"The Coast" Wall Hanging

Some time ago, I built a coffee table for my Mom. The top of that table had a three dimensional coast scene that is built up in layers. My wife loved that top. The problem is, having multiple sons, coffee tables at my house usually wind up either destroyed, or the instrument with which one of them gets hurt. So we do not keep a coffee table in our living room. Instead, I decided to make my wife a wall hanging using the pattern for the coffee table top.

If you'd like to see the coffee table, you can see it here. If you'd like to order the pattern I used for the coffee table, and this project, you can order it here.

To make the scene, it is built up in five layers. The first layer is the backer board. I just used Minwax water based stain that is tinted blue on a three quarter inch thick piece of cottonwood that measures twenty inches tall and forty inches long.

The second layer consist of oak for the rocky cliffs, pine for the sun and the sun's reflection off the water, sycamore for the other water waves, box elder for the clouds, and cottonwood stained pearl grey for the lighthouse.

The third layer is cottonwood for the birds, cottonwood stained green tea for the tree, cottonwood stained china red for the sailboat, and oak for the rest of the cliffs.

The fourth layer is sapelle for the posts, and cottonwood for the bird's bodies.

The fifth layer is the ropes around the posts, which is made of cottonwood.

This photo shows the frame. I was going for a shadowbox look. So I used two inch wide finger jointed oak. That is overlaid with one inch thick mahogany.

The portrait part of the project is finished with a single application of Minwax Gloss polyurethane. Then the frame got two coats of the same polyurethane and two coats of Johnson's Paste Wax.

The most nerve racking part of this project, for me, was getting the piece of plate glass that large home, and into the frame without disaster. I just do not have good luck with large sheets of glass. Luckily, I did not have issues with this one. Keep your fingers crossed though. I still have not hung it for my wife. So there's still a chance for disaster.