Jul 30, 2019
The painted turtle!
I am not referring to the wine we drink, what I like to call our house wine.
Painted Turtle is a wonderful BC label and this Pinot Grigio is a good wine. The price is right if you buy the double bottle.
Nor am I referring to the painted turtles that are in our lake, the ones that are at risk. You can read a bit about that here.
I took this photo of a painted turtle sunning itself a few years ago.
We often see them swimming just off of our beach. This one was under water so you can’t see its eyes.
Instead I am referring to a painted turtle that I brought home from Mexico about 8 or 9 years ago.
There he is. No idea why but it is a he and not a she. He is a wonderful greeter to our yard, however he is looking rather shabby.
I purchased some cheap paints and brushes from Dollarama and asked my neighbours grandson, Thomas, a young strapping fellow, to lift the turtle up onto my top step. I am so glad that we never put a hand rail on this side of our front steps. So easy to unload groceries onto that top step and very helpful in loading and unloading the RV. I was very careful and had placed a garbage bag under Mr. Turtle. It was an excellent location for me to paint from. I used the plastic garbage bag to help turn the turtle as needed.
It was a warm afternoon and Colin was working till dark so it was the perfect time for me to undertake my turtle project. Good thing I wore an apron as I did get some on me and also on the step, likely because I kept turning Mr. Turtle and exposed the step. Wasn’t going to mention to Colin right off but he saw it the next morning. So far I am still trying to get it off the step ( composite board ). Here I have painted the green and the white areas. The green was easy to do but I had to do the white over at least 3 -4 times. The Mexican material is extremely porous and the white just kept absorbing. At one point I was worried that the paint would wash off in the rain but so far so good.
I was never one to color well within the lines. Too impatient I guess. This tiny plaque was a gift to Colin a few years ago from me but had faded over the years. I thought I was very clever and mixed three colors, white, blue and green to get the correct hue. However between the poor quality brushes and my being tired I just completed the task with gusto and hence a botched job. I had not yet painted over the last three letters in this photo. I figured that we would just throw it out but Colin wants to keep it.
Voila! The completed makeover of Mr. Turtle. Hopefully he is good for yet another eight years.
I think he looks great as long as you don’t look too closely 😉
<< Older Posts Home Newer Posts >>
You did an awesome job with Mr. Turtle, rest, patience and a better brush you should be able to fix up the sign.
Thanks George. Somehow I think that the sign is going to stay as is.
And now Contessa, artist. Love your painted turtle and love the turtle photos. I also love my turtle earrings I bought in Rincon de Guayabitos
No where near an artist but I sure am proud of how the turtle turned out. I remember you’re earrings.
It looks great – will the colours get washed off or are they oil based? My house wine is a kit our local wine maker makes – a good Sauvingnon Blanc (just bought another kit yesterday – kit $66, makers fee $55 so total for 30 bottles is just over $4 a pop 🙂 and it tastes pretty darn good! All I have to do is pay then help them bottle and put labels on at the very end.
I do believe that the paint is water based as it washed off my hands easily but still isn’t coming off the top step. We used to make wine long ago but over the years I have come to truly prefer store bought.
Great story and Mr. Turtle also looks great 🙂
Thanks. I think he turned out really well. He really that pop of color back in his life.