Creative Process
Today I give a hint about my personal creative process. Wood finishing, antique restoration, and furniture refinishing are my passion.
Shawn
6/6/20262 min read
Picture this. Seattle early '90's when grunge music was peaking, and the Market was thriving with tourists and locals. You could walk downtown at 3am and no one would bother you. Capital Hill was a bit of another story.
I struggled to find a painting company where I could gain experience. No one would teach me. Either they did not know, or they did not want to take the time to. All of them would regret that now.
I was working temporarily for a crew at a house on Mercer Island, I don't know if you know, but Mercer Island is the Aspen of Seattle. Uber Elite homes. Bill Gate's rotating thing was just down the street. I felt at home working at this level.
I saw dudes do faux painting and color matching, and I was all like "I want to do that" Fast forward to today I get to do exactly that. It took about 30 years to get to this point, but now I am "That Guy" I always wanted to be.
My creative process is similar to many other artists of sorts. Even what seems to be a simple task to the onlooker, creative people take it to a whole new level. Our brains are wired different than most. We know how to see the future in our skilled areas.
I can visualize how the paint is flowing out of my brush or sprayer and bonding to the surface. I see it on a microscopic scale that a camera could not do any justice in filming. I see the molecules reacting to gravity and motion.
Often time when I restore a piece of furniture I will fix selected areas. I have to create a matching color to mimic what is old. I do pretty good per my customers reactions. I am rarely fully satisfied. I have to learn how to draw the line. My standards are always unattainable. I strive for perfection and rarely, if ever achieve it, if you ask me.
When matching colors I have to look at it for a day or so and visualize what products and colors I would use. Then I do some cheesy samples to find my color range and adjust if needed. Then I sleep on it. I wait. I let it soak into my pea brain which don't take long for two cells to exchange information. I wake up and usually make a tweak with this or that, and I am off and running.
Then and only then can I get 95% close or closer to the color match. If I do not follow this creative process I will fail. It will cause me all sorts of pain. I will end up stripping it again and refinishing. All on my dime.
I find this to be true in life in general. I fail at this in life sometimes when I try to push it when I should have slept on it. Forcing things usually breaks them.
