A shattered and abused cabinet came my way this week. I call him a he, because he looks very masculine. Well maybe not, I will come up with a better name soon. I love to name these old pieces. I think they deserve the attention.
This very old and tired log swing was either needing to be updated to survive, or on it's way to the dump.
We took the actual swing seat off of the rotted log posts. Added heavy duty chain and hung him from the house rafters. We re-glued all the joints and added new wood screws for durability.
I love rust and green aged copper. Working back and forth between the two different paints is challenging because the copper will turn to rust if the first coat of rust isn't sealed. Sounds tricky...
I painted the left side copper undercoat, then painted the right side rust undercoat. Let this dry overnight. I then painted a second coat of rust let it dry then sealed the rust with a clear spar varnish. I then painted the second coat of copper and sprayed it with the metal effects spray green. After each section was complete and the patina was as I envisioned, I sealed each side with spar varnish. I then painted the copper flowers and vines on the rusted side and let it turn green. I then sealed the green copper. I then painted the rusted iron on the green left side and sprayed with the rust metal effects solution. As each side dried, I would add more flowers and vines, letting them patina and then sealing. The rust texture actually feels and looks like rusted iron and the copper penny shows through the patina in places. This was a fun little project and it had needed to be done so very badly. I'm thrilled to have saved this old swing. We will enjoy it for many years to come. Thanks for visiting.