Final Product

Well the moment we have all been waiting for, the finished product. Well almost finished...

BEFORE 

AFTER

Nearing the End

Well we are nearing the end of passion projects this week. I have put countless hours into renovating my room, and doing my best to get it finished. I am sad to say I will not be completing my room in time for my presentation. Every individual piece is done and complete, but as a whole the room isn't finished to what I would have liked. I did accomplish my painting which is hung up, and painting my room. I have the other art work finished, my pictures printed off, and my verse printed off. But the problem I have crossed after hanging up my Marilyn Munro painting is where I want to place everything else. I came to the conclusion that putting my other artwork around her would take away from the piece not add to it. So my original plans have changed quite a bit. Because of this I dont want to quickly just place everything and say its "finished" since I know I wouldn't be happy with it if I would have done that. How I got to this point was the obstacles I had to face.

The obstacles that kept coming up was patience, and time. Since I had club volleyball, club soccer, and a couple of school sports in the mix the heavy duty work like removing wallpaper and painting was delayed until end of May. Even so painting took a lot more time then we thought. We worked two weekends, and every night in between for a couple of hours. We ended up needing to do more then one coat on the feature wall, and countless touch ups all over the room. This took a lot of patience since I knew time was running out. There were times I was getting frustrated, especially since I was running off of little to no sleep from not being able to sleep in my room.

Overall I am still very happy with what I was capable of doing and learning. Mickey Mouse no longer remains on my walls anymore which I didn't think would ever happen. Everything is back in place, my artwork is completed, pictures I want are printed off, I just need to find a home for them. Image excited to see my room now, and every time I enter I tend to just look at it for a few minutes and admire what I was able to get done. I still plan on finishing my room no doubt, but with patience so it turns out just right! I learned many things that include, how to remove wallpaper, edging is very important, take your time and it will turn out better, different styles of art and there's probably even more. 

While doing this project especially when doing my artwork a verse that I often liked to read was from 1 Corinthians 10:31 which read "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God". To further connect my faith the through line that I thought would fit best is Beauty-Creating. God is the number one creator, and we reflect him when we create. 

Tonight I plan on doing some finishing touches, possibly being able to hang up my pictures if I figure out a layout I like, and blogging a before I started and after what I accomplished pictures. Overall I'm glad I had the opportunity to do this project, and I wouldn't change anything about what I did and decided. 

Paint Overload

After over a week of constant renovations of wallpaper removal, putty touch ups, taping, sanding, edging, and coats of paint the room is finally almost complete. Other then very few minor paint touch ups the room is finally done being painted! It was quite the process I must say. One obstacle we definitely battled was finding the time, and of course patience to do a good job! Tomorrow I might actually get to sleep in my room, which I am very excited about. I moved a few things back into my room, and plan on doing the rest tomorrow. Over the weekend is when I plan on writing the song quote across my wall, and put up all decor. Then the room will be done completely. I will be posting before and after pictures as well for all to see the comparison! 

These three pictures just display the finished walls! As already mentioned, before and afters will be posted.

Paint and Progress

This past week I was away on a trip to New York with school, so I had to wait a week to continue working on my room. But as soon as I got back which was this past weekend me and my mentor got right back into prepping the walls, and starting to paint. 

On Saturday we used putty and patched up all the wholes in the walls, we also finished a pit of wallpaper removal and cleaning the walls. We didn't get as much done as we needed to but every little bit helped.

Then on Sunday after church we got right down to business once again. We sanded down the putty so it would be even with the wall. We then cleaned and wiped down the walls with warm water. Over all blemishes and putty we painted primer over top. Once everything else was prepped I taped all the edges and trim so we would be able to start painting once the primer dried. Since we had to wait an hour for the primer to dry, we were able to take a dinner break. Later on that evening the primer had finally dried which meant we were able to start edging. Edging didn't take too long, we just had to be careful since the tape would bleed a little. I worked along the door frame and bottom trim when edging, and my dad worked on a ladder and did edging along the ceiling. Finally we were able to paint. We only got to painting one entire wall and half of the two other walls. Tonight we were able to finish the 3 walls that are the lighter tone brown. I'm excited that part of the room is done. Soon I'll be able to  move furniture back into its place. For the past few nights I haven't been able to sleep in my own room because of all the painting and renovations. I must say the couch isn't nearly as comfortable as my own bed. 

We also were able to edge most of the feature wall tonight, and plan on painting the rest tomorrow night. So far I'm very happy with the results, and can't wait to see the final product. It takes a lot of time, patience and effort. This is definitely something you cannot rush! 

Colour Selection

As previously mentioned in my last post I had purchased two different colours to paint my room. One of which will be a light brown called Pinewood. This brown is being painted on three of the four walls in my room.

The second colour is a darker brown called Roma Antiqua. This will be painted on one of the walls as a feature wall. On this feature wall is where I plan to hang all of artwork and is where I will be painting the verse I chose on.

Progress Report

It's official Mickey Mouse no longer remains on the walls of my room. Saturday we didn't get to much of the removal, but we managed to buy and find all of our supplies! Me and my Mentor (Father) also were able to find and purchase the colors I am going to paint my room with. We bought two different tones of brown. Three of the walls will be painted the lighter ton of brown, and one wall the feature wall will be painted the darker tone we purchased. After spending a couple hours checking out Rona, and Canadian Tire we finally got home. Once home the first task at hand was the finish emptying my room completely other then my bd frame, and dresser. This took longer then expected which pushed wall paper removal to Sunday. Although we did get to score two of the walls.

SUPPLY LIST:

- paint

- wallpaper scorer

- putty

- paint brushes

- wallpaper remover solution 

- painters tape

- plastic drop sheet

This is the scoring tool. It helps the solution seep into the wall paper to penetrate the glue. This makes removal much more easier, and quicker.

Sunday we got right down to business. We laid down our drop sheet along the wood trim, and taped it to the trim with painters tape. Then we mixed the solution, and wet the walls after they were first scored. We then got to the removing. The little pieces that wouldn't come off, we would add more solution and use a scraping type tool to aid the process. At first we were slow, but as soon as you get the hang of it; it seems to go by quicker. I must say although we managed to get into a groove and remove it at a steady pace.. removing wallpaper is not something I'd like to ever do again.

                              

                                  

The second photo here just shows a close up of the wall after being scored and wet with the wallpaper removing solution.

Wallpaper and Removal

Well it's finally time! This weekend is when we begin to tear down the classic Mickey Mouse wallpaper that has occupied the walls of my room for my entire childhood. It will be a happy moment, but sad to say goodbye to what I've always known my room as. It will be quite the process. First me and my mentor have to remove all furniture, and most items out of my room to make the removal of the wall paper even possible. I am really looking forward to seeing the whole project start to come together. For the past few months I have mainly been working on art work, décor, blogging, and planning what I need to do. Now the fun actually begins!
I will be posting before and after pictures of my room for everyone who is curious to see the overall result and the changes that will take place. Also if anyone is interested in viewing the artwork I have talked about on multiple occasions throughout posts, I have created a page called 'Gallery'. The gallery page as of now has some of the things I have done, and am working on.


I have researched different ways to remove wall paper over the past few days. Some have multiple steps, some websites suggest using a steamer, and others say just tear it off! The way me and my mentor have decided to go about the removal is as follows, unless something changes in the process.


STEP 1: PREPARE THE ROOM
Place drop cloths at the base of the walls to be stripped. Remove all switch plates and outlet covers from the walls. Cut the power to the room.
STEP 2: SCORE WALLPAPER
Use a wallpaper scorer to create small holes in the paper, which allows the solution to penetrate through to the adhesive base.
STEP 3: MIX SOLUTION
While there are a number of commercially prepared solutions available, little works better than hot water and fabric softener. Combine the water and fabric softener in a large spray bottle at a concentration of one to one. Tip: Mix the solution in small batches to keep the water as hot as possible
STEP 4: SOAK WALLS
Use a spray bottle to saturate a section of the wallpaper. Spray only as much of the wall as you can comfortably strip in a 15-minute period. Allow the solution to soak the paper for a few minutes before beginning.
STEP 5: STRIP WALLPAPER
Grab pieces of wallpaper at a bottom corner and carefully pull upward. Use a wide putty knife to facilitate the removal of the paper. Repeat the above steps until all the wallpaper is removed.
STEP 6: CLEAN WALLS
In a bucket mix a tablespoon of dish detergent with very hot water. Use a sponge to wipe down the walls, scrubbing carefully to remove all traces of wallpaper adhesive. Finally, rinse down the walls with clean water and towel dry.

Glory to God

Before the world was made
Before you spoke it to be
You were the King of Kings
Yeah you were, yeah you were
And now you`re reigning still
Enthroned above all things
Angels and saints cry out
We join them as we sing

Glory to God
Glory to God
Glory to God forever (repeat)

Creator God you gave
Me breath so I could praise
Your great and matchless name
All my days all my days
So let my whole life be
A blazing offering
A life that shouts and sings
The greatness of our King

Take my life and let it be
All for You and for Your glory
Take my life and let it be Yours 


The song that I picked a verse from is called Glory to God by Fee. I have chosen a couple lines from the song that I thought really captured the experience I had, and what I need to continue on doing with God in my life. The lines I have chosen will be painted across my wall for me to see every single day, which I am really looking forward to.

Mentor

For this project we were to ask someone if they would be willing to be a mentor throughout the project. They are there if you are in need of help throughout the project or to give you guidance when need be. When we were told we needed a mentor and I knew I was going to be renovating my room I right away asked my dad of he would be willing. 

Since I am renovating my room a big part of what my mentor will be helping me with is moving furniture, hanging my art, stripping wall paper, and painting. My dad will also be helping me with figuring out all the handiwork things that I have no clue how to do. 

So far I've been mainly working on decor and artwork so I am prepared for when I get to paint my room and get right into things. Because of this my mentor hasn't been as involved yet except for a bit of guidance and what the next steps will include. 

Verse or Quote?

One aspect of my passion project is choosing a bible verse that is important or meant a lot to me. I thought it would be easier then it has been. Casually I have been looking through different passages or verses I thought would be good contenders but nothing has really stood out that made me think "that's the one". After a few times of casually looking through passages I thought it was about time to seriously sit down and think of what's important to me. 

One of the reasons why this bible verse is very big part although it doesn't seem like a big deal is because I will see it multiple times everyday. It will be displayed across part of my room as a reminder or as guidance. So I didn't want to choose just any random verse that had no significance or relevance to my life. But when I got to thinking even more.. I thought what if I chose a quote from a song. 

So when I got down to thinking a memory from last summer kept coming to mind. Last summer I went on a serve trip to Chicago. During that week I had quite the experience. There was this one song that stood out, and means a lot to me. I have now changed my mind from picking a bible verse to choosing a song quote. This quote will have much more meaning behind it, and I will look forward to seeing it written across my wall everyday. It will serve as a reminder of the experience I had, and the memories that will always come along with it.

Marilyn Monroe

For my multi canvas art piece I chose to paint Marilyn Monroe. I didn't exactly have a specific reason in why I chose to paint her specifically. I wanted to work with shades, and when looking through ideas and photos this was the best option in which I would be able to execute the idea I had in mind. 

I used four canvases for this piece that are two different sizes. Since I wanted to stick with shades I only used black, and then red for the lips of course. I chose not to use a specific grey paint for the lighter areas. Instead I chose to use a black paint but I watered it down. I did this so when I faded the colour  in some areas, it would be an easier transition from light to dark. Overall it took me a whole evening (5 hours) to complete, although it may not look as so. For my first actual canvas painting I'm pleased with the outcome. It turned out better then I had expected and will be a great centre piece for the surrounding art I plan to make for my wall of art.

"We should all start to live before we get too old. Fear is stupid, so are regrets." 

                                                                          - Marilyn Monroe

Exploring Art

A big part of my project includes making artwork and decorating my bedroom so it is personalized and so it reflects who I am. Over the past couple of weeks, and especially over spring break I decided to get ahead in this aspect of the project and not waste time.
I had been researching different types of art, and different styles that I wasn't as familiar with that I could possibly use and learn. I came across many art pieces that inspired the art that I have been working on, which taught me new ways and techniques that I found to be easier then I thought it would be.
But before starting my artwork I knew that I needed to find the appropriate frames to fit the style I am looking for. Also this will help so i make the art pieces the appropriate size for each frame. Over a few weeks I managed to find all the picture frames I would like to use for artwork to be placed in.

Techniques that I looked into for starting my/doing my artwork includes:
1) Pen and Ink
In fine art, the term 'pen and ink' denotes a drawing technique involving the use of black and other coloured inks which are applied to a support which is generally paper with either a dip pen or a reservoir pen.
A large amount of the artwork I am doing uses the style of Pen and Ink. I personally like the way it looks when the piece is done. I looked through many pictures and different ways of doing Pen and Ink drawings and artwork that helped me and inspired the pieces I have been working on.
2) Sketching: Shades
Shading represents different values of color and darkness in a painting or drawing. You can use pen, ink, pencil, and other various types of art materials.
I used shading while painting, creating a gradient of light to dark. I also did the technique of shading while using pencil. Other techniques of shading that I looked into was cross-hatching, and hatching.
3) Painting and Canvas
I didn't really look into how to use paint on canvases. I more so looked up other people and their artwork to see how they decided to do their pieces. This helped me when deciding on how I wanted to execute my art piece.

Memories

One of my goals for this project includes making a wall of memories. So far what I've been mainly working on is cleaning my room so it will be nice and tidy for the future when I'm ready to paint. But as I've been sifting through different bins and drawers I've come across many items that trigger memories of the past. Whether its photos, notes, schoolwork, or an old yearbook, I tend to stop and reminisce on the memory. The process of cleaning my room has been taking even longer, since I didn't think this would happen as often as it has.
I had the idea of making a photo wall and wasn't quite sure on how I was going to execute it. Now that I've been coming across many items that bring back great memories, I decided instead of just a photo wall it would be a wall of memories. My original thought was to just find random photos and do the typical teenage "tumblr room decor" but I've changed that thought into childhood photos and favourite memories that will be hung up.
When researching on different decor ideas I came across many different examples. One photo that I found that I think fits the idea for my room I have in mind is perfect. It'll display the photos and memories perfectly and just the way I would like.

Beginning the Project

As stated in my blog description, for the course of this semester I will be renovating my bedroom. It seems like such a simple thing, all you need to do is paint it, add decorations, move furniture, but the list does go on. I've been waiting quite some time to finally get the chance to redo my room, and now that I have the opportunity I would like to have a personal twist to it.
For the early stages of my project it will include a lot of cleaning, and getting rid of items I no longer need that take up space. I started this task over the weekend and over the course of a few hours I managed to get rid of 2 shopping bags of unwanted items, and organize most of my vanity. Once I'm near done cleaning I will start making my decorations, paintings, pictures, and picking a bible verse.

What I Plan To Do:
- repaint my walls
- a multi canvas painting
- a memory wall with pictures
- choose a bible verse that will go across my wall