Monday 4 February 2013

Swan's Are Mean Birds

Over the past few months, I've been passively collecting items from MCC that were in need of some paint. As seen below, there was a ceramic swan, a vase, and a terracotta planter. I picked them out because I really liked the shapes, but I really didn't like the colours. So (other than the planter - which has been holding a plant on my bedside table) they've been sitting in our office, collecting dust as I - like typical me - tried to decide what to do with them. In the end, I decided that the best thing to do would be to paint them all white, because it would give me the freedom to give them another colour sometime down the road, but would also enable me to use them until then. 


First things first: I had to take care of that dust that had been collecting. It was easy enough to do with just a damp cloth and some paper towels. 


Then it was time for priming. As you can see below, and in the first shot, I started off with the vase and the planter being upside down (I tried that too with the swan, but it wouldn't stay balanced, though later, as I was repainting it, I discovered that putting it on top of a roll of duct tape kept it upright and balanced). It's generally good to start spray painting things because that way, the top of it (aka, what you see) will be fine and you'll be able to spray paint the whole thing. 

I started off using a spray primer - which helps keep the paint sticking to glossier surfaces like ceramics. It also gives better coverage when you do actually move to the top coat. The key to an even, non-drippy finish is to do lots of very thin coats. Thankfully, just waiting a minute or two between coats is enough time - though I'd advise about 24 hours of dry time before handling the finished product. 


 When the objects were thoroughly covered with the primer, I switched to Rustoleum's gloss white all surface spray to finish 'em off. I waited a day in between finishing the primer and starting the actual paint, just to give them ample time to dry.


The vase and planter turned out really well, but for some reason, the swan ended up with a weird, puckered kind of finish in a couple places. I had to sand it down and give it another couple coats in order to get rid of it.


But in the end, everything worked out, and we now have three more objects to add to my collection of decor items. And who knows? Maybe sometime down the road you'll see me doing some more spray painting with these. Bright yellow swan? Pink vase? I guess we'll see.




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