Semi-Homemade Art Project (Gift for my Husband)

I suppose you are asking, "What exactly is a semi-homemade art project?" Well, have you have ever watched that show Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee? If you have then, you already have an idea of what I am talking about. On the cooking show she starts with some kind of packaged food(s) and creates something more elaborate from there. What I started with was a promotional poster that was passed out from an art museum we went to and created something more elaborate from there.

I gathered my initial supplies, which involved the poster, some patching plaster, a plaster smoother, scissors, a lit candle and a primed piece of artist canvas.

Later on I would also be using an old rag, rubber gloves, leftover stain & hi-gloss spray paint.

 I spread patching plaster over the entire canvas, making sure to leave texture lines from swirling the plaster on. This would help add some depth.

Then I trimmed the white edges from the poster and burnt the edges of the print. I thought this would give it some more depth and character.

I then placed the print directly on top of the plaster (trying to center as much as possible, but I didn't quite get it very center and it was too hard to peel back up to re-center - I suppose my slightly off-center will give it just a little more character.) I then let it dry for 2+ days to make sure the plaster had cured.

My final step was to apply a stain wash (using an old rag, rubber gloves & leftover stain) across plaster on the front & sides. Ok, so that wasn't the final step. The final-final step was to spray a coat of hi-gloss clear paint over the entire piece to help seal it. Then let dry for at least 24 hours. If you can, do these steps in a well-ventilated area, but if you are like me and live in MN, there is no well ventilated area I can do this in that is above freezing. So, I just did it in the basement and exposed us to the fumes.