Gary Dickens                                           September 2011

If you are lucky, you'll have one very good career in life.

If the angels have smiled on you, then perhaps a second.

For Leesburg native Mary Hope Worley, her first career came in the form of an elementary school administrator. That gift from the angels?   In the form of a crumpled piece of paper.

In 1987 Mary Hope took a beginner's art class from Stilson Greene and out of the wrinkles and shadows of ordinary paper came a passion to paint. She would go on to paint florals and landscapes, chapels and even the occasional holstein.

Now, nearly 25 years later, that road has led her to give second lives to objects many might relegate to the county landfill.

From canvas to old, second-hand furniture.

Mary Hope and her partner Bruce Wiley are now frequenting the auction houses, looking for furniture to salvage and apply her artistic talents.

An old mirror, which most would have probably discarded, is now gilded and adorned with a painted floral swag.

Mary Hope's second career creates heirloom furnishings that will grace homes for generations.

Mary Hope and Bruce have been frequenting Tillett's Auction Barn, buying furniture whose better days were back in the '30s, '40s and '50s. The craftsmanship was good then, often veneered with mahogany or walnut, but finished with miserable synthetic resins, nearly impossible to refinish.

Bruce has created a process of prepping these old surfaces, yielding a perfect "canvas" on which Mary Hope can apply her talents. While highly secret I can tell you a little bit about his magic:

Elbow grease, followed by, more elbow grease...followed...by more...elbow grease.

Once the surface has been prepped to his exacting standards, he applies a coat (or two) of primer, and then the basecoat on which Mary Hope will paint. These painstaking steps will insure that Mary Hope's exquisite designs will last for hundreds of years.

Once Mary Hope goes to work, white swans emerge from what were once ugly ducklings. She'll paint faux marble and granite, latticework and gingerbread, apply gilding and accent colors.

Then the details. Everyone knows it's detail that makes the difference.  She paints flowers in abundance, grapes and their vines when they fit, geometric accents and reverse dark colors on light..

And as patient and hardworking as Bruce is in the prep stage, Mary Hope is as she achieves the final look for the piece. This is art, not some assembly line.

The final results are gallery worthy and home warming. Pieces to grace any residence.

Would you like to see more? Mary Hope and Bruce are planning a home show and sale this November, over Veteran's Day Weekend (the 11th &12th) at 312 Evergreen Mill Road, Leesburg, 20175.  They also have a website in the works, http://www.newlifeartfurniture.com where you can look for updated information once its launched.

A second career for one Mary Hope Worley. A second chance for discarded furnishings to become heirlooms.