STUDIO LIGHTING AND DIY CEILING MEDALLION...

I have been searching for new studio lighting since I moved in the new space several months ago. I have waffled back and forth between practical and pretty. Practical would have been a new ceiling fan with a better and brighter light kit. Pretty would be a nice bright chandelier. Well, pretty won out in the end, never mind that we have substandard short ceilings and if one is tall one might bean ones brain on it or that it will be a bit warmish while working from time to time. Handy Hubby suggested hitting a few flea markets on Saturday where he found a beautiful light fixture for my studio. I love the tarnished brass base, so dark it almost look bronze, and the cut glass pieces. After cleaning and rewiring it was ready to hang. Please ignore the popcorn in this post, maybe someday I will muster up the energy to tackle an entire house smothered in popcorn ceiling. Exactly who thought this was a good idea anyway?I really wanted one of those ceiling medallions to give it a little more substance. Those things can be quite pricey for a piece of plastic and the plaster ones are outrageous, so, I made my own. While we were browsing I found this oval gold toned framed print...The frame is plastic with a sturdy pressed board backing that screws on, perfect for this kind of project. I removed the glass and mat, setting them aside for another project. Handy Hubby helped me to figure out the size of hole we would need to cut from the center in order for the wiring to go through. Ours needed to be 4 inches. He used a hole saw to cut out the center hole. The print was glued to the pressed board back so I painted three coats of gesso over the print so it would not show through the collage papers. I then covered the entire piece with large torn pieces of vintage sheet music. Once that was dry I collaged small pieces of various book pages, some with inked edges to give depth, gold and ivory printed tissue paper, and dark bits of coffee dyed paper over the sheet music. I used a rubber stamp and white craft paint to stamp a design around the oval.I primed and painted the plastic frame with white spray primer and paint. Once it was dry I replaced the newly collage piece in the frame. There was a small gap around the frame where the glass would have been. To fill this in I glued some antique gold silk cording around the edge. Once that was dry I sealed the entire piece with a satin finish spray sealer. The top most piece of the light that caps off the wires had been painted a dirty cream color. I left it chippy but just gave it a fresh spritz of white paint to tie it in with the medallion and remove the dirty look.Handy Hubby cut a little piece of metal and drilled out the holes to hold the medallion to the ceiling and to attach the light fixture to. It worked out beautifully and I am really pleased with the results. The fixture is missing the glass shades but I think I might have found some new ones to use as replacements. I am going to look around a bit before I decide. I have no idea if this fixture is old or newer but I really do love it! Doesn't it have a pretty glow at night? The best part is that it really puts out a lot of light and now Handy Hubby will never ever hear me grumble about the horrible lighting in this room again. I think I am starting to actually love this room a little. Now, why can't all the other studio projects I have stacked up be so easy? I promise I will show you the whole thing someday soon. I honestly don't know how some of you are able to pull a room together so quickly. I seem to need space and spans of time to make decisions. I am thankful that it is close, very close to resembling my creative vision.

I wish you all a marvelous Monday!

Blessings,
Miss Sandy