I have a "Mistress" do you?

It's true and despite what my wife might think, I've been wanting a French Mistress for a long time.  However, it's not what it seems.  A "French Mistress" is a common title for a palette used to paint on.  It's a clever design that allows the artist to "fold up" the palette and transport it or to keep yourself from having any paint mishaps............say like getting paint on your shirt and then sitting down on the couch.  They usually run about a hundred and fifty dollars or so.  I thought that was way too much so I decided to build my own.

Step 1:  (not photoed) Buy the wood and cut it to the desired lengths.  This step is pretty self explanatory.  I bought some birch panels and poplar 1.5 x 2's.  I then used a table saw to rip them to 1 x 2's and a chop saw to the cut them to the desired lengths.  

 Step 2: (above) Glue them together.  Again pretty simple.  I think a chop saw makes a big difference here but if you're good with a regular saw or skill saw that should work just fine too. I used some clamps to glue the sides to the panels and let them dry.  Then I added some brads with a staple gun to give it some strength and then gave all the pieces a good sanding.

 Step 3: Stain. I grabbed some old wood stain, shook it up, grabbed a cloth, and put a real quick stain on.  The nice thing about a mistress is that you're going to get paint on it anyway so the finish isn't real important....it's not like your making a nice dresser.

Step 4: Polyurethane.  Once the stain dried I added a quick coat of polyurethane.  Again, I didn't worry too much about the finish.

 Step 5: Glass.  I headed to Lowes and bought a piece of 16 x 20 in. glass.  I had them cut it to the size of my mistress 14 x 18 in. which they did for free.  I then grabbed some old grey spray paint I had around the house to spay the class palette a neutral grey.  A neutral grey helps judge color and value easier (for you fellow artist I sprayed it to a value of 4 or 5).

Step 6: Make sure the glass fits.  If your measurements are right it should fit.  I wanted my palette to be 14 x 18 in. so I had Lowes cut the glass 13 7/8 by 17 7/8 which made it fit perfect. 

 Step 7: Caulk in the Glass.  I bought some clear caulking to seal the glass in place.  Remember to push the caulk into the corners to get a good seal.  However, be careful you can really slice your finger!!!

  

Step 8: Hinges.  I bought a set of 12 inch piano hinges.  This takes a little bit of lining up but once it was in line I marked it and added a few screws then we were good to go.

Step 9: Finishing touches.  I lightly sanded some rough spots but that's about it.....pretty easy.  All in all it took about 3 or 4 hours and cost about $25- $30 bucks. 

I think anyone could have a mistress if they wanted one.  I'm really not that handy with wood but it's simple to make.  Oh and this mistress won't get your marriage into trouble.....happy painting!