Craft Fair at Sun City

Every year for the past, oh, I don't know, several years at least, Sun City residents here in Lincoln have gathered in the Fall to view their friends' and neighbors' arts and crafts offerings at the Orchard Lodge. This year I am participating for the first time and will be offering my paintings on wood trays as a kind of hybrid fine art/crafty thing. I became interested in seeing how paint would look on raw pine wood when I was gifted some catering trays from the Nugget Market. I first covered the surface with acrylic gesso, leaving the outside frame untouched. Then, with one color, I sketched in my subjects, wiping out the lighter areas and adding thicker paint for the darker values. I felt that because of the rustic nature of the wood trays, a barnyard or cowboy theme would be appropriate. I first started with the Rooster you see below, which was originally one color. I then decided he seemed kind of plain, so I washed in some reds, blues and whites in a thin coating so as not to cover up the wood underneath. Other scenes I left in one hue, usually raw umber or transparent oxide red on the theory that it would give off an antique/vintage vibe. Kind of like it had been sitting outside for years. I then painted the outside and inside frames of the trays and finished with a couple of coats of varnish. These paintings might look cool in someone's Tahoe cabin or rustic beach house.