• Home
  • about emily
  • before + after
  • HGTV + DIY Network
  • good press
  • contact
  • Let’s Organize These Posts:

    • Art Attack
    • Backyard
    • Barn
    • Basement
    • Bathroom
    • Beach
    • Bedrooms
    • Being Thrifty
    • Business-y
    • Buying and Renting and Selling
    • Casual Celebrations
    • Closets
    • Curb Appeal
    • Dainty Details
    • Deck
    • Decor
    • Dining Room
    • DIY
    • Dog-Related
    • Entryway
    • Flooring
    • For the Kids
    • Garage
    • Gardening
    • Helping The Economy
    • HGTV + DIY Network Projects
    • Holiday-Related Projects
    • Home Safety
    • Kitchen
    • Lighting
    • Living Room
    • Merry Travels
    • Office Space
    • Organized
    • Other Pads
    • Outdoor Living
    • Scooter Fun
    • Stairwell
    • Sunroom
    • Supporting Sponsors
    • The Art Room
    • Tools
    • Uncategorizable
    • Wedding
    • Windows
    • Work-pads
  • Search

  • Hi, I’m Emily

    Emily Fazio

    I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle.

    You can find me writing for HGTV and DIY Network, follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

    Thanks for visiting!

  • BROWSE POSTS BY CATEGORY:

    • Art Attack (7)
    • Backyard (92)
    • Barn (8)
    • Basement (27)
    • Bathroom (43)
    • Beach (13)
    • Bedrooms (73)
    • Being Thrifty (53)
    • Business-y (12)
    • Buying and Renting and Selling (23)
    • Casual Celebrations (36)
    • Closets (17)
    • Curb Appeal (44)
    • Dainty Details (8)
    • Deck (23)
    • Decor (286)
    • Dining Room (37)
    • DIY (577)
    • Dog-Related (24)
    • Entryway (59)
    • Flooring (58)
    • For the Kids (32)
    • Garage (17)
    • Gardening (70)
    • Helping The Economy (30)
    • HGTV + DIY Network Projects (283)
    • Holiday-Related Projects (80)
    • Home Safety (12)
    • Kitchen (83)
    • Lighting (31)
    • Living Room (77)
    • Merry Travels (21)
    • Office Space (21)
    • Organized (41)
    • Other Pads (14)
    • Outdoor Living (12)
    • Scooter Fun (8)
    • Stairwell (20)
    • Sunroom (22)
    • Supporting Sponsors (43)
    • The Art Room (3)
    • Tools (43)
    • Uncategorizable (1)
    • Wedding (28)
    • Windows (14)
    • Work-pads (10)
  • Search

  • Pages

    • blog
    • Merrypad Features
    • Privacy Policy
    • about emily
    • before + after
      • before + after, our current home
      • before + after, our first house
    • contact me
    • choose a badge and share the merrypad.com love
  • Home
  • about emily
  • before + after
  • HGTV + DIY Network
  • good press
  • contact

Playing With Inkblots (In Silver)

February 6, 2012

Shiny and fun. Fun and shiny. And, sure, with the right master’s degree training, it’s probably a little revealing too.

A DIY inkblot test piece.

I think Rorschach Inkblots always look a little like an uterus and ovaries, if that helps to generate any information about me and my psyche. Nonetheless, the symmetrical forms have always been eye-catching, and after seeing this Andy Warhol print pinned by Curbly on Pinterest, I decided I wanted to try one (or a few) for myself. However the print is used, in psych offices, college textbooks, or on Jay-Z’s book cover, it’s pretty striking every time I see it. And it’s shiny. Always distracted by the shiny. Also another psyche-related observation for you. I found it online here, FY-sourcing-I.

Andy Warhol's Rorschach.

I’m pretty sure inkblotting is the first thing you explore when Mom and Dad let you play wildly with the finger paints after years of cautious tutorials (a psych analysis by itself), but as an adult, it’s still oddly fun to paint and smush, paint and smush, and see the random results.

For my own little interpretation of this famous piece, I opted to recycle some paper from a marketing collateral that Pete produced for one of his clients a long time ago. He has better work in his portfolio now-a-days, and the glue was so old that it came apart without making cuts. Meant to be. Thanks Pete.

It's free paper. I'll take it.

The textured stock is nice. A little something more interesting than a smooth, satin finish, and of course, awesome since it’s f-r-e-e. I folded my first piece and started to play.

It's free folded paper. I'll take it.

I chose to toy with two paints (already owned, another $0.00 from my wallet): Rust-Oleum Oil-based paint in Aluminum (shiny!), and some leftover Coastal Jetty Gray from when I refinished the office filing cabinets.

Oil-based paint, known forthright as OB is a ODB to clean, so I choose a painters brush that has seen it’s day and is almost trash anyways. For the water-based Jetty paint, I used a separate (less junky) brush. And, then I dabbled in making my own Rorschach art, with all intentions of trying to avoid ending up with 5 uterus prints.

Trying. What will this inkblot become?

One thing: It’s decieving how much paint is instantly absorbed into the paper, lessening the chance of the flawless transfer when the paper is folded and smushed. Use more paint than you think you need, but not so much that you end up with one solid blotch (I’m not sure what that would say about you).

Blotchy ink blots. Try, try again.

Some I created were pure Aluminum.

All silver inkblot.

Others were a combo of the Aluminum and the Jetty options, because I was hoping to achieve a mixed glossy-rich and shiny look. Interesting layered concept, but not my fave.

An inkblot combo of wall paint and aluminum paint.

Still others were messed up. This one, I folded and mushed, and then got distracted by the phone. No bouncing back from that one, the Jetty cured like Elmer’s and then tore the paper apart.

Torn inkblot error.

My favorite piece was this one (the first one I attempted). Simple, with clean lines and shiny aluminum finish, it’s clear that I was a little more patient with this one than the later pieces in my little “series”. I dig it.

Pretty silver inkblot.

I liked it so much, that I pulled an old frame out of storage, cut a custom mat, and framed it. The frame itself, something that I found at a yard sale many years ago (clearly handmade and polyurethaned, but all hardwood with lots of texture). It may or may not have been the initial inspiration for me to create my own line of custom reclaimed frames.

My DIY Rorschach Inkblot. In silver.

The mat was made from a scrap piece of mat board. You know when you cut the center out of a piece of stock to create the mat opening for another piece of art? Save it. It’s still big enough to use for smaller creations. Voila. I even signed “merrypad” to it in a moment of late-night pride. And then promptly added “2/12” representing the February 2012 creation date, though the following morning I realized that it read like this Rorschach is the 2nd in a series of 12 prints. It’s not. Don’t be fooled. Sorry.

My DIY Rorschach Inkblot. In silver.

Reinterpret anything famous lately?

P.S. Thanks for the fantastic response to Thursday’s Apartment Therapy House Tour, I’m elated by all of the positive comments and wonderful e-mails. You’ve made it all worthwhile!

Share

Decor  / DIY

Emily
I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle. I've been a freelancer writer for 10+ years and you can find my work on popular home and garden sites, like HGTV.com. Follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note.

2 Comments


Rosane Tardin
February 6, 2012 at 1:54 pm
Reply

I am thankful to the Apartment Therapy to have come this far. A beautiful experience. Loved your site. I will always be here. Love.



    Emily
    February 6, 2012 at 3:31 pm

    Love to hear it, Rosane! Thank you for visiting!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • HI, I’m Emily

    Emily Fazio

    I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle. Follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

    Thanks for visiting!

  • Instagram

    merrypad

    Merrypad by Emily Fazio
    Instagram post 17902304861708711 Instagram post 17902304861708711
    Highly recco mining those #herkimerdiamonds ✌️ Highly recco mining those #herkimerdiamonds ✌️
    Pt. 2: Well before Halloween, the last of the garl Pt. 2: Well before Halloween, the last of the garlic went into the home garden: 10 rows [L>R] 6 whole Nootka Rose as an experiment, 3x8 Mennonite-grown cloves from Aman’s, and 6x8 (and, I think, total 112? notes are cryptic) “normal.”
#gardennotes #growinggarlic #garden2023 #whatisnormal #merrypadathome
    Out of sight but [documented so it’s] not out of Out of sight but [documented so it’s] not out of mind! #garden2024 kicks off with my favorite biennial: elephant garlic! 15 cloves planted from small, to medium, to enormous. #gardennotes
    Annual garlic notes for #garden2023, pt. 1: this i Annual garlic notes for #garden2023, pt. 1: this is getting ooc, and I love it. 👩‍🌾🧑‍🌾

🧄 65% of the planting is in a new plot in the country. 🧄 Seeing if NR grows bigger with more sunlight. 🧄 Big @chasefarms cloves from 2021 were really productive in our home garden; can’t wait to see how they can show up next year in the new space. 🧄

Hand-turned a small bed, but big thanks to my sister, who rolled into town just in time to help me double its size (and did not complain once).
    One straggler from #garlic2021 debuted with 7 stal One straggler from #garlic2021 debuted with 7 stalks and 7 scapes, and I can’t wait to see this mammoth looks like when it’s pulled next month. #garlic2022 

Also, fierce springtime performance by parsley, chamomile, and self-seeded cilantro.
    Annual garlic notes #garden2022 ~315 cloves total Annual garlic notes #garden2022
~315 cloves total
50 in new, unfenced garden
Still need thick mulch on everything
Did a terrible job tracking varieties when I harvested, so it’s all a mix of hardneck now 😒
Added some big cloves from @chasefarms and look forward to adding some @fruition_seeds in #garden2023 when @porterfarmscsa delivers.
    Load More... follow emily: @merrypad



  • Like Us On Facebook

    Facebook Pagelike Widget



  • Popular Posts

    • How to fix an IKEA drawer. The Easy Fix For Broken IKEA Drawers 66.7k views
    • DIY sideboard rehab. 7 Steps for Restoring an Old Midcentury Sideboard Buffet 56.6k views
    • How to design and make a barn quilt. How to Make Your Own Barn Quilt 49.9k views
    • How to hang art on brick surfaces using specialty clips. The Easy Way to Hang Art on Brick or Stone 39.9k views
    • DIY driveway removal. The Driveway Rocks 35k views
    • Our DIY flagstone patio. Building a Flagstone Patio in One Day 32.7k views
    • Tips for dying pasta different colors, and a Halloween Recipe for the kids. How to Dye Pasta Different Colors (Halloween Recipe) 32.5k views
    • Goodbye, gold fireplace covering. Less Is More: How to Remove a Fireplace Surround 29.5k views
    • Fix an ikea dresser drawer. Life Support For An IKEA Dresser 29.4k views
    • After: Custom wooden garden fence. Designing a Durable Wooden Fence For Our Beautiful Backyard Garden 22.9k views



  • BROWSE POSTS BY CATEGORY:

    • Art Attack (7)
    • Backyard (92)
    • Barn (8)
    • Basement (27)
    • Bathroom (43)
    • Beach (13)
    • Bedrooms (73)
    • Being Thrifty (53)
    • Business-y (12)
    • Buying and Renting and Selling (23)
    • Casual Celebrations (36)
    • Closets (17)
    • Curb Appeal (44)
    • Dainty Details (8)
    • Deck (23)
    • Decor (286)
    • Dining Room (37)
    • DIY (577)
    • Dog-Related (24)
    • Entryway (59)
    • Flooring (58)
    • For the Kids (32)
    • Garage (17)
    • Gardening (70)
    • Helping The Economy (30)
    • HGTV + DIY Network Projects (283)
    • Holiday-Related Projects (80)
    • Home Safety (12)
    • Kitchen (83)
    • Lighting (31)
    • Living Room (77)
    • Merry Travels (21)
    • Office Space (21)
    • Organized (41)
    • Other Pads (14)
    • Outdoor Living (12)
    • Scooter Fun (8)
    • Stairwell (20)
    • Sunroom (22)
    • Supporting Sponsors (43)
    • The Art Room (3)
    • Tools (43)
    • Uncategorizable (1)
    • Wedding (28)
    • Windows (14)
    • Work-pads (10)





  • a little bit of everything, friends, DIY, and inspiration

    • Dadand.com < My husband and his BFF
    • DIY Network
    • HGTV
  • Some Legal

    Merrypad incorporates the occasional affiliate link to Amazon.com and Minted; we link to many other websites and products, but if it is in context of a paid sponsorship, it is always noted as such. Please review the privacy policy and contact me if you have any additional questions.

    Theme customized by Pete Fazio Creative, the guy from dadand.com.


© Copyright Merrypad