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Monday, July 29, 2013

Extreme Makeover: Gnome Edition

Should I add more color to my gnome?
By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

I have a weird obsession with gnomes.  I only have a few, but if I had the opportunity I would populate my yard with the creatures.  Maybe it stems from my love of Smurfs (which I'll be blogging about in this week's Way Back WhensDay post).

A new paint job
A few years ago, my parents gave us a bunch of concrete gnomes that they'd gotten from a friend.  As you can see in the picture on the left, he's in pretty rough shape.  Originally painted black, he's weathered plenty of storms in his day and now is faded and chipped.  All but one was damaged in a storm, and the surviving "Fisherman Gnome" sat sadly on my back porch for the last two years.  I've always wanted to spruce him up, and had the idea of painting him a solid color and then covering that with the typical bright, vibrant colors you'd find on an everyday gnome.

With his gnome gneighbor 
Over the weekend, I finally got the ambition to start the project.  I grabbed a can of silver spray paint and went to town.  As I started covering him, I actually liked the solid color of silver.  The more I looked at him, the more I thought, this isn't a bad look.  So I proudly moved him to the front of the house and put him on display.

Monday morning my wife and one son (who were out of town for the weekend) both said at different times and separate of each, "That's kinda weird looking."  I argued that I liked the solid look and figure I would slop it up if I attempted to paint his face, beard, hat, clothes, and fish all different colors.  So I told my wife I'd put it up to a vote online.  What do you guys think, should I keep my Fishergnome silver, or does he need a splash of color?  Post your thoughts here.




3 comments:

  1. My concern is without another coat of paint, the "fish" doesn't look like a fish at all... if you catch my drift.

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    1. I like it as is. The gnome supreme ruler of your yard, keeping evil at bay. I aslo got some hand me down gnomes that needed repainted I repainted over the original paint. They look alright but were painted already.

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  2. I am hand painting the same gnome for my sister.She got it from her 90 yr plus violin teacher.My understanding is he is from the 40's-50's era.

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