional after two years?) and get it done already. It's a peaceful task, decoupaging a mural... some scissor work, and messy hands, and the satisfaction of making art without having to be any good with a pen or a brush. And no editing to speak of either, because glue is glue, and will not be argued with.

2 comments:

JMS said...

I love this idea! I can think of several places I could use this craft in my house! Would you mind if I "copied" you? I want to do Kiddo's room in a Superhero theme and this would follow nicely! I want to do Little Bit's room with nature - flowers, trees and such - and again, this would fit quite well with what I want. It would be such a neat focal point in their rooms! Ooohhh...my mind is already spinning!

Oh, and consider me uninformed (or stupid) but what it Mod Podge? I'm guessing some pre-made decopage glue?

Hope you are well!
Jennifer @
Random Ramblings

Mary Keenan said...

Be my guest!

My mural is on plywood that I podged with a layer of plain paper, then screwed onto the opening of my fireplace. (I mean, who puts a thermostat in the same room as the fireplace? Any time I lit a fire, the heat went off in every other room in the house.) I expect you could do it over anything though, if you want something more temporary and portable.

You can get good paper images from all kinds of scrap stuff. I'm using images from old calendars of reproduction vintage travel posters, wrapping paper with reproduction 1930s alphabets in English and French, and retro ads from magazines.

You can podge with watered down glue but the Mod Podge brand I used has a glossy finish I liked - you can get any of the pre-made stuff at Michael's I'm sure.

Have fun and I hope it doesn't take you as long as it has me ;^)