Woodsy Stained Art on Old Hinged Barnwood

by M&M Embellishments

I was commissioned to do a piece that was totally out of my norm! And was fearing the outcome EVERY~STEP~OF~THE~WAY!
My customer has a camp in the mountainous area of Northwestern PA known as Benezette. This area is particularly known for its abundant Elk and admirers come from all over to enjoy the Elk roaming free for photo ops and just to enjoy their majestic beauty.
My customer, MissW, told me they have mules and ride the mules up to their camp. At first she wanted to have a piece with the mules and the Elk on one piece. But the more we discussed, I thought it might be better to have them on two separate pieces and she agreed.
I found this hinged barnwood door that I thought we could use one for the Elk and the other for the mules.

woodsy stained art on old hinged barnwood, crafts

The problem was that paint. We wanted to keep the integrity of the old wood, so I started sanding and finally got it down to this

At this point, I knew I had to have it more uniform. I would have loved to put a paint wash over it, but I knew that wasn't the look she was going for. So, I decided to put a grey stain over it and see where that got us.

I thought I might be able to work with this, but in the back of my mind I feared the stained art would not have enough depth. I decided to go ahead and give it a try and started the staining.

MissW also wanted a "background" of sorts with mountains and trees - again, TOTALLY out of my norm! I admit, I went to the internet and looked at Bob Ross' videos on making pine trees! LOL - hey, it helped!

At this point, I was quite fearful it was not going to be enough depth and contrast. I was ready to scrap it and do a paint wash over the wood and start over. So, I showed MissW and also got some feedback from my furniture flipping groups. The feedback I got from all was to step away from it and it was going to look great...

So, I waited a few days for the stain to penetrate so that I could go back in with more detailing/ layers to see just how much contrast I could get.

And it worked!! I think I was able to keep the integrity of the old wood and get the dimension I wanted. And most importantly, MissW is thrilled!!!

Next up, we are going to take the matching board and put a picture of her mules. Oh, and we also decided to add her donkey in the next one! She will then attach the rusty hinges back together and hang on the wall! Should be marvelous (at least that's what I am envisioning!!)

To see more of my work, please check out my website! You can also follow along with mmembellishments on http://Facebook.com/mmembellishments

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**YOU CAN SEE PART TWO OF THIS PROJECT HERE ON HOMETALK:**

http://www.hometalk.com/diy/decorate/walls/hinged-barnwood-with-rustic-stained-art-25745290

Thanks for looking!!

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2 questions

Viola Briggeman on Dec 12, 2016
So you did the drawing yourself? Great work!!

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Diane Ochoa on Dec 13, 2016
This is absolutely fantastic! What type of stain pens did you use? I have several projects that I would like to do similar to this. Thanks

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Tiena Nobles on Dec 13, 2016
Your piece looks really great!! I hope you will post the mule piece when you are done with it. Thanks for sharing your talent!!

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- M&M Embellishments on Dec 13, 2016
  I just got done with the mules... I will post that today! So keep an eye out! :)
  
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- M&M Embellishments on Dec 13, 2016
  Hi Tiena, You can see part two of this project here on Hometalk: http://www.hometalk.com/diy/decorate/walls/hinged-barnwood-with-rustic-stained-art-25745290...
  
  Hinged Barnwood With Rustic Stained Art
  
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Barbara Hill on Dec 13, 2016
Beautiful..

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- M&M Embellishments on Dec 13, 2016
  Thank you Barbara!
  
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