Buddha Shrine

Have you ever thrown caution to the wind and jumped into something that you knew was ill advised, but looked like so much fun you just could not say no?  The id kicks into overdrive and common sense is a casualty on the side of the road! This is how the story unfolded when the nice man walked into Wall Decor and asked if we could frame his 14th century Buddha statue. There was no way that I could say no. (What did you think this story was about anyways, we are picture framers that’s what gets us revved up!) So we calculated a price that we hoped would get the job - which we did! Then we took a deep breath and dove right in. We went on line to study shrines that would look authentic with this beautiful piece , we amalgamated several styles, threw in some of our own parameters, spent a few early mornings redesigning , too excited to sleep, laid out all the tools that we own and got to work. First step is off to the hardware store to pick up two 5 foot planks of Bolivian mahogany, a bucket of stain and some random hardware. 20 hours later we have the base and pedestal built, the door is assembled with Plexiglas and a pivot post instead of hinges and we are having a blast.

The statue would sit in an alcove with a light above it so we went with UV blocking Plexiglas on the top, the door and the two sides. We used a 6mm. mirror on the back and on the pedestal that the statue sat on. It turns out that the Burmese architecture of the appropriate time period favored octagonal pillars so we built them.

 We added some brass hardware that we antiqued using ammonia, and sanded all the edges to give a slightly worn, aged effect. At this point in the project we have come to realize that we have grossly underestimated the hours involved and we are actually working for the love of the challenge and Karma credits. Our profit and loss spreadsheet is extremely disappointed with us but the experience was priceless, and the end result is one of a kind.

 This post by Scott