Linden trees or in many cases just larger Linden limbs are cut every year. They are allowed to dry naturally then specific Linden logs are selected usually for grain, lack of knots, straightness & other characteristics. These logs are then cut to manageable size & seasoned for 2 years. At this point some of these seasoned logs are selected by wood carvers for hand shaping by cutting & carving. Some logs get chosen by the lathers of the turning shop for shaping by turning on lathes & others are selected by the furniture makers. Today the turning shop still uses the same lathes from the time of Tsar Peter the Great.
Once the shaped pieces have been dried in the kilns, it is time for the original craft technology of painting wood gold without the usage of any gold itself to begin. Wooden pieces, usually kitchen tools & utensils but some are made into furniture as well, are first covered by a solution of brown clay putty. After these pieces are dried in the kiln rooms, 3 coats of linseed oil are applied and allowed to dry for 2 days in the kiln rooms. At this juncture tin powder used to be used to coat these pieces. Today an aluminum powder is used in place of the tin. The painting itself is drawn freehand with no tracings or sketches thus enabling these to be truly unique & individual works of art. Upon completion of the paintings the pieces are covered by a layer of linseed oil varnish or, now more often, a synthetic resin varnish & hardened at an extremely high temperature in the kilns.
Combinations of colors such as red, black & gold are traditionally characteristic of Khokhloma painting. The most commonly used style includes the "topping" (using a red & black painted design on a golden background.) Another popular style is "background" painting (gold silhouette painting on either a red or black background.)
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