Layered, distressed and handpainted chair by Ellen Leigh

Take a Seat in a Hand-painted Chair

I had a bit of fun this past summer working on this hand painted chair for a fundraising auction. I really liked this chair, it had some great lines and was good and sturdy. Someone had already stripped most of the old finish/paint/crud off of it, but it still had quite a bit of character. I think the wrapping on the bentwood back adds such lovely character.

An old, partially stripped chair is ready for it's new look by Ellen Leigh

That’s my dog Byrdie lounging on the driveway- isn’t she cute?

Anyhoo- I had a few ideas in mind, but all started with several layers of color, distressing, more layers and finally some decorative hand painting to come up with a unique look for this decorative but functional chair:

 

"You Are My Sunshine" decoratively hand painted and distressed chair by Ellen Leigh
“You Are My Sunshine “

I love the sunflowers, simple bird, berried branches and of course the reference to that old favorite song “You are my Sunshine”. The wrapping on the bentwood is accentuated with a pretty aqua blue, distressed a bit to allow the original red to come through.

I had a lot of fun, and was glad to help make some money for the arts. The Northville Art House had an auction of beautiful chairs, all created by talented local artists to raise money for their ongoing programs. It was a fun evening- great food, great music and some gorgeous hand painted chairs. Such a privilege to belong to such an awesome community.

3 thoughts on “Take a Seat in a Hand-painted Chair

  1. Hi Ellen! I just LOVE your “You Are My Sunshine” Chair! My aut has passed away, but she was very special to me and that was her favorite song! Would you be interested in making another one? I would love to have 4 chairs around my kitchen table that all have meaninful sayings on them! I really enjoyed your cite!

    Karen DeFrancesco

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