Category Archives: Art supplies

The recycled, homemade canvas

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Nearly two years ago, I wrote a blog post about making recycled canvases out of miscellaneous parts found at Habitat for Humanity Restores. In February 2009, I bought a door for a couple of dollars at the Restore, unhinged it, sanded it, gessoed it, and basically turned it into a canvas. I covered it with multiple layers of paint and textiles like netting from oranges, avocados and onions.  Since that time I’ve had the occasional reader ask me what the final product turned out to be, and I never followed up with the readers who left comments hoping to see the finished product.

So finally, I have the “after” picture to share.

First, the before: (I love seeing Butternut’s ears in the bottom of the shot; she’s always with me, no matter what I’m doing!)

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And the after:

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It’s being used as a headboard by the owners, just as I had intended!

Currently I’m working on a new piece. I’ve purchased a cabinet door from the Restore, have prepped it, and am layering it with paint, tissue paper and graph paper.  I’ll try to be more prompt to share some before/after shots of this piece.

I love the spirit of DIY, I love searching for junk and I love using my imagination to turn something ugly or painfully ordinary into something fresh, new, and interesting.

A frugal discovery: cheap finds for the home, garden and workshop

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Looking to save on home repairs and renovations? Furniture? Art supplies? Last weekend I made a great frugal discovery: Habitat for Humanity ReStores. If you are looking for cheap paint, doors, sinks, desks, windows, cocking, putty, or really any kind of home repair equipment or furniture, start here before you go anywhere else, as it almost guarantees you the very best price.

How did I find out about this hidden gem?  It all began when I was thinking out loud about how to find an affordable canvas for my latest art project.  I want to do another great big painting – one that will fit nicely above the bed.  Unfortunately, large canvases can cost upwards of $100. I started wondering if I could find a cheap piece of wood from Home Depot when Josh mentioned building supply stores.  We soon found the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, a short drive from our house.

What is a ReStore?  They describe themselves this way:

Habitat for Humanity ReStores are building supply stores that accept and resell quality new and used building materials. They generate funds to support Habitat’s building programs, while reducing the amount of used materials that are headed for overflowing landfills! They are an environmentally friendly store that makes sense!

They almost sell themselves short in this description, as they do not only contain building materials, but furniture, too.  I even found a certified working sewing machine for $15.

As we walked into the store, we were greeted with large 50% off signs, due to a moving sale.  I found the perfect piece in minutes – a closet door that was painted on one side.  The raw wood side was in reasonably good condition and had no doorknob hole.  The price? $5 – with 50% off it came to $2.50. The best part?  The money was a donation to Habitat for Humanity.

Lucikly Josh remembered to bring bungee cords and we got the door home safely.  Nevertheless, while driving I worried that the door was going to slip out and crash through someone’s windshield.  I told Josh that I didn’t want my $2.50 frugal find to turn into a million dollar lawsuit.  Thankfully, it did not.

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So, what kind of work did this peice of wood require?  First, I needed to remove the hinges.

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Easily accomplished.  I also trimmed down the area that was peeling.

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Next, I needed to do a little sanding. Even though I was working with a little piece of sandpaper, it didn’t take long.  If you were using a brick sander or electric sander, it would take even less time.

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Although there were only a few rough patches and scratches, I ended up sanding the entire thing.

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Needless to say, it needed a bit of a washing. A damp rag was all that was needed.

If you were using the door for its original purpose, then your next steps would be to paint it and replace the hinges.  But since I was using this for a canvas, the next thing I did was take a big brush and laid a good coat of gesso down to cover it entirely.

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Since I was making a textured canvas for a multi-media peice, I laid down some of the fruit and vegetable netting and other materials (all free of course) and stuck it to the gesso.

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Above is the final prepped canvas.  (I will show you the final work when I’m done. I have plans for an abstract winter night rolling around in my head.)

I used about 1/10th of my gesso.  A big jug costs about $26 so I used about $2.60 worth.  That combined with the cost of the sandpaper (I used approximately 1/4 of a peice worth $1.50 (or 38¢ worth) and the canvas ($2.70 including tax) gave my canvas a total price of $5.68. Not bad for a starving artist!

Do you have a frugal tip to share on home renos, repairs, or art supplies?

The Saver Queen

Free materials for artists & students

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Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Frugal can be beautiful.
I love oil painting, especially experimenting with textures. Most recently I have employed the aid of layering tissue paper on the canvas. I also layer in feathers and sparkles for texture, and I love using palate knives, coarse hair brushes and other non-traditional methods of slathering paint onto the canvas.

So recently, I was intrigued when my Mom told me about a website called Artist Terms that provides ideas on how to create paintings around texture, using items such as bubble wrap, elastics, even sesame seeds.  After I took a look, I couldn’t stop noticing all the crafty materials I had in my own apartment that would be perfect for painting.  I thought I would take a few pics to share my ideas with you, (as shown in the slideshow above) and the results turned out to be somewhat artistic in their own right; the materials became beautiful before they even made it to the canvas! (If you want to know what each item is, just click on the picture to see the title.)

Right now, there is quite a mess in our soon-to-be office.  The cardboard, packing paper, styrofoam and styrofoam paper strewn about looks like a disaster as a whole, but close up, each becomes a work of art.  The other items you see are from my craft cupboard, such as the sea shells I purchased from the dollar store, and the tiny bag they came in.  

There are two lessons in my photographic discoveries.  First, if you are an artist, a student, or someone who just feels like being creative, you need not frequent an expensive arts & crafts store for your supplies.  Just look in your kitchen.  I discovered netting that held oranges, avocados, clementines, and garlic.  Peek in your tool box or garage for old brushes, sponges or other materials you can recycle. Secondly, take the time to appreciate the beauty in the world around you – something as ugly as cardboard can provide pleasure to the eyes when given the right attention.

The Saver Queen