hot in peking

this plank of wood (sitting on the tray, above)  is to become the core of a very cool pot rack, fitted with hammered iron hooks, and hanging from chunky-thick rope. 

my lovely client asked that it be finished to look like her vintage red lacquer tray.   in attempting to match the hue, mrs. jones became way too focused on asian-asian-asian, tinting various shades of pagoda red and chinois cinnabar, not seeing until after several tries that the correct crimson – right out of the jar – was benjamin moore’s caliente, af.290.  (which even presented itself in a handy sample size…just the right amount.)   so there you have it…a perfect beijing red, via brazil.  two glazes, tinted with raw umber and black, are streaked on to add some depth and age.

 julia has promised photos of the finished product, which i will of course post, post-haste.