Evento

Folk Art & Friendship Class: Wood Graining

Learn the colorful tradition of grain painting wood at a workshop on Sunday, November 20, 2016 from 1-4 p.m.

In the 18th century, country cabinetmakers grain painted utilitarian objects to imitate the grain of wood. Softwoods were false grained to mimic expensive hardwoods often not available and the technique soon evolved into a folk art form. Homemade paints and tools were used to create finishes as varied as the minds and hands of imaginative folk artists. Antiques of great value today have wildly grained surfaces that in no way try to mimic the grain pattern of real woods.

Participants will learn to grain paint a reproduction mini blanket chest with bun feet and a 5"X7" mirror frame. A dark glaze is applied over yellow paint. Then, while the glaze is wet, a spontaneous texture is created using the traditional tools of a comb, corncob, putty, fingers, sponge, or brush.

Workshop instructor Jim King has a BA in art form Goshen College, Goshen, IN. He began studying vinegar painting in the 1980's when he became inspired by grain painting antiques he was collecting. He purchased blanket chests in disrepair at auctions and flea markets and then restored them and applied vinegar painted surfaces. He had difficulty finding smaller chests and started having Old Order cabinetmakers copy his antiques, which he then grain painted using a variety of traditional techniques.