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| Happy hubby thought he wanted a plain blue curtain. |
Ever stenciled a big canvas? A wall? A curtain?
Peer into this post and you’ll find me, Carol Baxter,
peering out at you from the front window of my RV. We can see each other
because the Baxter home-away-from-home needs a curtain!
Acrylics in hand, this RV Curtain is my first attempt at painting anything larger than 18” x 24” that was not
one color of paint on a wall. I am using regular acrylics instead of fabric
paint as I am not anticipating a need to wash this curtain much.
I began at my kitchen counter (protected – eek! I nearly
forgot this step - with a piece of board to protect it) and a 2 yards long
piece of navy cotton duck, conveniently, at 70” x 43” just about the size I
needed after sealing the edges with hem tape. I taped down the fabric after
noting the vertical center.
Once hung between the cab of our Jamboree and the
dining/cooking/sleeping area, much of the bottom right and some of the bottom
left won’t be visible so I planned my painting to fade out. My counter space is
smaller than my fabric so I’ll be moving and re-taping or rolling the fabric for
Layers 2-5. Note that because this fabric was not stretched on a frame it did
move and stretch a little.
Next: Gather stencils and lay them out. This was fun, I
grabbed more stencils than I thought and ended up with ones (koi) I would not
have thought about using had I not sorted through my folders.
Onto painting the sky! I thought the roller would be great, it was not. The squeegee worked okay. I cleaned up a few linear edges with paint on a sponge.
Area 1: I initially chose navy fabric because I
figured the sky would be at least a third of my piece. I painted black and blue
then white, blue, and pthalo blue to gradually take my sky from dark to light.
I used white to create my mountain using the rock portions of the small stencil
from the Caves and Ladders StencilClub set. I also used white to the color in
the area where I will eventually park my Vintage Camper Trailer and I needed a
couple of trees to hang my flags.
Area 2: I hand-painted in the trunk and arms of the trees
that frame my trailer because I had the mask and not the stencil of the small WindsweptTree. Added another couple of layers to my mountain.
I used Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold (QNAG) to stencil in the trailer outlines. I filled the trailer in, then once it dried, went back in with black to outline the doors and windows so they have polka dot curtains. At this point, I am not sure what colors I am going to paint the flags and I have another couple of elements I want to add so I am holding off.
I am no gardener, but like art journaling, I keep trying. I yellow,
pink, and orange to paint flowers using the small stencil from the Floral Fascinations
StencilClub set around my abode and then sponged in a little green around the
edges and used the small stencil from the Modern Botanicals StencilClub set to
add some bushes.
Area 3: I completed this layer in two sessions and got
excited for the second time when I started layering up the cenote.
First, I painted earthy greens and browns with a river
running through it with the large stencil from the Early Art 2 StencilClub Set.
I was originally going to go for a beach scene, but the
hubby and I are headed to Bottomless Lakes (cenotes, not really bottomless) in
New Mexico for our first RV vacay in a couple of summers and lo and behold,
Carol Wiebe designed a cenote for StencilClub back in September 2018 (okay, it
might be a well, but I am using it as a cenote) and a cave in the mountainside
was part of that set. Meant to be. I mixed a light blue for the water.
Stenciled in the bricks/rocks around it then went over them with
a lighter paint.
Two Chinese Garden Koi swam into the picture. I
used yellow to stencil one fish and then added details with black. I detailed
the other fish in orange and black. I added the line details back in with QNAG.
If the fish are that big in Lake Lea, I will truly have a tale to tell when I get home!
I touched up the bricks/rocks and drew in the reeds around
the water by dragging a toothpick through green paint. There were little marks
around the cenote, so I stenciled in a bunch of flowers and then made some dot flowers
with the end of my paintbrush.
Rumor has it a Mermaid may be swimming in from the Coast.
Time for scattered starlight.
This section was pure fun!
I had previously swiped some back paint where I thought it would look cool as a darker sky. Not so much. The large stencil from Second Star to the Right... StencilClub set to the rescue! I hummed David Bowie tunes and stenciled in a bunch of black stars.
I used gold, silver, rose, and purple paint Soho paints and randomly
stenciled in stars with
We always have music around the fire at night so my moon glows as a Musical Roundabout in silver.
Area 5: Rose Window is a gorgeous stencil. I stenciled it in yellow and then went back and filled it in with yellow/white/orange. After it dried, I put the stencil back down as close as I could and stenciled it in gold. Subtle but fabulous.
I extended the cloudy sky.
There is a Japanese fairy tale about a rabbit who lives on the moon. I’m sending a Bunny in Motion to the moon via a Hot Air Balloon.
You can see the sun and the bunny in the quick video below.
Hang it: Sticky back Velcro strips (5lb strength). With the a/c on when we are plugged into electric the curtain makes a nice barrier to keep the cool air on us :)
Beats the heck out of the pinned-up sheet it has replaced.
With the addition of grommets, I’ve hung my personalized RV curtain. Ray and I will
now sleep sound knowing that nobody can see inside.
Touch-ups for later: Front curtain on trailer the trailer and I will probably paint the opposite side of the mountain black.
Although this was an all-day-and-into-the-next-several art project, I might just be hooked on large formats. If you have not tried stenciling something big, I encourage you to try.
For me, totally worth it.
p.s. Have you seen all of the perks of StencilClub? Current members
my order past club sets!
