Tag: Frank Lloyd Wright

Multitasking

Yesterday the friends who will be the recipients of the big Frank Lloyd Wright window came over and we decided to do another layer of resin. I decided that I really needed to move it to the garage for the final layer so I could access all sides of the window, despite the space being more prone to dust / humidity. Luckily it is an unseasonably warm day and the temperature in the garage was 75, which is perfect for my resin (Envirotex Lite).

  • Making sure it is level
  • Layer 4 in the process of curing
Adding a final layer of resin.

This took a bit of planning as I had to mix up a lot more resin than usual and keep my family out of the garage (next to impossible today for some reason). However, after pouring, spreading and using my heat gun to clear the resin, everything looks good so far. Hopefully we can move it into the mud room later in the evening so the temperature remains a bit more consistent while it continues to cure overnight. In the meantime, I had a few smaller projects in the works I wanted to continue / start. Unfortunately this included repairs on a holly suncatcher I made yesterday. I had covered it with some wax paper to keep dust out while it cured and the paper made contact with the resin and made a giant mess. I had to carve some lumps off of the suncatcher today when it was cured enough, reinsert it into the mold and sort of “top it off” with another layer of resin. We’ll see how good it looks tomorrow (hopefully). I don’t think it will look as good as it would have had it not needed the repair, but I can likely keep it to use at home.

After chipping off the bumps and reinserting in the mold, prior to repair layer of resin
  • Coasters of the day
  • Suncatchers / Ornaments
Today’s small projects

So all in all, I poured a second layer on three beachy coasters, first layer on two more beachy coasters, repair layer on the holly suncatcher / ornament and the first layers on three snowman ornaments.

  • Cardinal / heart shaped
  • Round Snowman
  • Heart shaped snowman
Today’s completed suncatchers / ornaments

Birds and Holly

Shifting gears into holiday mode with some small projects now that the Frank Lloyd Wright Waterlilies 31″ x 48.25″ window is done (at least, I think I’m done with it). I’ve poured three layers of resin and each time there is some imperfection I’m tempted to address with another layer. There are still some imperfections; the third layer cleared up the worst, but contributed a few more. For example, I was trying to keep the texture of the flower petals visible, but the third layer covered a couple of the petals a bit more than I wanted it to. I can also see some edges of the third layer where it didn’t blend / flatten well. However, if I pour a fourth layer, I might mess something else up. Best to set it aside and get a second opinion.

Waterlilies – should I add a fourth layer of resin?

In the meantime, I am moving into holiday mode and working on some small projects. I made a flock of cardinals and some holly leaves / berries. My fingers are torn up from grinding all the tiny pieces of glass.

I love Cardinals and Holly!

I will likely use these in some resin ornaments and coasters.

Layer two

This afternoon I added a second layer of resin to the panel. Grr. It looks great overall, but the devil is in the details for me. The second layer had some issues. One issue was where the resin didn’t lay invisibly over the first layer. I tried to minimize that by blowing resin into the edges of the glass pieces. However, as bubbles formed, I tried to remove them with the heat gun. One spot in particular “lumped up” when I was doing this. I can repair it by filing down the lumpy parts and pouring a new layer over everything, but one goal was to preserve the texture of the glass I used for the petals of the lilies. If I pour another layer, the texture will be lost.

Two layers of resin

You can’t see it in the photos, but we’ll make a decision after everything cures.

Resin layer #1

Now that I have verified that my resin is OK, I prepared to pour the first layer of resin on the large Frank Lloyd Wright stained glass window project I’ve been working on since early August. I used some boards to elevate the window off of the table, then taped around the edge using a layer of painter’s tape and a second outer layer of duct tape.

Making sure it’s level
Yellow painters tape and black super strong duct tape
Layers of tape

My hope is that the painters tape will come off easily, while the duct tape will create a strong edge for the resin.

Tape layers
Pouring the resin

Once all the tape was in place and secure, I mixed 16 ounces of resin and poured it over the panel. I then used a sponge on a stick to distribute the resin as much as I could over the panel. I will have to repeat this with another layer later, as more resin will be needed to fill in all the gaps.

Poured resin

I then used my heat gun to further distribute the resin and remove bubbles that popped up while the resin settled. I spent about an hour and a half doing this.

Overall view

Now I just need to wait overnight for the first layer to cure. After that, I will repeat with a second and hopefully final layer to fill in the remaining crevices.

No turning back now

Finished securing all the pieces in place with mosaic adhesive. A couple got bumped and aren’t exactly where I’d like them to be, but hopefully not too noticeable. I had to redo a few pieces for various reasons (one piece of glass was just not flat enough, dropped one piece and it broke, etc). Thanks to the hubs for turning the piece around on my work table so I could reach the far side! Now to let the adhesive cure for a week or so. That gives me time to figure out how to elevate the whole piece off of the table surface when I pour the resin.

Pieces secured in place