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May 1 2015

art and a bargain

Posted by hayley
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The name Eastman Johnson may not ring a bell when it comes to famous artists. But I’m pretty sure you’ve heard of one of his greatest accomplishments — he co-founded the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) in NYC. Yet he himself was a painter and his work Woman Reading is one of my all time favorites.

art and upcycling  greyhouseharbor.com

Handsome and I got married 3 months before his first deployment – a 7-month-long separation. Not one to sit around pouting, I adventured all around San Diego to fill the time. On an outing to the SD Museum of Art, I saw the original of this painting and was instantly smitten. She felt familiar and I connected with the idea of reading letters from a distant love (this was before Skype, people!). I found the sparse composition and muted color palette calming and loved how the water is not actually painted but rather implied with the reflection of the sailboat.

This past Christmas, twelve years after first seeing it, my cousin bought me my very own oversized print of Woman Reading. For several days I let it sit under my set of trusty cornhole bags to flatten it from its shipping tube.

art and upcycling greyhouseharbor.com

Most of the art that hangs in our house was done by yours truly. Not really a bragging statement, I’m simply too picky (and frugal) to hang just anything. But this piece was to be framed and displayed properly! I got quotes from custom frame shops and craft stores… HO-LY milk maker. Those 60% off framing ads are nonsense. The minimum they wanted to rob me of was over $200.

My bargain hunter alter-ego kicked in hard.

The kids and I scoured thrift stores for something that might work and found this …

art and upcycling greyhouseharbor.com

Scary right? But you gotta look past the two-tone wood frame and faded ensemble of creepy kids! Here you can see just how large it is (as well as another nice frame I snagged for a different project). Bug wasn’t convinced.

art and upcycling greyhouseharbor.com

Below is the frame shop quote for a chincy frame with single mat (left) and what I paid the thrift store for a large, solid wood frame with glass and double mat (right). Cue the happy dance.

art and upcycling greyhouseharbor.com

After disassembling the frame, I patched a few nicks in the edges with Ready Patch spackling compound, let dry and sanded flat.

art and upcycling greyhouseharbor.com

art and upcycling greyhouseharbor.com

art and upcycling  greyhouseharbor.com

A couple coats of Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze spraypaint took care of the rest.

art and upcycling greyhouseharbor.com

Initially I planned to cut a brand new mat, but luck was on my side and it was a precise fit (I’m talking millimeters)! Then I was going to spraypaint the mat, but when I placed it on top of the artwork, it was pretty much perfect as-is. Even the dark gold inner color worked.

art and upcycling greyhouseharbor.com

I cleaned the glass and reassembled everything. Framing staples originally held in the art and backer board, but since I had to tear those out I kept the new art in place with small wire nails instead.

art and upcycling greyhouseharbor.com

Then I just replaced the hanging hardware and added cut adhesive felt furntiure pads on each bottom corner to keep it from scratching the wall.

art and upcycling greyhouseharbor.com

art and upcycling greyhouseharbor.com

If that’s not an uptown look for a downtown price, I don’t know what is. Can I get an amen?!

art and upcycling greyhouseharbor.com

Now every morning I wake up to my favorite painting and feel mighty good about my latest thrift store success story!

art and upcycling greyhouseharbor.com

Tags: art, our home, trash to treasure

Comments (2)

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  1. Gram & Gramps
    May 1, 2015

    Once again Hayley, you continue to amaze us!!!!

    Reply
  2. Leah
    May 3, 2015

    Love this! Custom framing is such a rip!

    Reply

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I'm Hayley. Wife and mother by day, DIY enthusiast by night. Fueled by sweet tea and jelly beans, I own power tools and know how to use them. Consider yourself warned.

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