More "Kissin" Cousins

Here's more pieces made from some of my Photo Polymer Plates.  Again, it's interesting how different the pieces made from the same plates can be.  

Variations on a Photo Polymer Plate

One of the reasons I like working with metal clay is that techniques from other media can be used.   From the art of print making, we get the photo polymer plate.  Photo polymer emulsion is used to create stencils on a silk screen and the plates are used to print letter press, blind embossing, intaglio printing and to create a dry offset plate.  In metal clay, we use the plate to create a "mold" for our clay.

The plate material is UV photosensitive and has to be kept in the dark until ready to be used.  A high contrast negative is printed on a clear transparency sheet and this sheet is placed on the plate, then exposed to UV light and finally washed with plain water.  The unexposed portions of the negative (the black areas) will wash out leaving a recessed area in the shape of the blackened areas.

Metal clay is rolled out onto the PPP plate. The recessed areas of the plate now project from the clay and the opposite areas are now recessed.  The finished plates have to be kept oiled and in a dark area.  The polymer plates can become brittle over time and can break.  Some of the plates come mounted on a metal plate and these don't seem to bend like unmounted plates do.

The PPP plates are a perfect mold for creating the inlay designs with copper and bronze clay so I pulled out my collection of plates and gave a few of them a try.  The photos here show some of the variety of finishes and clays I've used with a PPP plate.

Here is the exposed PPP plate.  This design was based on a necklace I fashioned after an Ojibway Indian Design.  The original necklace was loosely based on the design and this earring design was taken even farther. 

The first earrings made with the plate were silver.  I actually made two pair and colored both pair with enamel.  (Sorry but the picture isn't the best.)

I used silver again when I used the plate for the third time.  This time I just polished them up and added a patina. 

Yesterday, I tried using the copper and bronze inlay technique with the plate.

It's interesting how different a look each pair gets just by using a different metal or a different coloring technique.  

 

I didn't know

Either I didn't know (or more likely I forgot.)

Lately it seems information has been popping up about things that we can't do in metal clay. Funny thing is...... I've been doing them and they've been working for me. (At least they did before I knew I couldn't do them!)

The list:

1. The transparencies to make Photopolymer plates must be made on either a laser printer or a printer that uses toner. An ink jet printer can't make dark enough transparencies.

First of all, I am not running out to Staples to have my transparencies made every time I need one. (Got too many other things to do and I don't think Staples is open at midnight.) And secondly, my ink jet transparencies have worked fine on my photopolymer plates. Only once did I have a problem and that was resolved by doubling up my transparencies. When I print out my transparencies I make sure to choose the transparency as my paper medium. I print it as a high quality photo and also as a grayscale print. Just be careful not to scratch the transparency after it is printed.

2. Lavender oil paste is only for pasting together two fired pieces of clay. Use plain metal clay paste to join unfired pieces.

This was a new one to me. I just figured that if it was good for joining fired pieces, it was just as good for joining unfired pieces. I've been using it all along with no problems. I was also told that the lavender oil paste adds strength when used to coat leaves. (Only did the leaf thing once with regular paste. It's a boring process and the leaves were rather flimsy. Might try it again with the lavender paste though.)

3. Metal clay rings should not be worn every day.

Thin, delicate rings shouldn't be worn everyday. But solid, good sized rings can be worn everyday. I wear five rings every single day. Now I don't wear them when I lift weights or when I golf but other than that I feel naked without them. I've had sterling silver and gold rings that broke through, so the metal clay isn't any different.

4. This one I just read about today. Metal clay rings can not be stretched, so be sure the size fits.

Now in my Level I Certification class, we were shown how to round out a ring that had misshapen during firing and how to stretch it if it shrank too much. (I didn't forget this one or dream it up.) I've stretched out many a ring (before using the pellet inserts for firing.... and even a few after using the inserts.) I know I've stretched them one whole size and maybe (not sure about the memory here) even a little more than that.

Oh well, I'll just go on my merry way doing things that aren't supposed to work. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. (Sorry I can't attribute it to creative exploration even though it sounds better.)

Enameled runner

    In an earlier post, I shared a pair of earrings that I made for the local cross country coach.  The coach's own drawing was used for them.  A few weeks later, her husband asked if I could make her a necklace to match and maybe add some color.  I hadn't done any enameling since my class in June, so I decided to give it a try with the limited colors I had available.  

   As usual I ended up making two pendants.  (Isn't this always what I do with commissions?)  It wasn't so much that I felt the need to make two.  This time I lost the first piece and rather than drive myself nuts trying to find it, I made a new one.  (And of course I found the first piece; once I had made the second one.)  Both pieces were different.  The first piece was the same size as the earrings and had one bail.   I remade the PPP for the second necklace.  This time I was able to make the runner in a full sprint by making the piece wider.  The second necklace also has two bails instead of just one.  

   Adding the enamel was tricky.  The areas to be enameled were pretty tiny (and you know what I said about my eyes!)  Adrienne Grafton down the hall (who studied with Linda Darty) loaned me a brush she said was fabulous for getting into small places.  She ordered it through Thompson's enamels.  When it was loaded up with the wet enamel, one would have thought it was going to deposit big globs of enamel..... but it didn't.  It worked great.  (Got to get me one of these brushes!)

   When the pendant was finished, there was something I didn't like about it.  Finally figured out that it was the smooth texture in both the sky and ground.   So, I tried out my new salon shaper. used one of the grinding tips and roughed up the sky.  Once I added some texture, the figure popped out.  It was just what was needed.  

   This is a very weighty piece with almost $30 of clay in it.  The back has a pattern which makes it reversible too and I strung it on 2mm brown leather cording.

   Again, I have to apologize for the quality of the photo.   It was taken quickly, as her husband was coming shortly to pick it up.  The photo once again does not do the jewelry justice.  

   Many years ago, when I was in high school, I did copper enameling and loved it.  In fact I still have a couple of pins I made way back then.  Enameling on metal clay is just as much fun.  I've got several books on the subject.  But, I still feel that an enameling class is the way to go.