AntiquedVerdigris






I have been wanting to create a decorative look to my Four Seasons
cast-concrete statues situated in their new home. I moved them from the northeast corner of the garden, the new White Garden, to the brick parterre garden on the west-side.
 I love their cute shape and I didn’t want to 
paint them white as I had done several of my other statues.


That's when I thought of Verdigris

source Flickr

I found a few examples of beautiful Verdigris statues as my inspiration. I love the aged appearance contrasted by the bright blue-green of the color.

source Flickr

source Flickr
I searched for concrete stains – especially homemade recipes. The first I found used copper sulfate and salt – it did create a bright green liquid, but did not effect the shade of color I wished for my statues.

                                             before                                                

 after


Then I thought – spray paint. I have a variety of greens, blues, and metallic colors which could create the antiqued verdigris I was hoping for.
                                              
before                                                after 

before                                                after





I sprayed the entire statue with Brushed Metallic Caramel Latte – it is a lighter color than copper, but gives the effect I was going for. I then alternated Giverny Green- or – Pistachio Green with Deauville Blue (an old Martha Stewart color) then I added here and there a muddy, forest green to imitate moss.



I kept layering the colors and sponging over to take away some color and to combine the blue-green color I was after.



Following viewing the examples of the pictures I found on Flickr – to age the statues – I dribbled watered down black and burnt sienna watercolor paint to replicate the effects of time and weather.






After the statues completely dry I plan to seal them with a concrete sealer to protect the finish.




I plan to attempt another stain recipe in the birdbath – 
if it works – fantastic! If it doesn’t – I’ll play with paint again!