Where to find Patina in Paris

Mine is the business of creating patina. No! Let me rephrase that.  Mine is the business of RECREATING patina. You see, for me, there is a vast difference between the two. 

Creating patina means you buy a few modern ready-made products off the shelf, slap a couple of layers onto a piece and then call it antiqued. This option does not work for me. It looks fake and lacks depth.

Now, recreating patina is something totally different. Seeing the real thing helps me understand vintage and antique pieces. Studying them, allows me to see how they've aged naturally over the years. For that, I photograph real antiques with real patina at every opportunity I get. I always have one or more of these pieces in mind when I set out to paint a piece with many different kinds of old-fashioned paints from original old recipes and then merely speed up the ageing processes.

If you, like me, have a passion for patina, then I would like to share this with you.  You don't need to pay a lot of money to visit museums or pluck up the courage to go into upmarket antique shops where you'll probably be frowned upon for taking photographs.  There are many other places to photograph these gems for free and if you're fortunate enough to find yourself there, what better place to do this than in Paris! Or for that matter, in the French countryside!

WINDOW SHOPPING AT NIGHT

There are many high-end antique shops in the 6th and 7th Arrondissements of Paris and walking from shop to shop at night, taking photographs and stopping for coffee at Les Deux Magots or Café de Flore on Boulevard Saint-Germain, is a great way to explore and experience the area without the normal daily hustle and bustle.

MARKETS

My favourite being Marché aux Puces St-Ouen de Clignancourt (Saint-Ouen Flea Market) in Paris. One day at this market is simply not enough. Be sure to ask before you start snapping away. Some vendors may take offence.

ON THE STREETS

In Paris ...

Montmartre, 18th arrondissement, Paris

Maison de Balzac ~ 47 Rue Raynouard, 16th arrondissement, Paris

Île Saint-Louis, 4th arrondissement, Paris

 Île Saint-Louis, 4th arrondissement, Paris

...and in the countryside

Paulhaguet, Auvergne, Haute-Loire

Le Puy-en-Velay, Auvergne, Haute-Loire

EVEN PAINTED WALLS CAN BE A GREAT SOURCE OF INSPIRATION AND REFERENCE

Fix-Saint-Geneys, Auvergne, Haute-Loire

La Chaise-Dieu, Haute-Loire 

 

Cathédrale Notre-Dame-du-Puy ~ Le Puy-en-Velay, Auvergne, Haute-Loire

La Samaritaine ~ Rue de Rivoli, 1st arrondissement, Paris

PARKS

Take a break from the busy streets in the Jardin du Luxembourg (Luxembourg Gardens) and find these painted bees on a gatepost at the entrance of the apiary.

best of all ... CHURCHES and CATHEDRALS

There are so many of them and they all have the most beautiful pieces to photograph. Most of them are open all day and evening and very often quite deserted. If you're visiting for the purpose of photographing, be sure it's not during a service. 

Église Saint-Roch ~ 284 rue Saint-Honoré, 1st arrondissement, Paris

Chilhac, Allier

Chilhac, Allier 

Church of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois ~ 2 Place du Louvre, 1st arrondissement, Paris

Church of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois ~ 2 Place du Louvre,1st arrondissement, Paris

As you can see, I'm pretty passionate about patina and love hunting for good examples.

I have so many more images I would like to share with you, but perhaps we'll save them for another time.

Tania

xxx

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How to Make a Miniature Shell Art Box

In a previous post, I shared how I made a shell art frame for my aunt for Christmas and promised to show you what I made for her birthday. She adores miniatures and seeing as I have all these minute little shells, I thought I'd make something on a small scale. 

I found a tiny jewellery type gift box in a drawer and I immediately knew this was it!

HOW I DID THIS

I made a glue-based gesso, using an original old recipe which will soon be introduced into the course. This I applied as a blob to the centre of the lid to create a little mound in which I placed the coral.

{See MATERIAL LIST at the bottom of this post}

I applied more gesso ...

... and started adding shells, working from the centre outwards.

The tiny crab and paper nautilus shell were so delicate and I had a few close shaves handling them, so I decided to fill the entire paper nautilus with gesso to strengthen it.

Next, I did the corners.

After that, all the gaps needed to be filled with more shells, some of them extremely small. I also started painting the sides with a thinned down gesso.

Another visit to my ribbon stash produced a lovely old piece of soft pink velvet ribbon that was a perfect fit for the sides of the box. I filled 4 shells with gesso, again to strengthen them, but also to give them a large enough flat surface in order for them to stick to the bottom of the box, forming the feet.

After pasting a few more shells onto the ribbon to add detail to the sides, I realised that it still did not look as old as the antique shell art boxes you find at the French brocantes. This meant a quick old fashioned varnish had to be produced and applied to get an authentically old look.

I have to tell you, I thoroughly enjoyed every single step in producing this little shell art box! It was such fun and at the same time relaxing.

So, to sum up...

MATERIAL LIST

1. Box

2. Seashells

3. Ribbon 

4. Gesso ~ Recipe soon as part of FARRAGOZ Patina PROJECTS Course

5. Craft Glue

6. Paintbrush 

7. Tweezers

8. Varnish ~ Recipe soon as part of FARRAGOZ Patina PROJECTS Course

HOW TO 

1. Mix homemade Gesso 

2. Apply a blob of Gesso to the centre for added height

3. Insert centrepiece

4. Apply more Gesso to lid and smooth out

5. Glue shells onto Gesso from the centre outwards

6. Do corner details

7. Fill in gaps with smaller shells

8. Paint rest of box with Gesso

9. Glue ribbon in place

10. Fill 4 shells with Gesso and leave to dry

11. Glue 4 shells to bottom to form feet

12. Add shells to ribbon for detail

13. Varnish 

I can't wait to make this for myself!

Tania

xxx

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How to add an old-world paint finish to a new sailboat?

I am so thrilled with my $2 charity shop find of last week!  I instantly knew I had to have it.

Okay, perhaps it didn't look quite like this...

... but more like this.  It was clearly mass produced and bore a "Made In China" sticker underneath to prove it.  I know this kind of thing that has been painted and then sanded in a few places, appeals to a lot of people who like "paint techniques", but this is not the look and finish I go for. It looks too new.

A quick search on the internet provided me with this inspirational photo. This is what I wanted my sailboat to look like. Really old and neglected. I was very anxious to change this boat into something looking authentically old with lots of patina.

HOW I DID THIS

I quickly sanded the entire boat, leaving the surface less smooth for my home made wood stain to penetrate. It then needed a resist before I painted my first coat. 

{See MATERIAL LIST at the bottom of this post}

I used masking tape to mask the area that was to stay white and applied black oil paint from the Icon Project of the Patina PROJECTS Course.

It needed some extra detail, so I marked out a "window" with a pencil and drilled an indent on both sides. Next I painted some details in different colours, distressed and polished it.

The wooden sails were dead wrong. I found the perfect piece of old threadbare linen between my vintage fabrics. This I cut to size and hand sewed it to make the new sails. 

After attaching them to the mast, they still looked too new, so I smeared them with wet teabags and left them to dry. They turned out nice and blotchy, looking just like old weathered sails.

I topped it off with a little red flag which was just a tiny triangle of linen, dipped in my homemade red oil paint.

And that was it! A new mass produced sailboat became an old and unique vintage sailboat in just a few hours!

So, to sum up ...

MATERIAL LIST

1. Basic model sailboat

2. Sandpaper

3. Wood stain ~ Recipe from FARRAGOZ Online Patina PROJECTS Course

4. Wax

5. Casein paint ~ Recipe from FARRAGOZ Online Patina PROJECTS Course

6. Masking tape

7. Oil paints in various colours ~ Recipe from FARRAGOZ Online Patina PROJECTS Course

8. Paintbrushes 

9. Pencil

10. Drill

11. Polish

12. Linen or cotton fabric

13. Scissors

14. Needle and thread

15. Teabag

HOW TO

1. Sand down lightly to key

2. Stain

3. Wax resist

4. Paint white

5. Mask white area

6. Paint black area

7. Mark out window

8. Drill hole

9. Paint detail colours

10. Distress ~ Following Methods in the Icon Project of  FARRAGOZ Online Patina PROJECTS Course

11. Polish

12. Cut, sew and attach sails

13. Age sails

Look out for my next post which will be the promised other shell art project!

Tania

xxx

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Make a Shell Art Frame Gift for Under $5

I have an aunt who is very dear to me. We share many interests, one of them being shell art. So when Christmas came along last year, I knew exactly what to give her.

HOW I MADE THIS

I went out and bought a simple, inexpensive frame. Then I dug out a 3mm (1/8 inch) MDF Board (Supawood) off-cut which was left after making the last trumeau mirror. Next, I picked out the shells from my collection  (I never return empty handed from the beach) and found some velvet ribbon to match the colour of the shells.

{See MATERIAL LIST at the bottom of this post}

I then drew out the design on the MDF, making sure the inner measurements match that of the inner measurements of the existing frame. Afterwards, I cut the board with a jigsaw and lightly sanded the edges for a smooth finish. Next, I glued the ribbon onto the board and finally added the shells... 

... et Voila! A Quick and easy job, finished in only a few hours the day before Christmas! I spent about $2 on this and my aunt was utterly thrilled with her gift!

So, to sum up...

MATERIAL LIST

1. Basic picture frame 

2. 3mm (1/8 inch) MDF board slightly larger than the frame

3. Ribbon 

4. Seashells

5. Ruler

6. Pencil

7. Scissors

8. Craft Glue

9. Jigsaw

10. Sandpaper

HOW TO CONSTRUCT

1. Draw out your design on the MDF board, ensuring that the inside measurements of the frame and that of your design coincide

2.  Cut MDF with jigsaw

3. Smooth edges of MDF board with sandpaper

4. Glue MDF board onto frame to form new frame front

5. Glue ribbon onto frame front

6. Glue shells onto ribbon

Now, months later, it's her birthday and I'm at it again. I will soon share with you what I've been creating with shells this time.

P.S. There are so many exquisite decor objects that can be created using seashells. Here are some of my favourites.

Tania

xxx 

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You can make this: 3 Panel Screen

"Your decorative piece is an early-20th-century adaption of Italian Renaissance motifs. Hand-painted and carefully constructed, with gessoed wood panels, it was an expensive screen when crafted about 70 years ago. quality screens such as yours are very desirable to both collectors and decorators, so Robert Thomas, Boardmoor Antiques, Lambertville, NJ, sets its retail value at  $3,200 to $3,500."

I came across this in an article about what your treasures are worth while flipping through an old Metropolitan Home magazine, dated March/April 1995 (yes, even my magazines are old). I thought this would be something interesting to share with you as you can make this.

Materials you will need

Everything you need is explained in the Icon Project and the gold paint is from the Clock Face Project in the FARRAGOZ Patina PROJECTS Course. Furthermore you will need hinges and MDF board or re-purposed wood.


How to make the construction

The one in the picture was 8' high. It need not be as large. The general layout could be copied, but if this is going to be a smaller version to perhaps sit upon a dresser, I would lose the bottom 1/3. 16mm MDF (Supawood) board should work very well and you could use a jigsaw to do a cut-out, shaping the centre section and the legs. Alternatively, you could have your panels ready-cut by your supplier, having just 3 rectangular panels with the centre panel being slightly larger.


Tip

Attach the hinges before you start painting. Then unscrew them again, but leave the one side attached. Cover  the areas on the board where the other side of the hinges will go with little pieces of masking tape, exactly the size of the hinges, to act as placeholders. You can now get paint on the hinges and when you are done, they will also look nice and old. Remember to cover the screws with paint when you are done.


Finally apply paints and ageing techniques from the course and you could have yourself a prized possession that can be turned into a nice sum of cash.

Tania
xxx


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