A Pastel Palette

IT'S IN THE DETAILS....

When I divorced some 15+ years ago I left behind a world of browns...

dark paneling, hewn wood, beam ceilings, brown carpet, dark furniture, velvet sectional couch, Thomasville pier bedroom set all wood and not a curve or graceful line in the entire house... (well maybe just mine )

I think thats when it started ... my love for pale pinks and yellows and 30's greens, and creams ....

my love turned into a passion.... my passion into a lifestyle...my lifestyle into a profession....so now my vintage pastel (once vintagepastelle.com) world is filled with a feminine quality....graceful tranquil slightly frou frou at times....but always soft fit for a babys nursery to a divas boudoir.

It was in 1992 when I rented a space in a craft/antique store near my home in Bayside NY

and rented the back room with garage sale finds when I ran across my first piece of syroco...(The SYRACUSE ORNAMENTAL COMPANY) shelf in gold with roses and scrolled designs and matching mirror...I knew it was too gaudy for my taste...

I have never been a gold girl...so out came my paint brushes and country paints and I painted the most charming matching set in all the above colors and it sold within one day for 125.00! I was hooked.

My technique is slightly different than most I see today...and I also use the same technique on metal and plaster and of course wood...I sand if needed (syroco does not need )

I base coat at least 2 times with a satin base cream paint....

I like Marth Stewarts "Magnolia White"....

Then I decide what will get color...most often the flowers and leaves...

I use my country acrylic paints in the colors I have chosen...

Highlighting with darks and lights

and then the next step which most don't do is I white wash it all to bring back a subtle quality and a softness

and then I glaze it with my own mix for an antiqe look.

I am painting something with age I dont want to make it look new

I want to give it back it's patina...

pieces like this are wonderful because of all the nooks and crannys!

Here you can see the white wash that is just on the top of the surface of roses and leaves giving some depth

This is one with out roses but I managed to find a pale blue flower to let me paint with

 3 colors...a pink a green and the blue....

notice the metal frame I used the same technique...

these will both be listed in my rustyrosepetals etsy store this week 2/21/10

Even the ribbon that wraps around the frame gets painted...it's in the details! To me that's what makes my tecnique different and makes me.... me

Here are a few different types of frames that were wood and gesso where I used the same tecnique  to bring out the details

and a mantle mirror

This was a gilt pier mirror that I painted

and also made into a collage for a vanity area...

Here an ornate victorian mirror gets painted and tiny rosebuds are added....

I only accented the inner circle with raspberry and didn't glaze

An art noveau frame with lilys gets a vintage pastelle look

This once mahogany masculine mirror is listed on etsy 

A beat up pot metal statue gets new life and romanticized with my tecnique.

Thats how it all started a simply gold syrocco shelf ... 

led me to paint furniture and I have been doing it ever since....

Here is a shabby chic bed I have listed on etsy

and the detail photo shows the wonderful aged patina I can create

And here are some that just sold

Its in the details when it comes to a pastel palette! 

 Come see me at Rusty Rose Petals

on etsy for more vintage hand painted furniture !