Guest Doxie Keller creates a beautiful linoleum floor mat by painting a clutch of flowers bordered by two bands of color and a band of checks.
Materials:
linoleum scraps, 20" x 28" or larger
acrylic paints: Deep Midnight Blue, Light Buttermilk, Burgundy Wine, Forest Green, Golden Straw and Ultra Blue.
Miracle Sponge
chalk or soapstone pencil
polyurethane
drafting tape
brushes
yardstick
Steps:
- Base-coat the back of the vinyl with two coats of Forest Green.
- Cut the Miracle Sponge in a 1 3/4" square, and place it in water to expand.
- Use chalk or a soapstone pencil to mark guide lines 3 1/2" in from the sides of the linoleum piece.
- Dip the sponge in Light Buttermilk, and start printing checks from one corner of the linoleum. Print one square so that it rests against the side of the linoleum, and print the next so that it touches the guideline drawn in Step 3. Continue in a similar manner. One dip in the paint will print four or five checks. Allow the paint to dry for an hour or more.
- After the checks are completely dry, apply a strip drafting tape over their innermost edge.
- Place another strip about 3/4" in from the first. Burnish the edges to keep the paint from seeping under the strips.
- Sponge on Burgundy Wine between the two strips to make a border.
- Place another strip of tape in from the second strip, and sponge Light Buttermilk in the space between the second and third strips to make another border.
- Create a guide for painting the center of the piece. In the space remaining, lightly draw two circles, one slightly eclipsed by the other. Draw leaves outside the circles.
- Paint the background details first: leaves, tendrils, etc. begin the flowers by heavily loading a #4 round brush with Midnight Blue by stroking it through the paint on the palette several times. Then, stroke the brush once through the Burgundy Wine and once through the Light Buttermilk.
- To create the flowers, start with the outside row of petals on the "eclipsed" circle. Press the brush down on the line so that the bristles fan out away from the center of the flower. Slightly push the brush away from the center of the flower, pause, and pull the brush back toward the center of the flower while gently lifting it off the linoleum.
- Place the brush beside the first petal, and repeat the process around the edge of the circle. Reload the brush as needed.
- Paint the second row of petals inside the first, and then add dots of paint to the center of the flower to represent a stamen. Repeat the process with the foremost circle.
- After the paint has dried, apply several coats of polyurethane finish, and allow it to dry between coats.
Note: The linoleum may be cleaned, as necessary, with soap and water.
Resources Miracle Sponge
Miracle Sponges are thinly compressed cellulose sponges that expand when wet.B They are easily cut or torn into desired shapes, then dipped in paint and used to print on clothing, furniture, window coverings, walls, stationery, gift wrap, balloons, party decorations and much more!
The Color Wheel Company (Jerry Haines Sales d.b.a.)
P.O. Box 130
Philomath, or 97370
USA
Phone: 541-929-7526
Fax: 541-929-7528
Email:
jhsales@colorwheelco.com
URL:
www.colorwheelco.com
Americana Acrylic Paint
DecoArt Inc.
Website:
www.decoart.com
Guests Doxie Keller
Creative Director, DecoArt
PO Box 327
Stanford, KY 40484
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