I started out to do a little post on painting one of our chairs.
Then I realized I was posting about a chair I had also painted —
so figured I should post about both restoration, painting the chair and my sketch!

Mitchell and I both love chairs —
I admit to having a fetish for them and that is not too strong a word,
as I can barely pass one by.  He is my partner in crime in that he is always willing to fix a broken down lovely old chair and then let me have my way with it —
unless it is valuable or for some crazy reason he takes a liking to the wood.
Me having my way with it means to paint it.  I love painted chairs, and when
I get too many I give some away to make way for the new.

These chairs are OLD and previously painted; they needed a new life.

Mitchell insisted in re-gluing them.  I am impatient and would probably start on them without doing this but he doesn’t want to have to repair them after I’ve painted them.
He is right of course (they were rickety) but I don’t want to wait.

The fun started!  I wanted to create an homage to the western Mason Monterey genre but with my own designs.  Mitchell and I have seen lots of Mexican images of Burros carrying men, and wanted to do one with the Burro being carried by the man.

Mitchell’s commentary:
“I encouraged Kate to create the man and donkey motif because of the fable/social commentary I have enjoyed from my childhood.  People criticized the man because he rode the donkey into the village.   To satisfy the critics the man, next time he went to town, the man carried the donkey into the village. This is our version of this story and as you can see we have the donkey catching rain in the man’s hat!”

Base colors in oil were first; Mason Monterey is quite colorful!
We wanted Monterey Spanish Red and bright yellow!
The real thing restored for the Oregon Caves National Park, above.

All of the designs were painted with a brush, finger-painted, or both.

I start with a sketch and then do a transfer, usually.
Then I gradually build the color in the designs and let dry.

Finally the process of making it look old and “antiqued.”
It is my special secret. . .

Mitchell upholstered them in lovely thick leather padded to be so comfy.
We own two of these chairs done Monterey style.
You can see the other one is a lovely cantina dancer who is losing her top!

And that is where our story begins and ends —
I decided to sketch one of them and that prompted this trip down memory lane for YOU!
I have been wondering why I am never moved to draw shadows — then I realized, I am often painting things in our studio which had fluorescent lighting and is very diffused lighting — we do not have strong shadows unless I take the time to crate them!

BTW, I can be commissioned to paint a set of chairs or anything else!

Painted images in Stillman & Birn Alpha journal with a  Platinum Preppy fountain pen, and Polar Brown Noodlers ink. Various watercolor paint brands.
Burro chair painted in my mixed formulas with Gamblin oil paints.

I agree to Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 International License, which you can learn more about by visiting the site, or,
visit my web page for a more user-friendly summary on my terms.
My images/blog posts may be reposted; please link back to dkatiepowellart.