Grandpa's Paintings

I have a few of my Grandpa's paintings and they are beyond special to me.  I also have his easel which brings me more joy than you could possibly imagine.  I was only four years old when my Grandpa passed away so I never really got to know him.  I remember him from our visits to Minnesota in the summer and from their trip out to Virginia to visit us.  I remember him being so funny -- singing Christmas songs and mixing up all the words - I remember laughing and laughing.  He liked to take have his apples peeled, so of course I wanted the same thing.  I remember Grandma scolding him for drinking the milk right out of his cereal bowl instead of using a spoon...

and him giving us a wink and smile as he did it some more when she walked away.  

He loved to paint.  He taught himself and painted what he knew...the outdoors, nature.  

There is something special about a piece painted by someone you know and love....each brush stroke captures a feeling, a thought, a moment in time.  And what's really cool, is talking about his paintings and looking at them with my daughter...she inherited his talent and I think he would be proud.

Anyway, some of the paintings are in frames that are a little dated...

like this one painted in 1971.  

Framing art is ridiculously expensive and so, for now, I decided to try to revamp this frame using a little paint. I'm being thrifty and creative....I'm sure Grandpa wouldn't mind.

So the frame went from this....

To this....

I wanted to use the blues and grays in the background and the rocks for the frame.  I decided to spray paint it using Rustoleum's Slate Blue.  Then I used some metallic gold to fill in the details.  I simply used a paper towel to rub the gold on, then another to wipe it away.  The gold gives it a little warmth with the oranges and golds in the foreground.  I'm really happy with it...and it looks smashing in my art room! 

Then there is this one, Winter Farm - 1978.  This painting was featured in a Duluth calendar in 1978.  My Great Auntie, his sister, was also featured in that same calendar.  Cool, huh?  I love the blues in this one.  The frame is also dated, but I like it better than the previous one.  It seems to fit the painting...but an update could work, just not sure how...any ideas?