Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Edgar - Transformed

Poor broken-necked Edgar was in pretty sad shape when I dug him out of the crawl space.  His head was across the room, he was beat up, and he was ugly.

First things first, we had to get that head back on.  I just used some wood glue but the clamp I tried to use wouldn't keep the two pieces together and I am way too impatient to stand there holding it for any length of time.  So, Problem Solving 101 -- can you see the black hair band (just below the crack) that I literally took out of my hair to hold his head onto his neck long enough for the glue to dry? A successful project is all in the tools.





There was a big chunk of wood missing from Edgar's neck where the break occurred, so the next thing I had to do was to fill in that missing piece of his neck.  We live in the country, not overly close to any real shopping, so I was hoping that I could find something lying around the house that would do the job.  I was surprised (and thrilled) to read that Polyfilla worked on wood.  Who knew?


So once again I gathered the proper tools (in this case a spoon and a paper bowl) and mixed up some Polyfilla then slapped it carefully applied it to Edgar's neck.  I figured that it didn't really matter how ugly it looked now because a little bit of sandpaper could solve that problem later on.


It did look ugly and it took a long time to dry.  Um, perhaps because it was on in such big globs? Hmmmm.

Eventually he dried and I sanded him down and then primed him.  At this point, there wasn't any hint of his previous violent life.  He could tell lies to all the young egrets and none of them would suspect otherwise.  Perfect. (Sorry for the bad lighting in this basement shot).

Edgar - Starting His Clean Life
Then he was painted with an antique white and put into his place in the bathroom.  Only,....he kind of disappeared against the wall colour.  I wanted him to have subtle colouring but this wasn't what I had imagined.

Hey, Edgar has legs.

I've read so many fabulous blogs that have used glaze to accentuate exactly this type of detail.  So I ran out to Canadian Tire to pick some up.  Only, Canadian Tire no longer carries glaze.  What?  But I've only just jumped onto this band wagon, how could it have left town already?  Okay, okay, no panicking.  Let's try Home Depot.

The super friendly, super helpful gal at the paint department scratched her chin and furrowed her brow, "I don't think we carry that anymore," she said.  Ack! While I worked to get my heart rate back down to something less scary, she was able to scrounge up something for me.  Phew. 



So off I rushed home (not thinking for the moment that if my first foray into glazing worked out well, there would be no more glaze in my future), laid Edgar out and gave him a good glazing using the only paint I had on hand - burnt sienna acrylic craft paint as my colorant.  All right, time for the big reveal.  Ta da,....Edgar was now pink.  Uh-huh, pink.  I guess diluted burnt sienna looks pink.

I tried to snap a picture of Edgar in all his pinkness but it didn't come out.  I don't know if it was my tears or his embarrassment.  Either way, there are no pictures of pink Edgar.  This is kind of what he looked like.

Source
Back to the store.  I picked up more acrylic paints:  black, sun gold, and burnt umber.  I figured that there must be a combination in there somewhere that would remove this girly prison that Edgar was now in.  I honestly can't tell you the proper combination of the paints, but I did use all three.  Mostly the burnt umber and only a single drop of the black.  I think.  I painted it on and wiped it off and for his second Ta Da,.....

Well, not only is Edgar no longer pink, he looks fabulous and masculine again.  


Here is his before doing anything shot.  

Naked Edgar

This is how he looked with his antique white.

Too White Edgar

And finally, this is handsome Edgar with his burnt umber/black/sun gold glaze.

Handsome Edgar

15 comments:

Michelle said...

Nice legs Edgar! He looks wonderful. Loved reading your story of his makeover. :)

Lolly Jane said...

New follower :) Edgar is so darling- quite the transformation. He looks like he belong in a Ballard Designs mag! Nice work!

Little City Farm said...

Michelle -- Edgar says thanks for noticing. Lolly Jane (Kristi/Kelli?lol) - wow, Ballard Designs? You've made my week, lol.

Becky and the Beanstock said...

You're such a great story teller -- and so endearingly dedicated to Edgar! I'm so glad he made it -- I was really worried about him -- not because I doubted you for a moment, of course, but because medical science isn't perfect yet. But you saved his day and he looks fantastic. He was definitely worth all the work, too.

Little City Farm said...

Becky - We're so glad you hung in there with us. Edgar appreciates all your well wishes, lol. Kara - Thanks. I'm on my way.

Tammy @ Type A said...

he's adorable. i love all birds. i have a weekly party that goes from Tues - Thurs, i would love it you shared this.

http://typeadecorating.blogspot.com/

Little City Farm said...

Hi Tammy. Thanks for the invite. I will definitely check it out.

Amanda @ Serenity Now said...

You'd never know Edgar was the victim of a savage attack. He's lookin' good now! ;) Great makeover!

Thanks for joining my Weekend Bloggy Reading party. Have fun finding some good reads, and I hope you'll visit me at Serenity Now again soon! :)

Yvonne@StyleBurb said...

Fancy meeting you here, Terry! I'm visiting from the Serenity Now link party. I totally love the paint and shading effects on Edgar. What does you cat think of hime?

Little City Farm said...

LOL, Yvonne. I love Amanda's Serenity Now link party too. Always such nice stuff. Our cats haven't really bothered with Edgar but then they live with a 120-pound Rottweiler, so Edgar doesn't seem that daunting to them. :)

Ratty Hugs said...

Poor Edgar, after being shut up in the basement for so long, then suffering the indignaties of getting painted a rainbow of colors, the poor fellow has to look at a wall. Please free Edgar from his suffering. Turn him to look out the window so he can chat with all his friends.
~C8>

Lucydesignsart.com said...

Oh I love him!!

Little City Farm said...

Lucy - Thanks so much.

Ratty Hugs -- Good point, but that's his prettier side, lol. ;)

Lolly Jane said...

ps: we'd love for you to link this @ our weekend party :)
lollyjaneboutique.blogspot.com

Little City Farm said...

Lolly Jane - thanks for the invite. I'm on my way. :)

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