So, a year ago one of my co-workers commissioned me to paint a rain barrel for her. I had painted one before for the St. James Art Show several summers ago and had sworn I'd never do it again unless I got paid. Well, now I'll never do one again for any amount of money! Well...maybe $1000, but anyone that will pay that is crazy because no paint will ever permanently stick to one of these barrels!
For the first 4 months that I had the rainbarrel, it sat in my garage untouched. I had told my co-worker that I probably would not be able to work on it immediately because I was busy getting ready for camps. Well, then I got pregnant and was nauseous for three months and broke my foot and it was 100 degrees all summer. Come fall, I finally got around to sanding, priming and base coating it, at which point we brought it inside. In the process of bringing it in from the garage, some of the base and primer got scraped, proving once again that no paint will stick to this surface! I lost all motivation and it sat in our dining room through Christmas. Then ABRAM arrived! And I thought I had been busy before! I was off on maternity leave but was so busy I didn't have time to work on the barrel until right before coming back to work. I went and stayed with Mom and Dad for a week, so while my mom played with Abram, I painted, and painted and painted.
For the first 4 months that I had the rainbarrel, it sat in my garage untouched. I had told my co-worker that I probably would not be able to work on it immediately because I was busy getting ready for camps. Well, then I got pregnant and was nauseous for three months and broke my foot and it was 100 degrees all summer. Come fall, I finally got around to sanding, priming and base coating it, at which point we brought it inside. In the process of bringing it in from the garage, some of the base and primer got scraped, proving once again that no paint will stick to this surface! I lost all motivation and it sat in our dining room through Christmas. Then ABRAM arrived! And I thought I had been busy before! I was off on maternity leave but was so busy I didn't have time to work on the barrel until right before coming back to work. I went and stayed with Mom and Dad for a week, so while my mom played with Abram, I painted, and painted and painted.
First the brick base.
Then the mortar joints and the "well" on top.
Then started the foliage for the lillies, tulips and roses.
Dad worked on the rose foliage for me. By the end of the week, this was all we completed. So I brought the barrel home and worked on tulips for about 3 weeks straight, one hour at a time in the morning while Abram was napping. This became very tedious. I was really glad when I was able to move on to the grass, lillies and roses.
I knocked the lillies out in one weekend....they were rather difficult, but I developed a pattern and it got easier as it went. Then I finally got to the roses, the last of the flowers, and they went rather quickly. I had given myself an "end of May" deadline, so that this would be completed before camps started. And I did it! Here are some pictures from various angles.
This little hummingbird was the finishing touch!
So after a year had passed, a pregnancy, a birth, a broken foot a summer of camps, and hours of painting. It's finished and I'm $250 richer.
And this is how I really feel!
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