What’s New in the Studio?

One of a kind earrings!  That is what’s new in the studio.  I started working on casting resin earrings with my unique abstract expressive paintings and Gelli print papers back in December.  The paintings are often a result of  play and experimentation with paint and mark makings.  When I'm experimenting, some of the mediums, I use are acrylic paint, acrylic ink, and Stabilo Woody Pencils or some other dry medium.  Sometimes when these paintings are finished, the paper can look like quite a mess.  Next, each pair of earrings is hand cut, usually with an Xacto knife.  When the earring shapes are cut out, they look like miniature works of art.  No two pairs of earrings are ever alike. 

Having never used resin before, I found it to be somewhat of a mystery.  After multiple attempts with some successes and some failures, here’s ten important things I’ve learned:

1. Resin has a shelf life.  (Note to self- don’t buy resin on clearance unless you plan on using it all right away)
2. ​If your room temperature is cold, don’t do resin (70+ degrees or you will have way too many air bubbles)
3. After stirring the recommended 5 minutes, keep stirring if you still see a swirl.
4. Don’t guesstimate your measuring.
5. If your resin does not harden, your molds can be a huge mess to clean.  To make it easier to clean the sticky resin from your molds, place them into the freezer.  The resin will freeze making it possible to pop them out of your molds.   
6. Make sure to pour equal amounts into earring molds.
7. If using paper in your cast, make sure to paint all surface areas.
8. Don’t try to do too many molds at one time because of resin's limited working time. 
9. Poster tack putty works amazingly for cleaning up the molds.  
10. For heavier weighted watercolor paper, adhering painted paper to both the front and the back makes for difficult cutting and Xacto blade dulling (just saying).

For the most part, I learn something new almost every time I cast resin.  I think part of it will always remain a little mysterious to me.  With that being said, there are no plans to give up painting in order to become a jewelry artisan.  It has been, as I’m sure it will continue to be, a wonderfully creative alternative when I need a break from the canvas.