Stained Art on Wood - Dark Side of the Moon #SPiTChallenge #WallCandy

Susi Schuele
by Susi Schuele
I'm a wood stain artist. My art is all on various pieces of wood - birch, oak, pine, aspen, whatever I can find that has an awesome grain. And there is only one thing I will use to create my art on wood - Unicorn SPiT (www.unicornspit.com).
"Dark Side of the Moon"
Here's the piece of oak I picked up for this art on wood piece.
Outstanding grain makes the piece
After sanding this just a little with a 220 grit, I sometimes prepare the wood by spraying water on it. Sometimes, I just go with the wood and no water depending on how deep I want the color to be. Water tends to dilute it a bit and I prefer vibrant colors. But the water will also help it spread and blend.
Gorgeous, right?
I work in my "sunroom-a-studio" in my home. The wood doesn't usually end up on the easel until I am nearing completion and want a better view for details but I'm showing the full effect of the grain here.
I use the lighter colors first on the bare wood to bring out their vibrancy. This is a closeup of one of my favorite colors, Dragon's Belly. I use only my hands to spread the stain on the wood. I will many times let one layer dry and then add to it. This gives the piece dimension. I always try to follow the grain.
Look at the way the grain picks up the color
I am a big fan of music of most all kinds. It's usually playing pretty loud when I'm creating. From Adele to Aerosmith to Michael Feinstein to Pink Floyd... love it all (OK maybe not rap and super heavy metal). This piece is called "Dark Side of the Moon" after the song. My newer pieces are all named for songs either because I think the name fits or because it happened to be playing at the time and it rocked the art!
The finished piece.
After the sealing with an oil based polyurethane, the colors can darken a bit. And it's always hard to get a really good picture when there is a high gloss finish and lots of depth. But this piece came out beautifully! My husband is a wizard at making the custom floating black frames that surround most of my pieces and it really sets the art and the colors off.


I have many other pieces that I've done. This is my complete passion! You can see them all at http://www.secondtouchart.com but here are a few favorites:
"Imagine"
"Emerald Isle"
"Michelle's Desert"
"Spirit in the Sky"
And if this isn't I'm not sure what is! Hope you love it like I do!
Susi Schuele
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  • Mitzi Mitzi on Feb 23, 2019

    Would this work on paneling? I’d love to do a San accent wall like this! It’s FAB!

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  • Susan Susan on Feb 23, 2019

    Spirit in the Sky grabbed me immediately. However, I don’t see sky, I see tsunami...

    • Susi Schuele Susi Schuele on Feb 23, 2019

      It is titled “Spirit In The Sky”. It sold about 5 years ago 😊

  • Susan Susan on Feb 24, 2019

    It’s absoluty beautiful anyways.... I wish I had talent like you.....

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