Kuan Yin Concrete Statue Makeover

Last fall I purchased a 30 inch concrete statue of Kuan Yin for $7.00.

She was looking pretty bad when I purchased her but I was sure that I could give her a makeover that even Tim Gunn would be happy to see.

Kuan Yin suffered from peeling paint, failing paint, and details that were obscured by the multiple paint colors.  I began with an aggressive exfoliation.  I used the brass bristle brush to get the loose pieces off.  The dried drips of paint were removed with the coarse grit sandpaper.  I finished by using an old paint brush to brush away dust and grime. By using the paintbrush I could also hear when the brush hit loose paint. 

I then moved on to using the air compressor with an airgun attached to blow away any dust in tight crevices that I couldn't get to with my brush.  Making sure that I had a dust free surface before painting was a must if I wanted the new paint to adhere to the statue.

She was now ready for an undercoat of dark grey.  I already had a can of dark grey spray paint.  Actually I had just enough before it ran out.  Depending on the color of stone spray paint that you choose will determine what color you use for the undercoat. 

 Look at how the details pop now that all the ugly blue, metallic green, and white paint are gone.  I could have stopped there but I wanted a granite look.

I gave her several light coats of Krylon Stone in black granite.  The trick to getting an even coat is go light and build up until you have the coverage that you want to achieve.  

 Before you spray your item do a test spray on cardboard so you can get a feel for how much comes out of the nozzle.  Contrary to how you generally spray when using spray paint, with this stone paint I get the best results from using short bursts rather than a continuous spray.  I let the stone paint thoroughly dry and then went back later and made sure that every inch of Kuan Yin was covered with the same amount of stone spray paint.

I already had the stone spray paint because I used it to paint the splash guard under the downspout.  So this entire project cost was 7 bucks.  

She will look fabulous in one of my hosta beds. 

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