Expanding Beyond the Canvas.

I’ve seen artists paint on different objects and such.  Heck in one Joy of Painting episode, a lady painted on an old circular saw blade.  That reminds me, I need to find an old saw blade. I always wanted to try something like that.  So I did, on a few different things.  Check them out below.

I was supervising a children’s craft station where the kids painted garden rocks.  At the end, I grabbed a rock and just started scribbling with the acrylic paints.  This is what it turned out to be. I thought it was pretty cool. 

Acrylic on rock
Painted on October 27, 2017

 

I thought a scene on a garden rock was pretty cool so I decided to try it again, this time with oil paints.  I first painted Waterside Walk then used the left over paint to recreate it on the rock. This one turned out pretty cool too. 

Oil on rock
Painted on November 1, 2017

 

This one was something I just thought of on the fly.  I paint happy trees so why not paint a happy Christmas tree? I painted the brown background like I did in Fisherman’s Trail. It makes a nice little decoration for the home or office. 

Happy Christmas Tree
Painted on December 3, 2017
8 x 10 oil on canvas

 

This one here was an odd request but I hardly ever turn down a challenge.  My friend wanted me to paint a seascape on a mailbox so he could give it to his wife for Christmas.  Basically, I painted a white gesso coat then painted onto it using contact paper as an oval stencil.  Him and his wife were very pleased with it. It was a challenge but it worked! 

Mailbox Seascape
Painted on December 14, 2017
oil on plastic mailbox

 

I work very close to the beach. After work I would go for a run down and along the beach. After finishing the run I would walk along the beach looking for sand dollars. Sometimes I would stumble on some driftwood.  This piece I found looked like a good one to try painting on so I did.  I just painted a couple coats of white gesso then painted the scene onto it.  One of my uncles loves the woods, trees, forests, logs, you name it.  I hadn’t seen him in a long time but I knew I would see him at Christmas time.  So I did a little painting on the driftwood log.  He loved it! 

With some gesso and a little imagination, anything can be a canvas!  What will you paint on?

Happy painting!