Thursday, November 19, 2009

Zen Garden Mural Progress Report

The ground below the tree and water features are the next to be painted. When Hubby took this shot last night, the work light was pointed to the left which is why the wall color is uneven from left to right.


I have mentioned before that my husband is super-supportive. He even helped with this mural by removing some stray brush marks for me. First we dampen the area with water. Then we use a cotton swab and a dab of waterless hand sanitizer to gently remove the paint. This works well with thin layers of paint that have not cured for more than a day or two.


Oh yeah! I'm sitting on a footstool, and my hair is partially French-braided to keep it out of my face. I've grown so accustomed to having paint on my hands that I showed up at church last Sunday with mossy rock colors on my hand. Argh! A cool trick I recently learned is to use waterless hand sanitizer and a paper towel to remove acrylic paint from my hands (which led to the tip explained above.) Apparently I was so tired when cleaning up on Saturday night that I forgot that step. Usual hand washing doesn't remove the lingering acrylic film, especially on the fingernails. I know matte fingernail polish is in vogue right now, but I don't think this is what stylists have in mind. ;-)

11 comments:

tami said...

REgina,

I LOVE your tree - I am drawn to trees - have been for years.

Gorgeous!

Unknown said...

Your work is so peaceful. This is inspiring to me.

Ana said...

Wow, what an amazing mural. I love it!

Julie Ann Rachelle Interior Design said...

What beauty! how satisfying it must be to share your art this way!!! Congrats on your upcoming gallery showing.

xoxo,
ja
my blog http://julieannshahin.blogspot.com
aedm

Lee Ann said...

I think this is a really beautiful mural - and thanks for the great tip on the hand sanitizer! Would never have thought of that!

Susie said...

I want to be sitting under this tree. The mural is looking wonderful. I hope the spa owner realizes how lucky he/she is.

amanda said...

I am applauding. Love it! The color choice of your background is so peaceful. I long to sit under the tree, shut my eyes, and listen to the rustling of the grass from the breeze. I'm there.
amanda

heydave said...

Does that mean Todd gets to sign it too?

Regina said...

He would have to use disappearing ink since he was removing paint. Tee Hee!

Anonymous said...

This is a beautiful mural. I would love to paint a similar mural in my house, but I ma not familiar with mural paints. Did you just use latx paint? Can it be mixed like oils? Do you first paint the wall white, sort of like a gesso layer?

Regina said...

The wall was painted with a latex base coat in an eggshell finish. You don't want a flat finish paint because you need to be able to wipe off mistakes, etc. The art was done with Liquitex Artist Acrylic Soft Body pains. I extended the paint and thinned it with Liquitex Matte Medium.