Commentary
Of Toads & Tractor Paint
6 Spray October 2020
SPRAY Technology & Marketing
Cynthia Hundley
Publisher
chundley@spraytm.com
Ava Caridad
Editorial Director
acaridad@spraytm.com
Veronica MacDonald Ditko
Assistant Editor
assteditor@spraytm.com
Montfort A. Johnsen
Technical Editor
montyjohnsen@att.net
Susan Carver
Vice President, Administration
scarver@spraytm.com
Doug Bacile
National Sales Manager
dbacile@spraytm.com
Donald Farrell
Production
Miguel Bravo
Graphic Artist
Circulation
circulation@spraytm.com
Volume 30, No 10, October 2020
©2020 Industry Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Spray Technology & Marketing
(ISSN No.1055-2340) is published monthly
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SPRAY would like introduce readers to its latest column—Inspiring Design—authored by
product design consultant Heidi Graham, founder of Shine Advisor. Graham’s October
column, “From Glum to Glam” is a timely piece for our Paints & Coatings issue,
as it delves into the R&D how, why and wherefore of designing and formulating paints for
the decorative market—after all, one can’t just throw chalk or glitter into a paint formulation
and hope it sprays. There’s a lot to consider.
Upcycling is a major trend, and spray paint is a popular, dare I say an essential, tool in
the refurbishing of everything from furniture to lamps to footwear to hubcaps, as Graham
points out.
I can give you a good example of this from my own experience. Last Fall, I purchased a
concrete toad at a yard sale—at least I think it’s a toad (scientists, please write in and let me
know if it’s actually a frog). He was kind of a mess, but I liked him. I know it’s a male concrete
toad because the host of the yard sale told me its name was “Clifton Ron” and offered
me a $1 discount if I promised to keep the name. How could I resist?
I brought Clifton Ron home and put him in my front yard. His presence was less than
commanding but I hoped I might get used to him. I thought perhaps he might get covered
in moss or something else might happen to make him look folksy, but he just looked “blah.”
Fast forward to Christmas Eve when I found myself in a deep-discount, close-out and
fireworks outlet in the next State over, poking through “Housewares.” My eyes locked onto
a splendid can of bright green tractor paint. I knew it was perfect for Clifton Ron.
Spring came and I set about making my concrete toad a thing of beauty, or at least a
point of comment. My mother was a gifted artist, but that gene had passed me by. The
deep-discount, close-out and fireworks outlet also didn’t allow returns—so I persevered.
As you can see from the photos, Clifton Ron had a fabulous makeover with just a can
of spray paint and some plastic rhinestones I pulled off a box of fancy gift soaps. It took
longer to crazy-glue his eyes on (and my fingers together) than it took to paint him, but I—
like most of us in pandemic lock-down—had a lot of time on my hands last Spring. I think
my mother would be proud.
Spray paint can make any upcycled or creative project—no matter how big, small or difficult—
or ungifted the crafter—into something that makes the neighbors stop and point. Be
sure to check out Inspiring Design on p. 20 as well as our Paints & Coatings feature on p. 14.
We hope you enjoy this issue,
Editorial Director
Clifton Ron before (left) and after…