I filled in the rest of the siding. Ran out of quarter-inch stock before reaching the roof trim, so I cut down some wider boards. The top row on the railing curve split along the uneven grain when I was trimming it to height :(
Hoping the railing top and stain will hide the gap.
Here is the siding stained, with the half-inch wide top railing glued on. I used two lengths of strip wood for the straight parts, then etched the shape of the curve on paper (like gravestone rubbings) and cut it from 1/16-inch stock. It overhangs the railing a bit on either side.
Railing top joints and edges sanded smooth, and stained. You can also see the paper templates drawn in Illustrator taped to the slider window to guide placement of the cross bars. I’m slacking on painting trim once again.
But, the rocks have been calling to me.
I’m using acrylic paint, matte gel medium and water for a second glaze of medium warms and one cool tone. I got into all the dry crack crevasses with color, so the “granite” veins will (hopefully) look organic.
Switching to water color, I painted the undersides of these laser-cut fern leaves. I think these will be for indoor plants, to help the air quality in the wood-fired warming hut interior. In the language of flowers, ferns bring magic, fascination, shelter and confidence. We could all enjoy more than a bit of those qualities.