Hand-painted Furniture Continued
Fine art applied to furniture

Red Stone Farm is the name of both the home and business of Dot and Tom Bunn. Their 200-year-old farmhouse sits - surrounded by high, tangled brush, trees and vines, covered now with a light coating of snow - as an oasis in the middle of suburban development in Plumstead Township.

The property boasts an abundant supply of red stones and flowers, insects, butterflies, birds and small animals of all types in the warmer weather. All signs of nature with which the down-to-earth Bunns surround themselves and from which Dot draws her inspiration.

The two produce one-of-a-kind hand-painted furniture and home accessories she categorizes as European country. No swirls or provincial designs here.

Dot, who calls herself an artistic designer, has been an artist all her life. She is an oil painter who studied textiles and had her own dressmaking business for ten years. Tom is a printer who sold his business about three years ago to join Dot in creating unique wooden hand-painted furniture.

“We spent 20 years working on our house, which taught us a lot, and we decided this was something we could both do and enjoy together,” says Tom.
Each enjoys a distinct function in the business relationship.

“Tom fixes up and repairs the customers’ furniture and builds table tops, mirror frames and more,” begins Dot.

“And I get to put on the base coat, too,” he laughs.

Dot will paint just about anything a customer wants painted, from murals on walls to floors and anything in between. Clock faces and custom mirror frames are two of her favorite types of pieces to work on.

Some of Dot’s work includes trompe l’oeil; literally, “to fool the eye.”
“This style was originally meant to describe inanimate objects,” Dot explains, “like a painted wall niche with flowers, but now can be used to mean almost anything” that is not what it seems to be.

To illustrate, Tom carries a small corner cabinet into the warm and comfortable sitting room. Painted onto the front door panel are shelves holding dishes, a wine carafe and a bowl of peaches. They look so real, that from a distance of a couple of feet, it’s difficult to tell that they are not.

This cabinet demonstrates Dot’s predominant method of working with wood. A base coat of paint is applied, in this case, a soft gold (although she generally uses very bright undercoats). Then a second layer of a creamy white was painted on and partially rubbed away. Next Dot paints on blushing pink roses, shiny white morning glories or some other beautiful flower. A striped monarch butterfly may flit among the blossoms, or perhaps a ladybug clings to a stem. A tiny bunny may be seen peeking from under a leaf.

She then antiques the piece with an oil-based antiquing medium. Finally, Dot paints or rubs on a protective finish. She uses either an oil rub-on finish or one that’s water based polyurethane. This seals in the decorative finish, ensuring that nothing can be wiped away later.

“I prefer to work with acrylics, but for antiquing, oil gives a transparency that, with several layers, creates a depth.”

Dot and Tom discovered early on that people love small animals and scenes of nature. Which is convenient, since that’s what she is drawn to paint. “I don’t do geometric patterns or modern designs. And people haven’t really come to me for that anyway,” she says thoughtfully.

“Painting is a statement,” says Dot emphatically. “We keep what we do in wood very simple. There is no high-end furniture work for us. I like to do things that are fun. Tom builds a 3-D canvas for me to paint on …” Dot says.

“And Dot creates a piece of fine art,” Tom finishes. “Our clients really are investing in a piece of art,” says Tom. “It’s art work on furniture.”

The Bunns are clear about their work parameters. Within their guidelines Dot includes anything with a decorative charm; a certain look that she then customizes with the client. No contemporary abstract shapes, high-contrast colors or non-representational figures find their way into her work. She also feels strongly about protecting the integrity of the furnishings she works with.

If that means having to tell a client, “No, I can’t paint over that beautiful wooden piece of furniture. That would be a mistake,” then that’s what she does. Conviction is strong in her voice when she speaks of remaining true to her work.

“We work with people and problem-solve for them,” she says, but she won’t do work with which she would be uncomfortable. “When you tell people that a certain piece of furniture has value the way it is, most will respect that. That’s the responsibility of the artist.”
At this point, the couple is in the process of deciding on a focus for Red Stone Farm. Without restricting themselves, they nonetheless don’t want to feel overextended, which is why, in part, they decided against opening a shop.

“I would get bored with mass producing work,” says Dot. “I encourage people to find things that mean something to them; to their life. We should all live with things that mean something, that remind us of someone we have loved. It’s a way to remember people.”

The Bunns sell through Lions and Lilies in Peddlers Village and Interior Classics in Doylestown, and through word-of-mouth.

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