I wanted to try a new kind of medium for art. Painting with wood strips. I call it “lath art.”  Here is my first attempt:

I titled it Fence.

The work is 36″ by 24″. I painted individual strips of wood, each 1.5 inches wide, using acrylic paint. Then I glued them on an art board. This was tricky, too, since the strips tend to warp, and when I applied glue, they liked to slip around. The fence post is a vertical slanted strip, so I had to use a spindle sander to smooth the edges, and of course cut the grass strips at a slight angle. I bought a whole box of eight clamps and made vertical braces to hold the strips down while I waited for the glue to dry. The process of gluing took several days, waiting for a section to try before moving on to the next one. Then I used an engraver to cut into the wood for the flower stems and the barbed wires. Another new tool. Finally, I painted on top of the painted strips to give it the final look.

I am glad I tried this, but found it was a lot of work, more expensive than just a canvas painting for all the materials, and it’s heavy, due to the wooden frame and all the laths. But I am happy with the results. I am not sure I want to try this again. It was a beast to make.