resin – Page 10 – Sherry Glaab

More waves

I was able to make a few more waves Tuesday, but managed to really slice one of my fingers while grinding the glass, so I didn’t get as much done as I had planned. Today my finger is feeling better and I was able to make some more waves (this time I was smart and covered my fingers with band aids before I ground the glass for the waves).

I was able to fill in quite a bit of detail on the sea / waves after all. My next step is to wait for the mosaic adhesive to dry, then I will be able to hold the entire window up to a light source to check for areas I want to augment. My light tray only covers about a third of the window at a time and I need to see “the big picture”.

Once I’ve seen the fully lit window, I’ll be able to plan the finishing steps, which will be pouring the resin coating and then decorating some areas of the resin with glass chips / frit. That’s the part I still need to plan. I’m also considering adding a layer of glass around the edges of the sun’s rays (adjacent to the frame), though I haven’t figured out exactly what yet.

Making Waves

I spent most of the day Monday working on gluing down the pieces I had already cut for the rays of the sun, and making waves to start layering the ocean below the sun. First I rough cut some waves, then used my grinder to shape and smooth the edges.

Ready to grind the glass pieces for the 2nd layer of waves

After I got the above pieces ready, I realized that I would need to glue the dichroic glass I had cut and laid out for the suns rays before I started working on the layering for the waves, so I set out to do that.

How the waves / rays looked when I started the day’s work

Using Mac mosaic adhesive and a small paint brush, I spread a thin layer of adhesive onto each piece and then position it where I want it. I already did this step for the main ball of the sun and the first layer of waves last week.

Using a light tray to help me see what I was doing, I worked one row at a time from the inner row to the outer edges. I decided to place the pieces a bit closer together than I previously had them laid out, so I had to rearrange some and also cut quite a few more squares.

Once I had all of the rays glued down, including the smaller filler pieces at the edges, I started gluing the second layer of waves in place.

I will need to make quite a few more waves, but I at least got a start on them today. Gluing the rays in place took most of the day. I really want the mosaic adhesive on the rays to have plenty of time to cure before I pour the resin, otherwise they will be cloudy.

How everything looked at the end of today (light tray powered off)

Snapshot with the flash on my camera (phone)

Hopefully I’ll have time on Tuesday to put some additional waves in place. I also need to plan how / if I will embellish the resin when I pour it. I think I would like to do something at least around the edges of the frame.

Sunset and water

I needed to cut some more dichroic squares to fill in the rest of the background on the sunset window, and I got some time this afternoon, so I worked on that.

Cutting squares of light blue / red metallic dichroic glass.

I filled in as I cut, leaving the smaller pieces I will need to cut to fill in the very edges for later. I have been having second thoughts about the overall look of this the past several days, so I haven’t glued anything in place yet. I also worked on the water / waves underneath the sun. So far I’m pretty pleased with the look of the waves. Now the challenge will be gluing the waves in place without jostling the rest of the pieces around too much.

Filling in the edges using a light table.

The colors of this glass when the light table is underneath the window are surprisingly bright. I love working with this dichro glass. I am hoping the look of the blue squares I added on the edges today will have the effect I’m going for, as the reflecting color of the dichroic coating is metallic red on these pieces as opposed to silver / gold on the rest of the sunset’s rays.

Closeup of the area above the light table

I tried to get some photos with the light table off and a bit more reflective light, but it’s pretty challenging to do with my phone in this lighting. Later on I’ll get my husband to help with the photos, as he’s got better equipment and a lot more experience taking photos.

I still need to glue down these pieces, then start cutting smaller pieces to fill in the gaps, especially around the edges and between the waves. I might try using some decorative flakes in the resin when I pour it, but I’m several days away from getting to that point right now. At least my confidence is up quite a bit now that I have most of the window filled in. I was procrastinating because I was afraid it would look too simplistic, but the progress I made today has made me more satisfied with the overall look. I will probably layer the waves to give them more texture, so they will have more depth (no pun intended).

Appreciating the Sunset

My Rainbow Row panels are waiting for warmer weather to get their resin coating, so in the mean time I revisited my dichroic sunset window project. I’d been stumped on what glass to use for the main sun in the center of the window, but today I made a commitment (well, at least cut out the shape even if I haven’t yet glued it in place). It was also time to sort the dichroic pieces I cut for the background by color. The sheets of dichro glass I am using are gradients of colors varying from yellow – pink – purple – blue. The pieces look like they are the same color when the light is reflecting off of the surface, so I have to use a light tray underneath to sort them out.

Once the background pieces were sorted, I laid them out in concentric rings around the sun. I still haven’t decided on how I am going to make the water beneath the sun. I started making wave shapes, but I’m starting to think I would like to use triangles, so I am putting that off for now.

Sun with rays laid out, reflective light.

I laid the concentric background pieces for the rays of the sunset out in general in yellow – pink – purple – blue order with some variation for interest. In the next three photos, I’m moving the light tray from left to right underneath the window.

I will need to fill in the top rows with some pieces cut to fit the window later on. For now I’m just getting a feel for whether this is the look I wanted. My next decision is what color dichro or otherwise glass to use to fill out the edges. I have a neat piece of dichro that is very light blue when on the light table, but has a deep red metallic tint on the reflective view.

I used some resin spray on this sheet of dichroic as the coating is unstable and could flake off when I’m cutting it. Now my work area smells like resin spray, so I called it a night. I will revisit cutting the background sheet into squares once the resin spray dries and the fumes dissipate.

I’m also still not sure I like the center of the sun being a different type of glass (non-dichroic). I want to look at it for awhile before I glue it in place.

I like the Palmettos

Today I tried adding windows and doors to a couple of the houses on these Rainbow Row pieces. I just wasn’t feeling the love for them. I’m not good with painting / drawing at all and they didn’t look the way I had hoped, so I removed them and decided to focus on the Palmetto trees today. Maybe I can add enough visual interest with plants. I glued the trees and greenery in place, but I haven’t glued the red glass flowers in the shrubs yet. Still thinking about that.

Both Rainbow Row panels with the trees glued in place.

I tried adding some flowering shrubs for visual interest.

Maybe if I make them a bit smaller next time I will like the look a little better. I still feel like these need more decoration. I have considered making windows and doors out of glass, but they would really stick out. I decided to try that and see how it looks.

In the mean time, the little trees inspired me to try designing some smaller pieces (larger than ornaments, but about a third of the size of the above pieces) with the Palmetto and Crescent for the South Carolina flag. I often have people ask about pieces with the SC flag (I’ve made large window mosaics as well as stepping stones with it in the past).

I’ll need backer glass that’s about twice this size. I’ll also likely use white and blue glass for the Palmetto and the Crescent, but this is just for brainstorming.

Adding details

Yesterday I was able to spend a little time adding some trees to the Rainbow Row panels. I haven’t glued any of the trees down yet, but I did glue the houses in place. I still want to add some doors and windows to the houses before I glue the trees in place. I think the trees will really add a lot to the panels!

Rainbow Row

Today I started a project I’ve been thinking about doing for awhile. I started with a photograph of Rainbow Row, which is a notable row of colorful homes in downtown Charleston, SC. Yesterday I cut out the clear backer glass for these panels, so today I started planning the houses themselves. I cut rectangles out of construction paper to help me determine the sizes of the glass I would need in each color.

Yesterday I set aside some glass that I thought would work well for the various colors of the houses. I don’t seem to have quite enough room to fit all of them on my rectangle bases, so I left the last two houses off for now.

Glass rectangles / roofs laid out on the clear backer glass.

Now I have to think about how much detail to add to the fronts of the houses. I’m not sure if I will paint the windows / doors / roofs or if I will leave them as is. I do plan on adding some trees, however. I’m not very good at painting, so that also factors into my decision. I might try it on the smaller panel and see how it goes.

3D Tree candle holders – reveal

I finished all three tree candle holders today – here are snapshots of the finished products. Overall, I like the tree that’s standalone (not on a rectangular base) the best. I had a hard time keeping the resin tidy looking on the rectangular glass pieces with multiple stages of pouring.

3D trees – final step

Today I was able to complete what I think is the last step in the 3D tree experiment. For the standalone tree, that was to add and decorate a base. For the two rectangular trees, it was to decorate the unfinished half. I also was able to pop the memory beads and kitty shaped mementos I made with our cat Neo’s ashes out of their molds.

The rectangular trees had quite a bit of drips on the unfinished edge, despite my efforts to prevent them. I was able to remove them with a razor blade.

Once I cleaned up the edges a bit, I laid them out on the work surface, ready to coat with a thin covering of resin.

Once the resin was in place, I sprinkled the glass chips / chunks onto it.

Next I turned my attention to the standalone tree, which needed a base of resin poured and decorated.

Resin poured and glass chunk “snow” in place inside the mold

Tomorrow we’ll see how they look! I think if I do more of these I will use colored glass for the backer that matches the tree glass instead of the clear, at least behind the tree itself. It’s hard to cover all of the possible gaps between the branches otherwise. So far I like the look of the standalone tree best, but it also has sharper edges.

Crossing fingers – 3D pour

I spent the past few days mulling over how best to pour the resin on these projects, and came to the conclusion that it would have to be in stages. Today is the first stage, which is an experiment. My plan is to coat the trees with a thin coat of resin and possibly decorate one side of each of the rectangular trees. The second stage will be (for the rectangular trees) to pour another coat on just the undecorated side and decorate. The second stage for the stand alone tree will be to pour and decorate the base that will serve as the candle stand as well as provide stability.

Projects are laid out on a silicone baking mat.

It’s cold out today and my work area is only 60 degrees F. My resin likes it to be a minimum of 70 degrees, so I used my heat gun to warm each part of the 2 part resin prior to mixing it.

I ended up elevating this one higher off the mat on top of a couple of silicone measuring containers to help me manage the drips on the edges.

After the initial coat of resin, I repositioned these two in order to decorate one side.

I continued trying to touch up bare spots and wipe off drips with my sponge on a stick. I repositioned these two and sprinkled the glass chips / chunks I am using to decorate the background and base of the tree. Above you can see the glass chips in place on the left hand piece.

Finished with one side for each rectangular tree.

I had enough resin left over to make some memory beads for our beloved cat, Neo, who passed away in November. I’m also trying some cat shaped mementos with his ashes.

In addition to scraping the drips, I periodically blew all of the above pieces with my heat gun to remove bubbles and also to warm the resin, as my working area is only 60 degrees F today!