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.  

 

Follow directions

My husband refuses to read directions (until after he's done something wrong!)  I do read directions and try to follow them (when I remember what I've read.  That's getting harder to do the older I get.)  

As mentioned in the previous posts, I've been working with Hadar Jacobson's powdered copper and bronze clays.  Hadar has four books out and the most recent book has directions for doing inlay with copper and bronze.  (Hadar is a smart cookie.  It's necessary to have all of her books.  She mentions a technique and instead of repeating herself, tells you where to find it in a previous book.  Smart!)

Anyway, the inlay technique (and there are several ways for creating a base for the inlay..... will talk about that later) requires a base which has a deeply impressed design in it.  Then contrasting clay is rolled out and worked into the recesses.  In the process, the entire piece gets covered with the contrasting clay which has to be sanded down until both colors of clay can be seen.  Hadar says to do this with the top, face down on the sandpaper.  As soon as you can see the two colors coming through, she says to turn the piece over and work from the top.  That way you can see your design and this will keep you from losing parts of your design.  It's true........ take the extra time it takes to sand from the top. 

Look closely at my fish and you'll see what I'm talking about.  I've learned my lesson.  No more shortcuts!  This piece will be added to my visuals of what not to do.  (Got one of those for torch firing too.  Everyone has to see what it looks like when you melt silver.)

Copper and Bronze clay

     As was mentioned in my previous post, I've revisited working with copper and bronze clay.... via Hadar Jacobson's powdered clays.

     A little over a week ago several of my friends and I had a play day to try out the clay. Ginnie Weltner, who is a frequent student and friend and my college roommate, Cindi Armstrong  (who visits every Labor Day weekend and is a once a year student) helped me test out the powdered clays.

     We each mixed our own clay and tried Hadar's "inlay" technique which is one of the first projects in her most recent book, Pattens of Color in Metal Clay; Canes, Gradients and Mokume-Gane.   My friend Carol Scheftic has a photo of two of her pieces in Hadar's book.  One of them is the inlay project.  The book is worth checking out.

     The inlay project is made by rolling the copper clay to the thickness of two popsicle sticks, impressing a deep texture or object into the clay, filling the depression with the bronze clay and sanding the piece to expose both of the clays in a level surface.  (Now I know that my description is not very detailed and it's not meant to be.  For more detail, check out Hadar's book.)

     For the most part it's not working with the clay that stresses people out but the firing process, which I'll talk about in another post.   Luckily, both my test piece and the final pieces fired successfully at the recommended temperatures.  

     The only thing I noticed was that the bronze appeared to be more porous looking and had small cracks in it.  (It wasn't the same in all the pieces which could be attributed to us each mixing the bronze clay differently.)  I also know  I wasn't as careful mixing the bronze as I was the copper and felt that we all had it a little drier than it should have been.  (Another learning experience!)  We could repair the cracks and re-fire the pieces.  (Which we don't plan on doing as they were very small.)

     The final step was to apply Baldwin's Patina to the highly polished and cleaned pieces.  Baldwin's Patina is specially formulated to work on copper and bronze.  I found it worked best when the piece was warmed up in very warm water.  (Otherwise the clay just seemed to suck the patina right in.  It didn't do that in the video!  Hadar's blog offers a video on how to apply the patina.)   The patina highlights the contrast between the copper and the bronze.

     So far, the only thing I do not like about using the bronze and copper clays is that they are very dirty to work with.  Using liquid gloves does help keep the hands cleaner, but somehow the darn stuff manages to still get under the fingernails and the dark dust is everywhere.

     I have several other pieces ready to be fired before I decide for sure whether I like this clay or not.  They all use the drape method and will be much lighter in weight than the inlay pieces.  I'll keep you posted.