Luckily, I have a stock of spray-paint and I'm not afraid to use it. Went out into the yard and tried to obscure some of my previous errors with said paint - this is the result.
Still not happy with it ( a second round of paint is in the near future) but the paint is doing a wonderful job of masking the horrid welding. Thinking seriously now of actually emphasizing them and their texture with some spot color(s).
But... the paint hasn't even fully dried yet and I got a serious reminder. The red paint I used always "eats" any color applied over the top of it. I've tried it before, gotten a pretty two-color gradient going - then come back the next morning only to find all the second color has been swallowed by the red.
It's the Krylon Fusion paint. I actually love the paint and I use it frequently because it sticks to anything - especially plastics. Since I do a lot of mixed-media and 3d printed projects, I need a paint that I can spray on an object with two, three or even five different materials and be confident that the paint will adhere and be durable.
But I always forget that I cannot layer or glaze over like I can with standard spray paint. Some day I will learn.
There should be a gold/bronze sheen in the center of the bowl fading out to pure red around the rim with a black border. It was there just a few hours ago, I swear. But the gold and black are already disappearing and they will be almost completely .
I'm going to wait a day or two, let all the paint dry completely, then try to reapply the gold gradient and black rim. As I remember, if I wait for the Fusion basecoat to dry completely then the gradient's secondary colors will "survive" when I reapply them.
If it turns out okay I might post the results. I'm still trying to decide if my ego can take showing the raw welding. But I do have an excuse, er um - a reason - okay "I have a good story about why the welds are so bad that involves my own ineptitude and a series of unfortunate decisions."
Maybe later, if I can make the bowl somewhat attractive, I will tell the story of my own idiocy.