Saturday, February 20, 2016

Red

It's time to get the Fantasia poster framed for my office wall. It started with a black poster frame.


The frame came apart very easily, even though there is printing on the instructions not to remove the plastic "glass" part from the frame. It's just glued in in strategic spots around the frame so it didn't require much muscle to pop it out.

Since the frame was black and I needed red, I had to consider how to change that. If I wanted to custom frame the poster, with costs upwards of $250, I could get a red frame. I just want to spend $20. Black seems to be your only choice, unless you take your problem to an art supply store.

ViolÄ. Originally, I expected to have to buy a tube of red acrylic paint and a brush and then spend hours meticulously brushing paint across a frame. It would require quite a bit because there would be, inevitably, brush strokes to hide and I couldn't be completely certain the paint would adhere. I put the problem to my local Dick Blick art supply store and he suggested red spray paint. I could get exactly the color I wanted and other than needing to not do this all in one shot because, you know, paint fumes, this particular paint would be perfect. This brand is made for spray painting on anything, from plastic poster frames to brick, concrete and steel. It's the preferred spray paint of outdoor artists. And here I thought they just went to the hardware store and bought a can of Rust-o-leum. It was $6 for this.

The hard part was going to be the actual spraying. If it was spring, summer or fall, I could take the frame out to the back yard, spray it and let it dry and air outside. Since it was February and I wanted this done, I needed to come up with some way to do it without making myself sick.

Step 1 was commandeering some cardboard from the office.


We have a TV in the office for training videos and this was the box in which it came. I pulled it apart and took it to the basement. 


The frame fit nicely inside this "L" shaped box. I wouldn't be spraying the whole thing at once. 


Every time I went into the basement to do a load of laundry, I worked a bit more on the frame. First one side was painted, and then the other. 


I had to make sure the inside of the frame and then the outside were painted. The box worked like a charm. The biggest problem was the smell. If ever I needed an example of how scents travel it was this. I'd do a section of the frame and let that dry. Then the heat would kick in and I'd smell the toluene or whatever it is in the can, in the home office. It had been sucked into the air vents and sent around the house. After a couple tries, I learned, very quickly, that I could only do one side of the frame at a time. This would lengthen the time it took to get it done, but I wouldn't be coughing for a couple hours later due to the smell. 

It came out very nice. 


Now to see how it looks assembled. 


It's perfect. I matched the red with the color of the words. It's at the office, but not hung. I need to get more of those instant hanger things that don't damage your walls. I'm happy. It did use about 3/4ths of the can of spray paint to do this, owing to all the sides in a frame. That's fine. Realistically, what am I going to do with a can of red spray paint? I did think, since this is made to be used on any surface, I could use it up on the deck come spring, maybe paint the bottom lattice part. I just don't want a partially empty can of paint in the basement for the next 15 years. 

Beverage:  Dr Pepper

Deb

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