The Anna Table.
Martha Leone
This cute side table was painted and distressed by my 10 year old daughter. She has been watching me work with furniture and wanted to get in on the action so I gave her this piece to work with. She chose the paint colors (from my collection, hence the similar color scheme as some of my pieces) and launched right in with her usual gusto!
The knobs add a bit of whimsy to the piece (they came from my stash of old knobs). Colors used were Annie Sloan Provence for the base and Old White for the top. Anna distressed the piece with the help of a good friend by using sand paper and steel wool. Then they waxed it with Annie Sloan Clear Wax.
I've always been attracted to the use of light and shadow to create a dramatic mood in artwork. In 16th century art, that was called "chiaroscuro:" the arrangement and treatment of light and dark parts in a work of art (Merriam-Webster). With the bright morning light pouring through our windows, I thought I would try a bit of chiaroscuro on the table. The first picture in this post is a straight shot of the piece while the second picture uses light and shadow to create a mood. Which of the two do you like?
Lessons learned: My daughter got first hand experience in the transformation of a super ugly piece and will hopefully get a nice lesson in making a profit from the sale of an item she created (after paying her Mom for the out-of-pocket expenses of course).
This is for sale.
Here are a few process pictures starting with the side table before the whimsical knobs:
