Epoxy River Wall Art

Lava River Wall Art

A live edge slab of black walnut is used as the base for this unique piece of wall art! The chocolate brown heartwood is streaked with dark brown swirls of grain that flow into the pale yellow sapwood. The red-orange lava river in the middle section sparkles with metallic resin and contrasts beautifully against the hardwood. Clearly, this river was hand poured by the artist as is evident by the unique patterns within the resin, making this piece a one-of-a-kind. The wood is finished with a glossy coat of polyurethane to protect against scratches and comes complete with a heavy duty hanging system on the back.

Ianthus Speaks:

I acquired this slab of black walnut from a large tree trunk in northern Utah. The tree had died some eight years earlier and the owner just didn’t have the heart to throw away the gorgeous hardwood. I was gifted the wood because the owner knew I would turn it into something unique and restore the natural beauty of the black walnut.

In some ways, this was an experimental piece. I was testing out different brands of epoxy resin while mastering different techniques for pouring. I started by mixing the color pigment into the epoxy and then I used a slim wooden dowel to create the silky, flowing, dimensional texture.

Timing was crucial here because if the epoxy had not been in the right stage of the curing process, the design would have melted back into a bland swirl of flat color.

A pour like this takes about 24 hours of constant monitoring. The temperature of the room and the epoxy must be controlled every step of the way so everything cures properly. Eventually, this piece will evolve into a wall clock and a gift for my uncle. I’m still looking for the perfect, most elegant clock face that will accent the piece even more.

Since the combination of wood and epoxy tend to be heavier than most types of wall art, I installed a heavy-duty mounting system – a braided steel cable mounted to the wood with hardened steel grabber screws.