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.  

 

Returning to my roots

When I was in high school (when dinosaurs walked the earth), I loved doing copper enameling. I have to say it was one of my favorite art projects. I still have a couple of pins I made and somewhere there is a bracelet.

Anyway, back then we used a piece of nylon hosiery stretched over the jar and held on by a rubber band, to sift the enamel onto the copper. It worked great! But, as usual I thought I had to have all the fancy tools and equipment available. (I'd have more money if I didn't think I had to have it all.) So, I bought a couple of sifters. It's not that they don't work well but they need to be cleaned between colors (and we all know how I like to clean.) Plus, they eventually come apart and they are more expensive than old pantyhose. (I do wash the pantyhose first; unlike my elementary students who use to bring them in dirty for a sculpture project. Gross!)

The two leaf pieces are wet packed enamel, not sifted.

Merry Christmas!

During my Open House, I offered one of my Pennsylvania Byways charm necklaces for a drawing. Well, we finally pulled a name and the winner is Heidi Stephens of Oil City, Pa. I almost forgot until my husband stopped by the studio today and wanted to know if I had drawn the name yet. So, he did.

Merry Christmas Heidi!

Darn!

My computer is down!!!!! I won't survive!!!!!! When did I become so dependent on a computer?????? Darn!!!!

Panic is setting in..... my computer isn't working, Open House is this Saturday (I need more inventory), I can't post pictures of the latest enameled pieces (until the computer gets fixed...... I hope it can be fixed) and I need to get some copper pieces done. I advertised "the new copper clay" for my Open House and only have one pair of copper earrings.

Let's see.....three days until Saturday. How many hours is that? Is it possible to do all there needs to be done in 72 hours? Do I need sleep? Should I cancel my hair appointment? (No, too much gray is showing.) Will the copper firing go as desired (I do have a couple ready to fire.) What am I going to serve as snacks on Saturday? Will all my mailings pay off? Will people show up?

Why do we do this to ourselves before an event? Don't know and never will. Next year it will be the same. It was last year.

Am I rambling? Yes. Sorry! I'll try to keep posting some thoughts and hopefully some pictures soon. (But first I've got to figure out how to do it on my son's computer.)

Why did my computer have to go down at this time of year? Darn!

Texture party

There are a lot of really nice texture plates available to use with polymer and metal clay. I know I have my favorites and so do my students. Using the same plates over and over again though gets boring.

When I went to Arrowmont in April, we were supposed to have a texture swap. For some reason, I thought we were supposed to make our textures. (Many brought ready made or natural textures to share.) Since I procrastinated (NO!) and didn't have mine made ahead of time, I quickly grabbed some objects and a big block of white polymer clay as I headed out the door. So, in the hotel room on the way down, I was trying to figure out what I was going to do. My friend Laurie, graciously donated the bottom of her shoe which had a very interesting pattern on it. One of the objects I brought was a very heavy, very large chain (and I use to wear that around my neck?) I started pushing it into the flattened polymer clay in a repetitious pattern. That was fun! Next I grabbed a paper clip and started playing with it. Got two texture plates from that one. The last texture was made with a fine toothed comb. I could have gone on and on because it was so much fun. (Guess it doesn't take much to amuse me.)

Since the polymer had to be baked, I carefully stacked and packed my textures until I got to the condo and was able to bake them. Making the textures is one thing but being able to imagine what they are going to look like is another. (This can be solved by using polymer clay to test them out.)

Arrowmont was in Aril. I never got around to trying out my textures until this past August. Even then I've only tried out three of them but I really like the way they turned out.

The one texture and the enameling I did in some of the spaces remind me of something I did in Junior High. (How long ago was that?) The weird thing is that I still have it. (Can you say pack rat?)

Anyway, making your own textures is fun and the cure for texture boredom. How about a texture party?