Claudia’s Dresser

Sometimes, when I paint a piece it comes alive for me.   Strange, I know.

Part of the process (at least how I begin) is to look at a piece and muse about where it’s been, and where I want to see it go.   Where would this piece look most at home?   When you spend time working on a piece of furniture, it stops being just ‘furniture’ it becomes something…something more.

I started working on my slightly damaged Serpentine Fronted Dresser last week.   I knew that I wanted to use Monets Garden at Giverny for my transfer image.  I’ve loved the painting for a long time.  How could you not love it?It’s such a beautiful peaceful image.  And the colors are breathtaking. I decided early on that if I could use a TRUE black, I would jump at the chance.  And my paint delivery came last week!  My vision for this dresser was that it would tell you the story of  being well loved, and cherished.  A piece that came from nature and would one day return to nature, richer for its experiences.

This is my dresser.  Claudia’s Dresser.  And here’s her story.

Her name is Claudia

And for years,  she had kept the dresser  in her conservatory.  She couldn’t quite remember where or why it came into her possession.   But for as long as she could remember it had always been there.   It had served her well.   At one time it had been in her bedroom; when the children were younger – much younger.   After the conservatory was added, it found it’s new home.  It had provided endless inspiration for her budding garden.  When the children were in school, Claudia would work on trying to create Monets garden.  It was a challenge, and a challenge that she enjoyed for years.

Watching her flowers bloom, watching her children bloom

On rainy days, she’d sit in the conservatory and flip through the gardening books she kept on top of her dresser.  She’d look outside and start more planning.  Colors became alive to her.  One could never have too many Delphiniums.  She loved those times.  Seeing the rain nurture her garden, she too began to bloom.

The garden grew.  And the children grew

And Claudia decided that it was time for things to change.  So, she pulled the dresser out  from the conservatory and placed it in the garden.  She loved how the sunlight made Monets garden come alive. It was home, in its natural environment.  And Claudia packed up the gardening books and donated them.  The gardening books were quickly replaced with travel books.  Books telling of exotic places.  Books showing her the new pathway to her life.

Her grown children were happy tending to their own buds.

Her dresser rooted itself in her garden.  It enjoyed the nurturing qualities of the sun and the rain. It became one with the elements.  So much so, that it developed it’s own patina – it’s own character.

And Claudia ? Claudia is traveling.  Somewhere.  Searching out new pathways,

Developing her own patina – her own character.

{insert catchy ending phrase here}

Diane aka The Paint Factory

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