During this past Saturday's ArtWalk on June 26, we were fortunate to have Eileen Whalen of Newburyport, here to show us the steps involved in painting floorcloths. Eileen sells her floorcloths and painted furniture at the store.
She begins with a pre-bound heavy canvas which she paints with an interior latex paint. Eileen then sponges and stipple brushes a darker blue acrylic paint on it to create a watery background.
In this next step (above) Eileen lays a mylar stencil she's created wtih a stencil burner over the entire floorcloth. You can see from previous uses which colors are generally used where.
Here, employee Amanda Breen applies the paint to one of the fish designs. Eileen then continues with other customers' help to add additional stencil overlays to create dimension to the little fish and then adds seaweed and bubble designs sporadically around.
The finished floorcloth! When fully dry, the floorcloth is then painted with four coats of a marine polyurethane to make the design waterproof and wear very well underfoot. Contact us for more information and pictures of available designs at 978-499-8444.
