Polymer Painting Experiment with Alcohol Inks

16 x 20 Finished Painting
 Anyone who knows me knows I love to experiment with materials and color.  When the Prescott Art Market sent out the invitation to artists for the quarterly 'Changing of the Colors', I knew it was time to experiment with polymer clay in a new (for me) format.  Rules: a set size (16" x 20") canvas, all sides were to be painted black, and a set color scheme.  These will be hung June 2 and voted on.  Someone will get a prize so if you are in the Prescott area after June 2, please have a look and vote!

A good friend of mine makes beautiful colorful quilts and I've watched her make the 9 patch pattern.   With a little guidance about quilt patterns from her, I decided to make a '9 patch' painting using alcohol inks, a straw, acrylic paint, wood and polymer clay.

5 1/2" square of white polymer with a coating of liquid polymer
White polymer needed to be the base for the alcohol inks so their bright colors stayed bright.  A thin coat of liquid polymer over the white base to make the alcohol inks flow and a straw to blow the ink in the direction I wanted it to flow and I was ready!

Alcohol inks in trays with blending solution
The alcohol inks went in trays with blending solution.  The inks dry pretty fast so I really had to be prepared.   Blowing into the straw to guide the flow of the inks took some practice in knowing how hard to blow and what angle to hold the straw.  Also the fumes can be a little disturbing.  It would be better to wear a mask but then how do I blow?

It's so much fun to watch the inks flow into each other and spread to form the designs.

3 of the patterns I used in the painting
 I made 6 different small paintings (5 1/2" square) 5 of which would become the 'fabric patterns' of my quilt.  One always needs some selections.  After they were made and dried I embellished with ink, gold foil, chalk and silkscreen.




The 5 1/2" plain colored squares were made and textured  and the next step is to form the border.
I made several strips of polymer stripes.  My high school math teacher would be proud! 

Border strips
 All the pieces were cured (baked in the convention oven I use only for polymer).  Heavy books were stacked on them while still warm to ensure the pieces would lay flat. 
To separate the main large squares from the border pieces of 1/4" wood were painted and fitted together.  Carefully gluing all the pieces starting from the center, trimming where necessary and the piece is finished.  I'd say it was a successful piece with lots of learning involved!


Labels:
Location: Prescott, AZ, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Learning As We Go!

Image
Viking knit is the oldest method of chain making and I've become fascinated by it.  Once I conquered the single knit, I decided to add beads.  I could have googled or asked how it was done but it seemed like something I could just figure out.  And I've learned a lot as I proceeded first with tumbled turquoise beads and then with pearls.  I thought I'd share a few of the things I've learned.   Iif you want a great tutorial on viking knit technique, Trina Ann at http://blog.trinaann.com/  has written a clear concise easy to understand tutorial.  I highly recommend it.    Tumbled tuquoise beads in viking knit  I used tumbled turquoise beads in the first viking knit chain and I did not really know what I was doing.  But I went right ahead and as it turned out, I liked the end result.  Since the beads were irregular in shape there was a random quality to the finished product. During that process, I began to really understand the technique of viking knit.  Loo
Read more

Polymer Clay Conversation

Image
One of the polymer clay groups on FaceBook is 'Polymer Clay Collective'.  This is a group of artists working in polymer clay who share ideas and support each other.  I'm so glad to be a part.  A new feature of this group is the 'Polymer Clay Collective Conversations' where a different member answers a set  of questions.  I get to be first - the trailblazer! I hope you enjoy learning a little more about me and in two weeks I get to learn more about someone else. • Tell us a bit about where you live. I live in Prescott AZ right next to the national forest.   When I look out my studio windows, I often see large black ravens swooping between the pine trees.   Binoculars are always available for close viewing of our smaller forest birds.   You’ve probably read about the forest fires we have had in our area this summer.   The monsoon rains we are having are so welcome. • What do you do when you're not polymer claying? As of 2010, I became a retired interi
Read more

Giving New Meaning to UPCYCLE!

Image
My first ever ‘Do Over Challenge’ was such fun!  I signed up to participate in Jeannie K Dukic ’s 6th Do Over Challenge not really knowing anything about how it worked.  I received a necklace that was very sweet with copper wire connections and pinkish pearls.  It sat on my work space for a couple of weeks while I pondered my next move.  One day I opened my polymer bead collection and was drawn to the pinkish and green beads.  They really looked good with the pearls.  I found some green crystal beads and a few other contenders.  But when I tried the small striped beads, I knew my combination!  This is the finished product for most of the pearls in the original necklace. It was the week to finish some of my long term projects.  I kept the wires with the red and green rubber bands from the braces I wore for 3 years.  When they finally came off, I asked the orthodontist if I could have them.  He wanted to know why since almost NO ONE wanted them and I told him I wante
Read more