Exposed Surfaces v One

Recently I found a new home for a piece of art hanging on the wall in my office. It was an autographed poster of the Los Angeles Rams "Fearsome Foursome" with Rosey Grier, Lamar Lundy, Merlin Olsen and Deacon Jones. This little piece of history left a large empty spot on my wall just over the monitor in my office. Bleakly, it remained that way for weeks. Staring at it for the last time one night I decided I would create something to fill the void. But unlike some of my other projects, I didn't want to buy anything new. I have a ton of leftovers, so I decided I would only use what I had on hand.

Last year I ran across a sale at the Hobby Lobby. They had a bunch of rolls of these "Photographers Backdrops". Regularly they were about $10.00, but they were on sale for $2.50 a piece. At the time I thought they'd be perfect Christmas paper. So I scooped them up and shoved them in my closet. Haven't seen them since. The image below is the pattern I used, but it's on Amazon.

However as this project continued to form I began to wonder what a real brick wall would look like in the place of the paper.

So now my idea was forming, but it still wasn't clear. The right frame is what I needed. Not knowing which one to select, I picked three. Seriously though, I just happened to have these three matching frames. The funny thing is, I didn't get them that way. They came from 3 different projects.

Gluing the backdrop to the back panels, I quickly knew I was on the right track. But I still needed more...

That's when it hit me. Grabbing some cardboard, the pint of house paint I keep for repairs and some DAP (plaster for repairs). I "hastily" cut out some jagged pieces. capped the jagged, corrugated edges with DAP and painted them.

Placing the pieces inside the frame giving the illusion of broken plaster.

That just wasn't enough though. Something was still missing.... AHHH!!! Wire mesh! Perfect! I took the wire mesh, cut it up in jagged pieces weathered it with brown and black spray paint in random sections. With a little time and hot glue I had something real. But that big one needed something... Maybe another picture?

After doing a pretty good search, I found a high quality photo of a UFO from the 50s. Using a black plastic trapper folder and a 5" x 7" Pre-Cut Photo Mat, I created a matching frame and picture to hang on the brick wall.

Using hot glue I secured a piece of a roofing nail and some string to one of the hanging pieces of plaster.

If you decide to do something like this. Before you run out to get the supplies, check your local Home Depot. For as little as $35 you can find 8' x 4' Fo Brick wall plywood sheets. They are very realistic and you might make something even better. Shop around, see what you come up with.