First up, congrats to Sue Pagels.  I drew her name at random to win my giveaway from last week.  Not to worry if you didn’t win, I have another fab giveaway today!  Be sure to read all the way to the end of today’s post for the details.

You may have seen my buddha statue in previous posts about my garden.

I’ve had him for years … possibly even decades.  I have absolutely no memory of when or where I purchased him.  He’s just been hanging around in the garden for a long time.

I’ve always left him outside year round, and over the last couple of years he’s been looking pretty rough.  The last two, or maybe even three, springs I’ve said to myself “I really should do something about that.”  But, I never got around to it.

Well, now that I’m retired from the day job, this is going to be the summer of getting around to it!  Starting with buddha.

So here’s how he looked this spring, prior to his makeover.

I believe he is made out of some sort of pinkish/orange concrete.  I had once thought he was terracotta, painted to look like concrete, but he’s far too heavy to be clay.  He must be concrete of some kind.  He’s heavy and solid.

Anyway, I lugged him out of the garden and brushed the dirt off a bit before I brought him inside.

But before I got started on him, I decided it would be wise to practice my technique on a smaller item first.  So I pulled out this acorn finial.

You may remember that I found this while thrifting a while back and I was going to leave it ‘as is’.  But I decided this piece would be a good guinea pig.

So I pulled out my Dixie Belle patina paints in Bronze and Iron, the Green spray and some of their gilding wax in Bronze.

I started out by painting the acorn in a coat of Bronze paint.  Once dry, I added a 2nd coat and while that coat was still wet I sprayed it with the Green patina spray.

To add a little more authenticity to the look, I then dabbed some of the Iron paint just on the corner and sprayed it (while still wet) with the Green spray to add a little rust.

Lastly, I used my finger to rub some of the Bronze gilding wax on some of the high points on the piece to bring some of that bronze back out again.

Yep, perfect.  This is the look I wanted for my buddha.  So I followed the same process; base coat of Bronze, allow to dry, 2nd stippled coat of Bronze, spray with Green spray while paint is still wet, allow to dry, stipple some Iron paint to add patches of rust, spray again with Green spray while wet, allow to dry.  Step back and evaluate the results.  Add some more rust spots.  Allow to dry and then bring out some highlights with the Bronze gilding wax.

I applied the gilding wax using my finger, just rubbing it on to add some highlights on his nose and brow for example.

He turned out fabulous.

I put him back out in the garden a couple of weeks ago, and here’s how he’s looking now.

He’s looking pretty genuine, right?

Here are some q tips for you on using the Dixie Belle patina paints.

no. 1 – the verdigris patina develops a lot more quickly than the rust patina.  The rust patina can take days to fully develop in fact, so if you don’t see as much rust as you want right away just be patient.  If a couple of days go by and you still want more rust, you can always stipple on more Iron paint and spray again.

no. 2 – whether shaken or stirred, be sure to mix your paint thoroughly, and often, as you’re working with it.  There are actual metal flakes in the paint that create the patina and they tend to settle to the bottom of your jar of paint rather quickly.

no. 3 – if you have distinct brush strokes in your paint, the spray may settle in those lines making them more apparent.  For that reason, I recommend stippling the 2nd coat (or any subsequent coats) of paint.  Stippling is just pouncing the paint on with an up and down motion.

no. 4 – you don’t have to seal your patina projects.  However, if you’re adding patina to something that will come into contact with people’s clothing you may want to seal it (the patina will likely rub off on clothing).  In addition, the patina will continue to develop over time, so if you want to halt that process, you can seal it.  Dixie Belle does make a sealer for the patina paint called Patina Guard, but I find that it adds a bit of shine and I personally don’t like that look.  That’s just my personal preference though, you may be just fine with it.

no. 5 – if you’re working on a flat surface, you may find that the verdigris looks like droplets on your piece (because you sprayed it on in droplets).  I think this product gives a more authentic look on items with some texture and detail.  The spray settles in the crevices and looks amazing.

I definitely think my buddha benefitted from a little patina.

And now you can benefit too!

I’m going to draw the name of one lucky winner to receive all of the products I used to create my bronze buddha.  You’ll receive Patina Paint in Bronze and Iron, the Green Spray and some Bronze gilding wax.

The rules:  To be eligible to win, simply leave a comment on this blog post.  Maybe let me know what item you would turn into bronze!

Your comment must be left on this blog post, not on Facebook or Instagram.  You are not required to follow my blog, although it would be awesome if you did!

I will randomly draw the name of a winner for today’s prize from all of the comments left on this post by Sunday, May 29, 2022 at the stroke of midnight (U.S. Central time).

The fine print: no purchase necessary, you must be 18 years of age or older to win, void where prohibited by law, the number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning, approximate retail value of prize is $69, if the prize is not claimed by Friday, June 3, 2022 another name will be drawn at random to win, blah, blah, blah.

Thank you to Dixie Belle Paint Co for providing the Patina Paint I’m giving away today.