Organ Painting

Having now passed the Spring Equinox and we have more hours of daylight, I have once again returned to painting the decoration on the fronts of the organ. I say fronts, because I have built two which are inter-changeable.

The first plan was to build a traditional carved front, similar to the design on the "Lees Yachts" Organ, but without the large framed surround shown in the picture.

I made a half size drawing to get the 'balance' right between the carvings and the size of the organ. I then set about transfering the drawings to the wood for carving. Well, the carving was a much bigger job than I had anticipated...it took months of work. When all was finished I had to get the wood smooth ready for painting.

Well, this sanding, sealing, went on and on, but the wood grain still showed through. I then started using Artists Gesso and this did the trick. However this was also taking a long time and once again I was behind schedule.

I then decided to put this project on the "back-burner" and make a simple front for the organ using mouldings bought from Homebase!

Don't laugh....it actually looks very good. 

So another nice spring day, another day for a bit of scroll painting.