Planked wall art...

Hi Everyone!  I thought I'd share with you one of the custom orders I received and completed a few weeks ago.  My client sent me some pictures of what she wanted.  One of her inspiration pictures was the Pottery Barn planked art piece of the United States only she wanted the art to be of the State of Iowa (her home state).  And this is what I came up with....

Sorry, no in progress shots...I forgot to pick up the camera, but will on the next one, I've already received an order for another one.

I used lath as planks because they were the right size and full of character even after hours of sanding each piece.

I built a wooden frame and attached the lath boards after cutting them to size.

Then I stained it on this side and painted the back side of the boards.

Once it was dry I got out my trusty atlas and used it as my visual guide and hand painted the state of Iowa onto the four squares.  Then painted it with a base of white.  Once the paint was dry I took the sander to the entire piece to give it instant age.

I added a bit of antique medium to the white paint to age it a bit more.  Then when it was dry I added a coat of sealer.  I used the side of one of the out buildings for photos because I have no other place to hang such a large piece.  And in case you are wondering, only this side of it looks like this...the rest is painted white.  I keep letting this side chip away because it looks good in photos, but someday I will need to paint it.  Thanks for stopping.

Linking to:
http://www.myrepurposedlife.com/2014/08/catch-as-catch-can-175.html