Epoxy cracks

 I tested how much bend I have with the SP 115 epoxy and it turns out if bent too sharp the epoxy cracks. I need to be careful of this when bending the leaves for my platinum piece.

Bowes, K.,(2021). Epoxy cracks.

Bowes, K.,(2021). Epoxy cracks 2.

SP 115 -Epoxy

 SP 115 is the epoxy I settled on for my platinum piece as it is the clearest epoxy we found. AMT didn't have a data sheet but it did have some information in the description of the product.

Anon, (n.d.). AMT description.

Bowes, K.,(2021).Sp 115- epoxy bottles.

Bowes, K.,(2021). Clar and expired SP 115.

AMPREG 30- Epoxy

 AMPREG 30 is the second epoxy I tried and the first epoxy I tried the white leaves in. The epoxy cured yellow and the white leaves disappeared. The epoxy was also very brittle and snapped easily.

Anon. (n.d.). AMT data sheet.

Bowes, K., (2021). AMPREG- epoxy bottles

Bowes, K., (2021). AMPREG- example

EPOLAM 2022- Epoxy

 EPOLAM 2022 is the epoxy I used for my prototypes.  It was flexible but not completely clear.

AMT has a data sheet for each epoxy which I probably should have checked before going through three different epoxies. The data sheet gives colour, specific gravity and other information that is useful.

Anon, (n.d.). AMT data sheet

Bowes, K.,(2021). EPOLAM 2022- Epoxy bottles.

Bowes, K.,(2021). EPOLAN 2022 example.

Improvements

To ensure the epoxy spreads evenly I cut a from from 1mm thick perspex., as seen in image 1 below.

I thought the snapping was caused by not waxing the perspex enough the first time and that as well as the unevenness. My second attempt I used more wax (release agent) which helped but some areas still cracked slightly.

Image 1- Bowes, K., (2021). Epoxy frame. 

Rose, N., (2021). 1mm thick epoxy. 

 

Broken edges

Due to the epoxy spreading on its own under the perspex the edges were thin. So some of the edges snapped while trying to separate the epoxy from the perspex.

 

Bowes, K., (2021). Broken edges. 

Shaping the epoxy

Dipping the epoxy in kettle water makes it go from brittle to jelly like. When it is soft it can be easily shaped and once it is quenched in cold water it keeps its shape. 

Bowes, K., (2021). Epoxy leaf. 

Strengthening the box

 The paper box needed strength so that it does not get squashed during transit. I had a few ideas on how to strengthen the box by making it from cardboard, inlaying the inside with card or metal. 

I decided to work with styrofoam to add protection to the piece and to give the box structure from the inside. I cut a slot for my piece to fit on its side instead of face-up as I found it easier to remove out of the styrofoam. I also cut finger spaces just to add some room to grip the piece when removing it.

The box kept its shape with the styrofoam, but it didn't want to stay closed, so I used a magnet to hold the box closed. I didn't want a magnet that would be too strong that might tear the paper and then my dad gave me a great idea to use a magnetic bookmark as they have the perfect strength to hold the paper. I had an old bookmark that had torn in two, so I used it. I attached one half in the flap of the lid and the other on the styrofoam inside the box and it seemed to hold pretty well, the dark edge on the edge of the box which can just be seen in the image below is actually the magnet.

Bowes, K., (2020). Paper box with styrofoam centre. 

 

Melted texture

I face the challenge of trying not to pierce the pattern in platinum as this can lead to losing metal easily. It was suggested that I try to drill and melt the pattern holes into the metal. The risk with this is the way copper, silver and platinum melt are all different so it will be difficult to predict the outcome in platinum.

I attempted this technique in copper but the copper pulls to one side creating blobs. I would have been ok with the idea if the copper pulled evenly around the edges.

Bowes, K., (2020). Copper 

I then experimented in silver as copper, silver and platinum will all react differently. The silver melted without leaving blobs and the surrounding metal creates a reticulated texture. 

Bowes, K., (2020). Silver melted texture

I am definitely considering using this as it will create texture on the platinum, I just hope platinum has the same or similar reaction as the silver, which will make the pattern less flat meaning there is no need for the cast succulent. I think this will also link closer to my tree reference that inspired the abstract pattern as the outer tree does not have a very textured bark and the inner tree has a very rough textured bark.

Quick cast

On my way to campus, I found a butterfly wing that I thought was interesting and a good addition to my display at my bench. The wing was torn so I thought about attaching it to wax to give it stability for when it is pinned up. Once I figured out how to attach the wing to the wax it dawned on me that it could possibly be cast, Figure 1. I sprayed the wing and wax with clear lacquer spray, as organic objects can be porous, then I invested and crossed my fingers that it would work. After casting I was so shocked to see how much detail was transferred to the metal, Figure 2. This was a random test that could possibly lead to future projects.

Figure 1-Bowes, K., (2020). butterfly wing on wax.

Figure 2 -Bowes, K., (2020). the cast wing.

Three-dimensional experiments

After seeing Michael Kukla's work and the gluten network that forms in Sourdough, as seen in figure 1. I knew I wanted to try to make my abstract pattern more three dimensional.

Figure 1- Gluten network in Sourdough
  https://www.reddit.com/r/Sourdough/comments/hi2dkc/my_pizza_dough_this_morning/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x

I wasn't sure how I was going to make it three dimensional but then I realized The gluten network almost looks like strands of glue so I thought I could try using my glue gun to get the same effect. I first tried using a lot of glue and pressing a piece of plastic into the glue and pull the plastic to create strings but the glue pulled in a sheet which just created a mess. 

My next option was to try to draw the pattern as if my glue gun were a 3D printer. My first attempt, figure 2, I drew with the glue on a plastic surface then peeled it off and drew random hatching lines on either side of the base to make it fuller and almost nest-like. My second attempt I placed my abstract pattern under the plastic so I could use it as a guide to creating my base which I then peeled off the plastic and added more glue/patterning to the front and back of the base(Fig.3).

Figure 2-First attempt

Figure 3- second attempt 

Enamel experiment

I decided to try using my abstract pattern page to create some enamelled domes. I first made a mistake of piercing out the pattern and then doming it which just distorted the shape and broke a section off, so I started again making sure to dome first. 

I love the contrast on the leaves of the Garden Croton plant I have growing at home so I decided to use that for my colour pallet for the enamel. The plant is not indigenous so I don't see them very often. The lady who owned the house before us put a lot of effort into her garden before we made many changes this was one of the few plants we left where she planted so there is colour in the garden.

I chose to use a deep green and red to imitate the contrast on the dark leaves and the colours are complementary. The green enamel appeared bluer on the lid test piece but when I fired it it came out green which is what I wanted.

My Garden Croton

Green and red enamel

I'm not sure if the green is a hard enamel but I do know that the red is a soft enamel. I tried layering the enamels both ways green on red and red on green (test pieces are at my bench I will insert a picture). The green sat on top of the red making it thick and look terrible but the red blended on top of the green making it smooth and speckled in some areas as if the two colours were applied at the same time. The leaves also have a speckled effect so I prefer the red on the green enamel.

The final domes after enamelling

Bubbles or cells

I wanted to find another way to make patterns similar to those in the photomicrograph but I didn't want the pattern to be geometric like the triangle doodles. Then I saw a photograph that Amy Pieterse took of some bubbles, Figure 1, and it resembled cells so I decided to play with some bubbles. I filled a plastic container with water and dishwashing liquid I added in some red ink, because that's all I had, so the lines between the bubbles are more defined as seen in Figure 2. I used a straw to blow air into the mixture to generate bubbles. I tried to put the bubbles onto paper but it just soaked into the paper and made a mess. The bubbles on the plastic spoon were very interesting as the bubble was basically invisible leaving only the lines where the bubbles touch on another. I wanted the lines to be a bit stronger so I added some black drawing ink, Figure 4, so the contrast between the bubbles and spoon will make it easier to see the "cells".

Figure 1- Pieterse, A.(2020). Bubbles
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-1L_23F0W0/

Figure 2- Bubbles on a plastic spoon

Figure 3- Red bubbles

Figure 4- bubbles with added black ink

Camera Exposure

Learning how to use my phone camera to over expose a white background to keep the background white.

Experimenting (descriptive writing)

I wanted to work with the positive and negative shapes of the leaf veins as I wanted to continue with my enamelling. I took a square piece of copper plate and rolled it so that it was about cardboard thin. I then put the copper onto my soldering block and used my soldering torch to melt small holes into the plate. It was interesting to see the copper melt and gather making blobs around the holes. The problem was that it is difficult to control how big the hole will turn out. The copper plate looked abstract once I was done melting holes so I decided to enamel it with jade green to hopefully make the holes look more like the bite marks from an insect on a leaf (Fig. 1). But after enamelling, it looked worse. The green square looked like it was a piece of mouldy cheese out of a cartoon. The square shape and the shiny finish from the enamel enhanced the look of it being artificial cheese. I couldn't get the cheese image out of my head so I scraped the idea.

Trying to salvage my idea of working with positive and negative shapes I took my leaf skeleton and photocopied it. I then increased the image of the leaf until the small fragile veins were visible. I drew over the photocopy so it was not so faded as I wanted to insert the image into Rhinocerous (our CAD program). I drew a section of the pattern on Rhino which I then printed and started piercing it out of copper which can be seen in figure 2. The pattern is so much cleaner and neater than my first method and once it is done I will decide if I am going to enamel on it or not.

Figure 2 - Rhino drawing and piercing 

Figure 1- Jade green enamel before firing