Painted Wood Slices

A couple of weeks ago I woke up to snow falling (in April) and my son yelling “There are firefighters outside our house!” That’s one way to get me out of bed pretty fast. The snow was so heavy that a 16 foot branch fell off my neighbor’s tree. Once the sun came out and we assessed the damage, I turned my attention to that branch. As a lover of recycled art I envisioned some pretty cool art projects. And that’s what brought me to knocking on my neighbor’s door and asking for the branch. “You want it for art projects right?” Ha! I guess my neighbors are used to our shenanigans. So there I was with a hand saw and a 200 pound branch. Hard work, but totally worth the time for the results. I have so much awesome wood for our Homegrown Friends Classes in West Hartford, CT. In the meantime, check out these awesome Painted Wood Slices we made today!

WHAT YOU NEED FOR THE PAINTED WOOD SLICES

wood slices – if you aren’t lucky enough to find a large brand I found some you can purchase here or jumbo ones here
paint- I like these acrylic paints
paint brushes
paint palettes

HOW TO MAKE THE PAINTED WOOD SLICES

If you are lucky enough to find a huge log or branch take the time to saw slices. Mine are about 2 inches thick. I was so excited to set this project up in our new fresh air art studio. I put the wood slices on the table with a variety of paint colors. Oh, look at the light shining in. What an inviting space!

This project is all about the process. Give children the space and time to explore the paint and the wood pieces. One thing to note is that the wood soaks up more paint than paper does so you will probably have to refill the paints from time to time.

As we painted we were able to focus on how the paint looked on the different textures of the wood . The flat surface was smoother and the paint went on more like it would on paper, while the sides were bumpy and created interesting textures with the paint from the bark.