Painting Antlers

One of my best friends inherited these antlers when her parents passed away and she didn’t know what to do with them.  She didn’t like the idea of just hanging them on the wall as they were since they would remind her of the animal they came from.  She did want to incorporate them into her home though as they had belonged to her father.
After mulling it over with her for some time, I suggested she let me paint them! Being the incredibly trusting friend that she is, (comes with knowing someone for 30 years!) she agreed and handed them over. Before painting them, I tied some wire around the base of the horns and looped it at the back so that she would have a discrete way of hanging them.  We had agreed that having them mounted on a piece of wood and attaching that to the wall would make them look like they belonged in a lodge and not an urban, modern house.  Sooo… wood was out and wire was the answer.  I used Fusion Mineral Paint in Limestone to paint the antlers and the wire.  Fusion Mineral Paint is a fairly thin paint so it was perfect to provide some colour while being thin enough to not take anything away from the texture of the antlers.  Limestone was the perfect colour for this project because it is in the white family but not a pure white which helped to give the paint an aged feel.  It looked beautiful with the browns and beiges underneath.I didn’t want to completely saturate the antlers with paint so dry brushed the paint on leaving some of the natural colour peaking through.    I have to admit that antlers are one of the more unusual things I have painted for someone but I love how they turned out.  They are now a wonderful reminder of her dad while providing a beautiful statement piece on her cherry red wall.

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{Adirondack Girl @ Heart}