Vintage Furniture Paintingby Karen Petrus WilliamsDecorative painting is a wonderful, highly personal way of giving vintage furniture old world charm. Traditional methods involve removing the existing surface finish before applying fresh paint. However, while Karen does some preliminary surface preparation, she retains the original finish in order to give new designs a classic patina–as well as to save time. She uses today's innovative products along with the special technique she has developed on nineteen projects. She provides worksheets that you can use to recreate beautiful motifs on armoires, trunks, tables, and other pieces of furniture of your choice. Create new family heirlooms that will be cherished for generations to come. Acrylic. 128 pgs - 99 color.37540 Retail $14.95 Your Cost $12.39

Artist Spotlight:Meet artist, Karen Williams:

How did you get started in painting and design?Growing up, my sister was the talented artist in the family - so I settled for singing lessons. But I loved art classes at school and was always in to my sisters art supplies. In my early 20’s I worked as a display director for the Palace Department Store in Monroe, Louisiana . One day the advertising di-rector/illustrator quit and my boss asked me if I could “draw” an ad for the newspaper. I said “sure.” And a week later I had my first artist’s job . A few years later I became an illustrator for the Airforce and then opened Artisan, a handpainted clothing store. When the clothing phase died down- I began painting and designing art for furniture.

Is painting big pieces harder than painting smaller items? It really is not harder- it just takes a bit more time and planning. Painting a chest with four drawers is like painting four canvases. They just have to be similar in design and color. I usually use the same border or scroll work on each area to pull in different elements of the entire piece of furniture. Continuity in color, theme and design is what brings it all together.

What is your favorite thing to paint?I love painting large tables. It’s like a huge canvas that will be the focal point of a room. Round, square, or oblong-- this “can-vas” gives me a wealth of design ideas to play with. Borders, faux finishes, mirrored images, vines, fruits, florals, scrollwork- the possibilities are endless. One painted piece can take a bland room and give it a wonderful personality with color and themes that make it WOW !

Check Out Karen's Book—Vintage Furniture Painting:

Karen loves Papillon brushes and uses them in her step-by-step photos throughout her

book Vintage Furniture Painting.

Papillon 10 Piece Basic SetWith our Papillon 10 Piece Basic Set you get our most popular and essential brush types and sizes. An unbelievable value for your money! This set includes one each of the following brushes: Round size 4, Filbert size 6, Filbert Comb size ¼", Comb size ½", Script Liner size 1, Liner size 0, Angular Shader size ½", Glaze Wash size ¾", Shader size 4 and 12. 20101 Purchased Individually $28.20 Your Cost $11.28 Save 60%