![Painter's Sky over Mingus. SMD 2020](https://i0.wp.com/www.sheiladelgado.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Painterss-sky.jpg?resize=600%2C900)
I’ve been so busy finishing up small projects. A few large ones too. I finally cleared off my desk! Whew! Just in time for the September 30-DAY CREATIVE GATHERING!
Holy Moly! September already!!?
And I am sorry to say, that again this year, I have done very little painting since the February challenge. Where has the time gone??? Haha.
Today I am sharing a photo of the frame I started months ago. It is done, but I think I might try it again with a DecoArt Metallic Lustre. What do you think?
![Painting Gift from Sea Dean.](https://i0.wp.com/www.sheiladelgado.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Frame-Redo.jpg?resize=580%2C498)
![Frame close-up](https://i0.wp.com/www.sheiladelgado.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Frame-close-up.jpg?resize=470%2C522)
Before, the frame was a worn black, with a red underpainting. It was battered and dinged. I sanded it in spots and painted it a light silver. I then added black brush strokes (fan brush) and small spattering. I finished with an “aging”, a thinned layer of brown, and a sealer. I don’t like gold frames, weird I know. But the silver alone was too cold. I had to warm it up a bit.
I apologize for the poor photo. I am so happy to finally have a frame on this gift from Sea Dean! (It may have been a contest win.) This was an “Oops” frame from Hobby Lobby. 8 x 10. Marked at $24, then red-tagged at just over $6. But it would be well over $50 if it was custom ordered. SCORE!
![Frame beginning](https://i0.wp.com/www.sheiladelgado.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Frame-Restoration.jpg?resize=338%2C450)
![Layer of Light](https://i0.wp.com/www.sheiladelgado.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Layer-of-light.jpg?resize=450%2C406)
The frame was the first project I started, and it was the last I finished. Haha. It was soon buried under piles of to-dos. After I had the silver on, I was afraid to ruin it. So silly. DUH! It’s only paint, and I can always start over. Right?
This next paint project was a quickie. I found a tray online, the description said, “beach wood”, worn and weathered. Well, mine arrived and it was dark and dingy grey. Depressing and sad. Haha.
What I really wanted was a woven basket type tray. But those are outrageously expensive. Naturally. My budget-friendly solution was to add a warm and “sunny” finish. I had to sand a few spots, but otherwise, the surface was flat and even. I used an old gift card to apply the paint. I poured the paint directly on the tray.
Awesome happy accident! The wood grain remained visible under the multiple layers of paint. I think five layers. I wanted it to look like it had been painted many times over the years.
![Wood Tray](https://i0.wp.com/www.sheiladelgado.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Tray.jpg?resize=451%2C334)
![Tray in use.](https://i0.wp.com/www.sheiladelgado.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Tray-in-use.jpg?resize=544%2C466)
We are in our Monsoon season. It runs from the middle of June until the end of September. So far, it is a figment. Fragment. We have only had very short spurts, of … sprinkles. Haha. For the last few days it has been dark and dreary. And dry.
Still, the sky puts on a good show.
![Shades of White. SMD 2020](https://i0.wp.com/www.sheiladelgado.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Shades-of-white.jpg?resize=625%2C416)
![Black and Blue. SMD 2020](https://i0.wp.com/www.sheiladelgado.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Black-and-Blue.jpg?resize=625%2C417)
![Pink Light. SMD 2020](https://i0.wp.com/www.sheiladelgado.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Pink-light.jpg?resize=625%2C417)
I have started my first painting for the September Gathering. The last project on my to-do list. It is a 36-inch square canvas. The one that has been on my wall for four years unfinished. Haha. Tune in next week…
![Tools](https://i0.wp.com/www.sheiladelgado.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Tools.jpg?resize=448%2C498)