Industrial Look Art – Let Your Light Shine Sign for a Men’s Prayer Room

Industrial Look Art – Let Your Light Shine Sign for a Men’s Prayer Room. Using a painted faux rust background on canvas and precut MDF letters, let me show you how to create an industrial look art piece for a men’s prayer room in just a few easy steps.

My friends, Melissa, Jackie and I were asked to decorate the Prayer Room for a men’s retreat. The theme was “Let Your Let Shine” Matthew 5:16. I was tagged to do the art piece. My first thoughts were a bit girlie!!! As we talked about the colors for the accessories: black, silver, grey… my mind switched over to industrial and rust, of course. So I grabbed a canvas and got busy.

To create faux rust:

Use acrylic paint pewter grey, white, melted chocolate, nutmeg brown, orange, and metallic silver.

Base coat the canvas using grey and white. To achieve the rust texture, I used a sea sponge to apply melted chocolate, nutmeg brown, orange and a tiny bit of the metallic silver (acrylic not the spray).  Also, splatter those same colors.

Lettering for an Industrial Look Art Piece

While the canvas was drying I gathered up my stencils and letters. The letters are 5″ tall pre-cut MDF. I picked those up in the craft section at Wal-Mart.

While I work on my projects, I pray for those that might see the art or be impacted by the event. For this one, I prayed for the team, the leaders, and the participants.

Out to the garage to the drill press to drill the letters and then paint the letters.

I sprayed the letters and bolts flat black. What was I thinking??? We are going to talk about that in a little bit.

Easy spacing tip

Use painter’s tape as the spacer and paper clips to hold the stencils together. The canvas for this industrial look art piece is 16″x20″.

While I was painting and praying, I prayed a lot for my hubby. We had just returned home from a week in the hospital. He was getting weaker and weaker and had basically stopped eating. Melissa and Jackie wanted me to go with them to decorate the prayer room but I just couldn’t be that far away from him. I painted this on April 25th and little did I know that he would leave his earthly home May 1st.

Use a sponge to stencil the letters.

Being careful not to use too much black paint, I used a little sponge to stencil the letters.

How to attach the MDF letters

An ice pick or awl works really well to pierce a hole in the canvas for the bolts and nuts. Watch out for the letter placement just in case there is a cross stretcher bar on the back of the canvas.

After checking the spacing of the letters several times, I used an ice pick to pierce holes in the canvas.

Remember, I told you that I painted the “SHINE” letters black. Suddenly, I was like, “Really? SHINE in black?!? That doesn’t SHINE!!! What was I thinking?” So, I grabbed a spray can of metallic silver and I liked that so much better.

For a real industrial look art piece, use real nuts and bolts

I used nuts, bolts, and washers to attach it to the canvas. I love that industrial look!

After the letters were in place I decided that the piece needed some “Faux Rivets” in the corners. Sorry that the photo is pixelated.

A little shadow and a little highlight and WooHoo! There is a fake rivet. I wanted it to look like it was bolted to the wall.

When Jackie and Melissa asked if I wanted to go with them to decorate, I really wanted to go. I enjoy our girlfriend road trips and our time together but I didn’t want to get very far from home. This is just glimpse of what they did to decorate an industrial look prayer room for the men’s retreat.

Isn’t this is awesome for a man cave type prayer room!!!

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
 Matthew 5:16 ESV  https://biblegateway.com

Headed to go finish cleaning and organizing my studio. I have a few more projects on my to-do list.

Let YOUR light shine today.

Have a glorious day!

’til next time,

Nathalie