Project: Yard Art

We have had this table top in our yard for a couple of years. I had no idea why it was there. Why had it been there for so long? I am sure there had been a plan when it was placed there, but it had long been forgotten. So yesterday was the day of reckoning. I decided that it needed to be put to use or move out. I thought about it for a couple of hours as I worked in the yard and then I set to work. The whole project probably took two hours, but I spread it out over the afternoon and evening, finishing after the girls were in bed.

1) You can see that the legs were removed and I had a stained table top. Somewhere along the line it had been an art table, after its first life as a dining room table in our Denver apartment. First I sanded the table top. 

2) Next I used pink and white acrylic paint and a wet paper towel to make a messy background.

3) I used a pencil to loosely place my design. I wanted it pretty imperfect and planned for some of the pencil to be visible even after I painted.

4) My design was oranges and lemons in an imperfect pattern, no two identical. I painted the fruits in a flat color (orange or yellow). Then I slap dash painted in some white highlights. Then I added green leaves, added some high and low lights. Then I outlines it all in black. Finally a quick coat of polyurethane to protect it from the elements and done. Now I just have to find a home for it.