I’m a painter. For the past several years I’ve been making and painting fish. Some of those have been benches or small tables and some of them hang on the wall. Most of the fish are made from reclaimed wood. Southern yellow pine from Virgina, hemlock from northern Michigan, wood beams from industrial spaces, floor joists from homes being remodeled and sometimes stair treads from fifty years ago. Old wood is much simpler to work with as the growth rings are closer and more uniform and moisture is never really a problem.
Fish that hang on the wall range from 12 inches up to about 6 feet. They are glued up to make the dimensions better, ground and sanded, coated with gesso, acrylic paint, ink and polyurethane.
If you plan on leaving your bench or hanging fish outside be aware that time, temperature, sun, etc will change the surface and the color. All paint will fade, it’s just a matter of time.
One of the first of the hanging fish has been outside for the last five years at our home in northern Michigan. This fall it came down and got a good cleaning then a sanding into the old polyurethane and then another couple of coats of new polyurethane. Good as new.
Current fish and benches.
The first of the large hanging fish. This fish is about seven years old. It’s been hanging outside for at least the last five years. This is after sanding with light sandpaper, steel wool and then three new coats of polyurethane.