Host Renai Ellison shows how to turn a plain wall into an Italianate picture wall with simple wood molding and photocopies of ancient art images.
Materials:
black-and-white photocopies of Italian art (line drawings or etchings)
scissors
masking tape
craft knife
lengths of wood molding (narrow decorative type)
paint
paintbrushes
finishing nails
wood putty
sandpaper
collage medium
rubber roller or brayer
white craft glue
tinted shellac
stencils (optional)
Steps:
- Choose pictures to photocopy and blow up to size, if necessary, that is in scale with your wall and your room (larger than 8 x 10 for most walls).
- Using masking tape, arrange photocopies on the wall until you get a pleasing design. You can either group in horizontal or vertical arrangements.
- Cut and paint molding to create frames around these pictures, either individually or in groups for more drama.
- Attach molding to walls using finishing nails. Fill holes with putty. Let dry. Sand and repaint over these areas.
- One by one, remove pictures from wall. Apply collage medium to the wall area and reposition the pictures (figure A). Use your fingers and/or a roller to remove air bubbles. Allow to dry flat. Re-glue any edges if needed.
- For added design interest, you may want to stencil a border on or around frames (figure B).
- Coat entire wall area with shellac. This will stain the pictures and wall to give them an aged look (figure C). Be sure to use shellac that is lightly tinted.
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