Art Studio Talk: Transform Your Floors and Walls With Paper

So far, the boldest thing I’ve done to my creativity/art studio space (aside from painting one wall orange) was to draw a giant chalk picture frame on an unfinished wall. I used the space inside the frame to plan a project (my novel). I taped index cards with handwritten notes on the wall, then added sticky notes to the cards, and moved all of them around until I was satisfied with the final order, which helped me plan my project. The note cards are still up on the wall as a warm reminder of the work I’ve done, and as an invitation to replace them as I begin new artistic projects.

Because of this, I can only imagine how much more ambitious an experience it was for fellow creative Bebe Barefoot-Lloyd to use paper and Mod Podge® to turn her art studio into a personal haven. The following article on Bebe’s space is from Studios (Spring 2014). The magazine is part of the Interweave “Treat Yourself” sale (discover 13 products that are only $13!). ~Cherie

Art studio ideas | Bebe Barefoot-Lloyd, ClothPaperScissors.com
Photo by Michael E. Palmer. Scroll down to see how Bebe completed the floor.

Walls, Doors, Floors, and More by Linda Blinn

Bebe Barefoot-Lloyd is a writer, collage artist, gardener, aspiring seamstress, vintage clothing enthusiast, Etsy shop owner, and teacher. After 14 years of working in the business world as a corporate communications professional, she now teaches at the University of Alabama.

Her own creativity becomes evident as she artistically transforms everything from platform shoes to walls, floors, doors, and more using just paper and Mod Podge. When her husband converted their 1920s-era garage into a studio, she channeled her obsession for decoupage and beautiful papers to create a colorful floor design of the “Tree of Life.”

For this project, Bebe started by painting the plywood floor with flat, black paint. She then sketched a scale drawing of the tree to ensure correct proportions. The fun began when she started freehand cutting the trunk and main branches out of beautiful wrapping papers and decoupaging them to the floor.

Subsequent evenings were spent cutting hundreds of leaf shapes from wrapping paper using patterns inspired by nearby plants and trees. Each morning, Bebe placed and then decoupaged the leaves onto the floor and let them dry. A final coat of decoupage paste was applied over the entire surface with a long-handled paint roller, followed by two coats of polyurethane.

Now the studio feels truly her own. The “Tree of Life”–with butterflies, birds, and even mermaids among the leaves–makes her smile every day.

Try using this technique on your studio walls–or floor–for a look that will make you smile! ~Linda

Art studio ideas | Bebe Barefoot-Lloyd, ClothPaperScissors.com
Art studio ideas ~ (A)
Art studio ideas | Bebe Barefoot-Lloyd, ClothPaperScissors.com
Using paper on Mod Podge (B)
Art studio ideas | Bebe Barefoot-Lloyd, ClothPaperScissors.com
Add details to the paper art design (C)
Art studio ideas | Bebe Barefoot-Lloyd, ClothPaperScissors.com
Art studio flooring in progress (D)
Art studio ideas | Bebe Barefoot-Lloyd, ClothPaperScissors.com
The final image on Bebe’s art studio floor (E)

Categories

Blog, Mixed-Media Techniques, Paper Art and Zen Doodle

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