General Finishes

This black church pew was a tough one for me. My boss and his wife recently bought a house and now they are accumulating a beautiful collection of lifetime pieces that all need to be painted. They told me they had a church pew that they wanted painted. My first reaction was excitement because I have always wanted to paint one. As soon as I saw it my heart sank. It was so gorgeous! The wood was beautiful and there was so much built-in historical character. It literally was wearing its history! Oh how I wish antiques could talk, what stories they would have to tell. I hoped their color of choice was white, simply because it just allows for a more distressed character driven aspect of painting. But, when the customer wants black, and the customer is your boss, you do what you are told! She is painted in General Finished Lamp Black. I distressed certain areas to bring out the wood beneath to help pay tribute to her beautiful past. She was finished in Howard's Citrus Shield Paste Wax. I was told by my boss' wife that she often sits on this church pew in the mornings, drinks her coffee, and does her daily devotional. It is such a blessing to have a hand in refreshing an antique so they can begin a new phase of life.