Art and Home

See all my DIY videos at jonpeters.com

2013-12-21T12:09:00.000-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBQ7_-PTavw

Solid Wood Frame System

2013-01-11T20:15:00.001-05:00

I was inspired to design this frame system after a studio visit with the artist, Arthur Cohen. Looking around his studio on the Upper East Side I noticed a few wonderful small paintings, some of his wife Elizabeth at the piano and one or two of the harbor in Provincetown Massachusetts. Immediately I thought, wow I really like these paintings but boy are they going to be difficult to frame, so I asked him if I made panels designed to fit into a frame would he be willing to paint on them. He reluctantly agreed but soon became the gallery’s most prolific small works artist. He enjoyed painting on them- at one point he called the gallery asking to send more as he was leaving for the summer and had run out. He painted on the panels up until his death in the spring of 2012.

The frame system is priced at $49 the frame is solid mahogany and come with one panel that floats in the frame with a perfect revel it is wired and ready to hang.

see frame system and artwork at

Laurel Tracey Online

Sandy Hook Overlook. 1 / 6 / 13

2013-01-11T07:04:00.002-05:00

A quick small painting.. 4 x 6 oil on panel

small paintings

The hay field in Vermont

2013-01-03T07:28:00.000-05:00

Made this little painting of the hay field this morning from a photo I took with my phone

oil on 3/4" birch plywood

Building a Ping Pong table

2012-12-22T14:43:00.000-05:00

I used two sheets of 1/2 Baltic birch plywood to build this Ping-pong table. Baltic birch plywood is a good choice because it is sold in 5 x 5 sheets.

Hang a grid painting with the French cleat system

2012-12-19T16:27:00.000-05:00

see video

Make an Encaustic grid painting

2012-12-16T07:44:00.000-05:00

Click the link to see how I made this encaustic grid painting with the new Encaustic Boards by Ampersand

see video

Make a smooth surface with Encaustic paint

2012-12-12T19:28:00.000-05:00

see video

I’m in the middle of making a grid painting. The painting will be made up of 25 encaustic color blocks. This painting is designed to hang on what is known as a French cleat system, which ensures that the painting will hang level. Because each painting is hung individually, it is also possible to change the arrangement of the panels in the painting, which would in turn change the painting as a whole.

I was recently listening to a Charlie Rose interview with the painter Damian Herst. They were discussing Herst’s most recent work, “The Polka-Dots.” As you may know, Mr. Herst does not paint his own pictures, and the only exceptions he gives to his assistants that do the painting is to not have two of the same color next to each other, and have the colors be chosen at random. Herst merely acknowledged one of his assistants when they pointed out that it would be more random to actually have two dots of the same color next to each other. That comment, got me thinking, and I designed this painting, to give the viewer control of the of the color placement, working within guidelines set by me.

Tips on Designing & installing chair rail and panel molding

2012-11-27T15:23:00.000-05:00

I just finished making a scale model for a chair rail and panel molding project, that I will be installing in a few weeks. to see the video I made on this project, click on the link.

see video

Art Commissions and special projects

2012-11-24T15:48:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago a client asked me if I could make a painting with seagulls. At first I was a little reluctant, but now I am really happy with the results. the painting is acrylic and aluminum leaf on 140 lib hot pressed Arches paper.

If you would like to learn how to use aluminum leaf, click the link to see a video where I guild a frame, it's basically the same process.

see video

Use Frog Tape to make graphic art

2012-10-23T08:27:00.001-04:00

I started Using Frog Tape to tape out my painting on paper, and It works really good.

see video

Truss system for shed, barn or tiny house

2012-10-17T19:11:00.000-04:00

I’m build a tool shed for my lawn mower and garden equipment. Most of the building practices can also be applied when building a tiny House.

In this video I build the truss system for my shed, I decided to build the trusses before the wall because I wanted to use the shed platform / foundation for a level surface to design and build the truss system.

see video

Shed, tiny house, barn foundation / platform

2012-10-02T19:47:00.000-04:00

I’m building a new storage shed for my lawn mower and gardening tools. I’ve noticed that most sheds tend to rot from the bottom up and are often home to ground hogs and skunks. Because of these issues I’m taking a little more time and effort to prevent that from happening to this shed. Hope you find this video helpful

see video

Material and cut list for this 10’ x 16’ shed foundation / platform

Material list

2 - 2x6 x 16’ = ledger boards pressure treated

13 - 2x6 x 10’ = floor joist pressure treated

1 - 2x6 x 8’ = for building up the corners pressure treated

4 - 2x4 x 10’ = for building up the corners and the framing for the apron pressure treated

1 - 4x4 x 8' = corner post pressure treated
2 - sheets ½ inch treated plywood for the apron

5 - sheets ¾ inch plywood for floor

3 - cans roofing cement

1 - 12’ x 25’ 4 millimeter plastic roll vapor barrier

3 - boxes 4’ deck screws

1 - box of washers

8 - 4.5” lag bolts

Cut List

cut list is only for ledger boards and joist, other cuts are subject to your building site

2 - 2x6 x 16’ = frame / ledger boards

13 - 2x6 x 9’9” = floor joist

How to make a shadow box frame

2012-09-18T15:27:00.000-04:00

In this video I build a shadow box frame for a painting by the artist Stuart Shils. I've made a few videos on how to make frames, so in this video I focus more on the painting and finishing then the building. So if you need a bit more information, check out my channel for more videos on framing. To see paintings by Stuart Shils copy and paste his name into Google images.

see videoo

Art Studio Desk

2012-08-22T15:09:00.000-04:00

I made this desk for my art studio. If you would like to see a short tour of the desk, with a few links to videos on how I made the cabinet on the end of the desk. Or how I made the drawer, click the link below

see video

Star on paper #1, aluminum leaf and acrylic on paper

2012-08-11T15:23:00.000-04:00

This is the first painting of a new series I’m working on. The medium is aluminum leaf and acrylic on paper. To see my video on how to guild a frame with aluminum leaf, click the link. This painting was made by using some of the same techniques I show in the video.

See Video

Simple and affordable way to frame paintings

2012-08-10T15:10:00.000-04:00

For the past few years I’ve been helping my good friend, the artist Francis Cunningham frame his paintings for exhibitions. Early on we decided that a simple walnut strip frame would be a good choice and that’s how I’ve been framing his work. Some good reasons for framing with a strip frame is:

1 - it is simple and affordable

2 - a strip frame is easily removed and reused if a client wants to have the painting re-framed in something different

3 - a strip frame will help to protect the edge and corners of a painting when being moved or stored. To see my video on how I frame a painting with a strip frame, click the link
See Video

Summer in the Berkshires

Paintings by Francis Cunningham, at Laurel Tracey Gallery

Francis Cunningham

in front of his painting

Back Pasture Landscape (2003) Oil on linen 29 x 40

Reclining Figure. shellac charcoal and encaustic on paper

2012-08-03T15:09:00.001-04:00

To see a video on how to make encaustic medium, click the link

See Video

Reclining figure, 2012. 18 x 24

shellac charcoal and encaustic on paper

How to frame a painting in a custom walnut frame

2012-07-30T18:28:00.000-04:00

See video

Interchangeable frame system for works on paper

2012-07-28T14:47:00.000-04:00

I’ve been thinking about this idea for a while now, and finely found the time to build the frame. I made a video on how the frame was made, if you would like to see the video, click the link.

click to see video

The feminine form and modern design

2012-07-20T15:52:00.000-04:00

I started working on this frame/painting today. The idea is that the painting can be changed by simply exchanging one of the images for a different one. Right now I have the figure drawings that are based on the photographs of the 1980s body builder Lisa Lyon by the photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. Next to the chair drawings. Now you might say they create an interesting conversation about the feminine form and modern design, ( sound like a lot bull sh..t ? ) or maybe just, wow, that one looks cool next to that one. Either way, I’m having fun with this project. :)

Tomato Garden

2012-07-18T16:50:00.000-04:00

The garden is starting to pay off

How to make an outside clothes line

2012-07-16T13:17:00.000-04:00

see how to video

Collapsible Table by Jon Peters

2012-07-02T14:07:00.003-04:00

When my wife and I were first married , we lived in a small one bedroom apartment in NYC. I made this table so we could have company over for dinner. And then store the table under the bed, when we weren't using it.

see video

Daren and Evie build a log rack in the UK

2012-06-28T16:18:00.001-04:00

Last fall my son, Michael, and I built a log rack. I made a video of the project and posted it on you-tube. Yesterday I received a nice email from Daren who lives in the UK thanking me for the instructions with an attached photo of him and his daughter proudly standing next to their newly completed log rack.

click to see the video

Nice Work!