Category Archives: My Working Methods

Educational information, My Working Methods

Wax Steam Outs

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          WAX STEAMER SET UP
 
Supplies:
 
1. Disposable Turkey aluminum Roster Pan.
2. Disposable Lasagna aluminum pan
3. Sturdy Plastic or  Metal Tube set on slats (1/4 to 1/2 inch)
4. Sturdy Grate (such as an irrigation cover)
5. Galvanized sheet thin enough to cut a hole so the steam hose can be directed into the mold.
6. Wax Cast Investment Mold ready to steam out
7. Towel to wrap around the mold and help reduce air leaks
8. A stick to pock the wax melting from the mold to keep the wax flowing out of the mold.
9. Wall paper steamer.

Most supplies come from a hardware store. The aluminum pans come from a grocery store.

Educational information, My Working Methods

Pate de Verre Clay to Refractory Mold Part 1 Test Tiles

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To get the colors I want for my pate de verre I need to test the various percentages of color to use concentration of colors for high and low highlights. As with painting in other media you have light and dark values of of colors. The difference in pate de verre is the process is reversed painted. As you build your layers you cover up sections and have to the intended look of drawing where you can list what to lay down as color first and then the following progression of color by layers. Option 1 is to use the clay and make a single use refractory mold of 1:1:1 (#1 pottery plaster, 200 mesh silica, water). Always add the plaster to the water. I have hundreds of colors that require the various percentages so doing an original model in clay (option 1) would be exceedingly time consuming so I opted to do a kiln load full of test tiles and used Option 2 To the clay positive, I add a base of clay under the positive then coddle pour a #1 pottery mold. Once the plaster as set up, usually 30-40 minutes the clay can be removed and the mold cleaned up then left to cure 24-48 hours depending on humidity levels.
Educational information, My Working Methods

Pate de Verre Mold Making Investments Part 2

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In the prior working method post you saw how to make a clay positive. This post expands on the versatility of mold making process . Option 1 you can create a single use plaster/silica investment mold and hand build or coddle pour a refractory mold. In option 2 you can make a pure plaster mold to help speed the working time from clay building hundreds of clay original models and instead use a silicone positive. This requires you to make a pure plaster mold and let it dry 24 hours. Then you can pour silicone into the plaster mold negative which then once cured (24-48 hours at 70 degrees) you have a silicone positive. Using a coddle you then make a #1 pottery plaster/200mesh silica investment mold.
1:1:1 or 1 part #1 pottery plaster added to 200 mesh silica and Water by weight. Using a silicone negative lets me reduce the time spent to get color samples for my art. This approach works well for thin pieces but the thicker the artwork gets the color become quite dense. The principle remains the same but the clay forms can change to allow for the direction work and the thickness of the piece and light you want to transmit.
Educational information, My Working Methods

Pate de Verre Silicone Positives Part 3

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You can make a #1 pottery plaster mold to create a silicone positive. The positive once cured gets to be used for a coddle pour of #1 pottery plaster and 200 mesh silica to make make an investment mold that can endure the heat of the kiln. if you have many test tiles to make using silicone positives really reduce the time spent to make simple test tiles of varying color degrees. While my tiles are thin I can vary colors concentrations to allow for high and low lights to the work. In the early 2000’s at a BeCon conference Jim Jones was the sales director doing a demo of frit tinting. As a pate de verre artist I was captivated by the concept. While the demo was a single color the idea can accommodate custom blends of your choosing and allows for creative variations to support the artistic need. As usual Bullseye empowers artist to springboard ideas and use their imaginations to tweak and provide artists a lot of artistic freedom. Here’s the link to Bullseye’s literature on frit tinting. 
 
http://www.bullseyeglass.com/methods-ideas/frit-tinting.html
Educational information, My Working Methods

Pate de Verre Test Tile Part 5

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Colors to Clear Bullseye Powders 
 
50/50   Color to Clear
40/60   Color to Clear
30/70   Color to Clear
20/80   Color to Clear
10/90   Color to Clear
5/95     Color to Clear

Colored powders were combined and mixed thoroughly in a lidded container with enough volume of color to use the base colored glass to a percentage of clear as shown above.  Use a N95 respirator when using dry glass, especially powders.  I tend to mix powders outside under cover as fine particles the eye cannot see remain in the air for 8 hours. Once the clear and colored mix is wet using a pate de verre glue. I have track lighting which is how I discovered the finest of particles in the air.  Another reason to wet mop my area after doing art.

Educational information, My Working Methods

Pate de Verre Test Tiles Part 6

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Colors to Clear Bullseye Frit. 50/50 Color to Clear
40/60 Color to Clear
30/70 Color to Clear
20/80 Color to Clear
10/90 Color to Clear
5/95 Color to Clear

Colored frits were combined and mixed thoroughly in a lidded container with enough volume of color to use the base colored glasses to a percentage of clear as shown above.  Use a N95 respirator when using dry glass, especially powders.  Once the frit is wet using a pate de verre glue.  I tend to mix dry frit and powders outside under cover as fine particles the eye can not see remain in the air for 8 hours.  I have track lighting which is how I discovered the finest of particles in the air.  Another reason to wet mop my area after doing art.