Most of the time I love LOVE veneer. And I’m usually hard pressed to change it up.
Why mess with perfection?
However.
Although I loved the shape of this dresser, the strip veneer wasn’t doing a lot for me. In my eye, it seemed to be competing with the curves of the moldings. Plus, the stripes pointed to the ‘Georgia O’Keeffe’ – and I couldn’t NOT see that.
And so…I decided to go for it…and change it up.
The center portion of the dresser was CRYING out for an image. It would be so perfectly framed.
Most of you know that I normally favor Pre-Raphaelite paintings. Just dreamy, and lovely. And they make my knees wobble. But this piece was going to be different. I wanted more of a ‘vintage’ feel to it. The dresser is probably from the 1930’s (ish) and so I started looking for paintings around that era. Think 1912. I wanted the image to give the appearance that it had always been there.
And so I went towards Paul Emile Chabas.
September Morn (1912). It was quite controversial when it was released, some said it was “immoral”.
Overtime it became known as his ‘masterpiece’.
It’s not hard to see why.
Truly, I love it. It makes my knees wobble.
Normally, when I do image transfers most of my time is spent trying to ‘hide’ the seams. It’s a challenging past time, to say the least. This time, I decided I actually wanted the seams to show.
HUGE departure for me. You have no idea.
Instead of getting my tiny paintbrushes to blend in the edges, I worked with a sharp razor blade and focused on making them more apparent.
She is quite lovely.
The painting has beautiful warm tones. And I really wanted to play on the warm palette.
Enter this color.
Summer Melon by Pure & Original. (affiliate link).
I have to confess then when I first opened the can I didn’t jump up and down. The company had sent me a few random colors to try; Summer Melon being one of them. It took me awhile to warm to it.
But when I did (especially when it’s paired with a glaze) oh boy, oh boy.
And of course, you need gold leaf. Life would be so sad without it.
Seriously, I can do detail work all day long. It calms me and takes me to my happy place.
We all need a happy place to visit.
So, there you have it. Little change with the choice of color, little change with the choice of image, Big change with the technique
but
seriously
I couldn’t love it more.
{insert catchy ending phrase here}
Diane aka The Paint Factory
by 
Oh my…. I think my heart missed a beat….. Just STUNNING!!!!
Thank you, Alison! It’s the first time I’ve used this artist, so I was curious what people would think. #relieved.
I absolutely love that painting – I have it framed in my bathroom…and you have it paired with the perfect paint colors. Congrats! What a masterpiece!
Thanks, Anne-Marie. Never underestimate a new paint color 🙂
This is so beautiful…I have the same type of chest but the most I can hope for is to just paint it! Love the transfer.
I don’t believe that for one moment. Bring it back to life, the only way that you can!
Another incredible piece by you! As I look at the photos, I can only imagine how much of you that you put into this. I can’t stop looking at it and I love your art selection also.
Thank you for sharing her with us!
Thank you, Cindy. It is a beautiful image.
This is beyond gorgeous! I just can’t stop staring. You talked about a happy place? This is it.
Glad to share my happy place with you <3
I am truly amazed at what you did to this dresser.
Thank you, Char 🙂
AWESOME REDO!!!!!
I absolutely adore your work! There is not one piece I don’t just love! But, this one………..makes me swoon! The detail work and leaving just the right amount of wood showing is stunning! Two thumbs up!
Why Ms Vicki – thank you 🙂
Oh, Diane…Be. Still. My. Heart.
Absolutely Exquisite❤️💛❤️💛.
I love all your work…this is another beautiful addition. I always want to paint the seams as well, but I love that you didn’t do that on this one. Absolutely stunning!
Got to tell ya Meredith, my heart skipped a beat when I picked up the razor blade :/
It is stunning! And I love the red beneath it. Do you have a source for your art images? I’ve been wanting to do Black Butterflies by St. George Hare but I just can’t find a print anywhere. I love your work-don’t be so harsh about your website- celebrate what you have done.
Could you find out where he’s had his work displayed? Maybe a museum will have postcards of it? My Cupid piece was taken from a postcard that came from The Louvre.
words do not do it justice. I also love how you left the small rectangle box under the center drawer. To me it was a tribute to the dressers former life.
Great way of looking at it 🙂 I kept it because it was burl wood veneer, and it tied in with her hair color.
That’s funny that you went from a hint of “Georgia O’Keefe” to her in all her blazing glory. lol
It is a gorgeous piece {now}, and the artwork you chose is stunning! This is a masterpiece in itself.
Oh my gosh, you’re right! Let’s embrace the female form <3
Diane this is simply amazing, it just makes you feel warm and takes you back to that era of serenity and just simply the finer things in life were created and well kept. I am an Estate Sale Junky…I purchased a table/6 Chairs with beautiful burgundy velvet and very detailed molding work on the chairs the buffet, China Cabinet and table are of this same material as your picture above, it’s all sitting in storage because I had no idea what to do with it! And I only paid $160 for everything…..no one could move such heavy items so it sat for three days until the final day I went and it was still their…..luckily my husband is a body builder and had no problem moving it well with his brothers help!! Nevertheless, you gave me ideas for it, so it will be in my works within the next couple of years. Thank you for always sharing the gift God has placed upon your hands and in your mind! God Bless
Oh, what a great find! Very exciting to be able to bring new life into such gorgeous pieces!
My Facebook friends and I just saw your September Morn dresser..it’s caused a stir amongst us!! Is the transfer a product or something one can produce? We all want to try our hands at doing a project piece..any info you would be so kind as to offer would be greatly appreciated 🥰
Hi Ann, Thanks for the message!! The September Morn is a print that I had enlarged, and then transferred it onto the dresser. I don’t have a tutorial, but if you go on youtube and search under ‘image transfer’ I’m sure there’s a gazillion links!