DIY Network

Outdoor Wall Art Bring art and nature together — beautifully. From "B. Original" episode DBOR-508

Outdoor walls need art, too.

Michele Beschen loves a good art project – especially one that can hang outdoors. She pulls together some unconventional materials to create outdoor wall art for fences, patio walls or even the garden.

There's no law that says art has to stay indoors. B. Original with garden wall art and let your creativity come outdoors to play. Scroll down for Michele Beschen's easy how-to.

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Outdoor Wall Art

Materials:

simple frames
fiberglass window screening
staple gun
white pencil or chalk
variety of string, yarn and thread
embroidery needle
landscape fabric
artist's oil paints or exterior house paints
polyurethane

Figure A

Outdoor Embroidery

• Select a frame for the piece: Use an old frame, purchase a new one or B. Original and build one from scratch.

• Lay the frame face-down and position a piece of fiberglass window screen over the back. Staple the screen to the frame, working from side to side and keeping the screen taut (figure A). Trim away excess screen.

• Use a white pencil or chalk to trace a design on the screen.

• Gather a variety of colored strings, yarns and heavy embroidery threads. Use an embroidery needle to weave the threads through the design (figure B). Don't worry if you've never embroidered – just weave the yarn or thread through the screen meshes.
  

  Figure B

  Figure C

  
  

• Keep threading different fibers through the screen until you're satisfied with the result (figure C).

• Protect the entire piece – including the stitching – with at least two coats of spray polyurethane.

Landscape Fabric Painting

• Lay a frame face down with a piece of landscape fabric on top. Make sure the cloth side of the fabric is also facing down. Landscape fabric is virtually indestructible and is available at home improvement, garden or discount stores.

• Pulling the fabric taut and working from side to side, staple the landscape fabric to the back of the frame. Trim away any excess.
  

  Figure D

• Protect the work surface with newspaper and/or plastic. Paint will drip through the porous landscape cloth.

• Prime the landscape fabric or leave it black.

• Use artist's oil paints or regular exterior house paints to paint a design right onto the fabric (figure D).
  

  Figure E

  Figure F

  
  

• Michele Beschen added dimension to her painting with a small wooden fence: She nailed a few small pieces of wood across the bottom of the frame, then tacked on a few vertical pieces (figure E). This fence also serves as a tiny trellis for climbing plants.

• Paint the fence and frame (figure F), and protect the whole piece with three coats of spray polyurethane.