I may be a blog whore, but I love this blog the most. I have started posting on a new blog at http://site.yque.com/word using a wordpress format. It does not mean that I am abandoning this blog, but frankly the world has abandoned blogs so it may not really matter. Blogging has been reduced to a primitive form of communication and it's usefulness may be the same as a diary, for personal use only. The format here is simple, which I like, but it may be too simple to allow for growth. I think of this place as a rambling technical jargon world where I can mumble while I drink about epoxy, resins and other fast setting materials. It is the dream world of magic that lies in the chemicals that are pigmented and toned into something that may resemble something else and it is here that I can transliterate the intent.
I am challenged by the newer tools, like facebook and twitter, "Why?", I say. "Why?" Do people not know how to make web pages, but they have to rely on 3rd party software to organize their lives. FTS (FUCK THAT SHIT) if that is not already an acronym. I don't see any benefits to the limitations that exist in a pre-organized format for social relationships in th digital world. I don't have a valid reason why it isn't good, but I don't have a reason why it is good either. It is like I can't be personal if I feel that I am literally in a pre-formatted So check out http://site.yque.com/word because I won't be posting here quite as often.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Hidden Values have no Value - Epoxy Clear Coating takes away the texture effects
The riddle, hidden values have no value, means that many of the processes I have used to get to my final product are now ending up being hidden under a layer of epoxy, which provides a great finish. I have been doing casting with resin and plaster and printing using vinyl and acrylics which have come together as a finished rectangular framed pieces. Although I have built walls with these framed frescoes as I call them, because of the plaster, but when I fit several frames together I have been able to make small tables that look ikea like modern. The effect that makes them seem useful as a table is the final coat of epoxy, as a clear coat, and this also works to smooth out the top surface. Once this clear coat of epoxy is applied, then all of the effects of the raised plaster and printing as flattened into the base.
The flat effect of the table top means that all of the work I have put into the fresco under the epoxy seems wasted. I could just as easily printed out a picture and pasted it to the top of the frame and gotten the same effect. I can tell there is something going on underneath the epoxy, but I don't think anyone else would really care. I do think over the long haul, 20-50-100 years, the benefits of the plaster under the epoxy will hold up to any exposure to elements and to long term exposure to UV, better than a print out of a piece of paper would. Actually, I am not sure that the durability comment is even true since to destroy the paper you would have to go through the epoxy.
The few benefits of the photo fresco versus the decoupage technique is that the epoxy bonds quickly to the plaster, whereas paper seems to unevenly absorb some of the epoxy and it can create inconsistencies in the appearance of the underlying work. I have been resigning myself to consider each thing as totally different and simply moving forward with making as many clear coated pieces as I can using print outs just to get more finished work out there. I just have a hard time breaking down and doing things that way as I love the process that the screen casting photo frescoes create. Fact is the decoupage technique will help me clear out my old screens sooner and that is the biggest issue since I have so many screens left over from my years doing t-shirt printing jobs.
Recently I have been using larger frames for the photo fresco prints and this is very satisfying work as I can place a photo image in the center and build a brick wall pattern around the photo, then later cast in the plaster or duracal, tinted to be the color of brick, and this provides a pattern background that gives the feeling that the photo is on a wall, literally. I haven't clear coated one of these larger pieces yet, but I have been buying one frame a week to do this with and so far this is my favorite wall hanging type of work because of the size and the fact that the photo is not the main element. Also these frames already have two holes drilled into them and are quite thin, so I feel that as a frame it can present itself without having to be adorned with additional wood or finish work.
I have been reinforcing these larger pieces on the back with acrylic and burlap, so I also feel I could use these pieces to build a wall with the backside being the interior part of a structure. The exterior part of the piece has all the character of a plaster wall and I think they could hold up under some severe exposure to UV, rain and whatever else may come the way of our mild, but wet winters in Northern California. The point of this is that as long as I focus my photo fresco attention on these larger pieces, it might free me up to make more of the decoupage type pieces and not worry about the fresco techniques that are not realized with my current methods.
The flat effect of the table top means that all of the work I have put into the fresco under the epoxy seems wasted. I could just as easily printed out a picture and pasted it to the top of the frame and gotten the same effect. I can tell there is something going on underneath the epoxy, but I don't think anyone else would really care. I do think over the long haul, 20-50-100 years, the benefits of the plaster under the epoxy will hold up to any exposure to elements and to long term exposure to UV, better than a print out of a piece of paper would. Actually, I am not sure that the durability comment is even true since to destroy the paper you would have to go through the epoxy.
The few benefits of the photo fresco versus the decoupage technique is that the epoxy bonds quickly to the plaster, whereas paper seems to unevenly absorb some of the epoxy and it can create inconsistencies in the appearance of the underlying work. I have been resigning myself to consider each thing as totally different and simply moving forward with making as many clear coated pieces as I can using print outs just to get more finished work out there. I just have a hard time breaking down and doing things that way as I love the process that the screen casting photo frescoes create. Fact is the decoupage technique will help me clear out my old screens sooner and that is the biggest issue since I have so many screens left over from my years doing t-shirt printing jobs.
Recently I have been using larger frames for the photo fresco prints and this is very satisfying work as I can place a photo image in the center and build a brick wall pattern around the photo, then later cast in the plaster or duracal, tinted to be the color of brick, and this provides a pattern background that gives the feeling that the photo is on a wall, literally. I haven't clear coated one of these larger pieces yet, but I have been buying one frame a week to do this with and so far this is my favorite wall hanging type of work because of the size and the fact that the photo is not the main element. Also these frames already have two holes drilled into them and are quite thin, so I feel that as a frame it can present itself without having to be adorned with additional wood or finish work.
I have been reinforcing these larger pieces on the back with acrylic and burlap, so I also feel I could use these pieces to build a wall with the backside being the interior part of a structure. The exterior part of the piece has all the character of a plaster wall and I think they could hold up under some severe exposure to UV, rain and whatever else may come the way of our mild, but wet winters in Northern California. The point of this is that as long as I focus my photo fresco attention on these larger pieces, it might free me up to make more of the decoupage type pieces and not worry about the fresco techniques that are not realized with my current methods.
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