Over the past month I have progressed back into printing and bonding thin printed layers to epoxy and then using the epoxy as an applique or veneer, I have then been applying it to other items like canvas and magnet sheets. The assortment of products that I have made are mostly simple stuff like refrigerator magnets and stickers for cars. Some of these have a relief or raised surface and I have achieved two color printing in such a way that I can pop the pieces out of the molds and just attach a magnet or sticker to the back with epoxy. Cutting the finished pieces for my sheet made items is the bitch of the job, but otherwise I've gotten pretty good resolution and decent quality finishes that can be varied between glossy and matte. I've done a lot of testing with urethane, but it does not seem to have the same wide range of applications as epoxy in that it is hard to bond anything to the urethane and continue the layering process.
My recent discovery in the process of gentrifying my substrates was to start using canvas again and coating canvas with epoxy then applying a sticky back to the canvas so that I could attach things to the top surface of the canvas and already have the adhesive backing on the canvas for attaching to a magnet or for just using as a sticker. This brought patches back into the mix as another product, but still the broader use of canvas as a material for covering things made me think of the bigger picture and other uses for epoxy coated canvas as in boat construction and or wall coverings.
The events of last year brought major disasters to my backyard with walls strewn about and brick fresco panels warped and bent due to the effects of weathering, puddling and general climatic changes over winter. What gets me with this is that the failures and successes of weathering always point to the next stage of development for where I should go. The lightweight curved roof out of screens was a good concept and have been able to be moved around and used as portable walls. The brick panels warped but many of them did not crack and thus it made me think of a plasticized concrete or epoxized plaster. The benefit of this is that it would not transmit heat in the same way that epoxy does and may keep heat from permeating a surface. The abstract shapes that were developed in the previously flat materials were like turtle shells with inverted concaves and smooth warping in random directions. I love these effects, but can only think about ways to keep that from happening since I can't control the warping directions, however, the idea that the plaster and otherwise solid materials can stretch and warp is a great one, albeit useless in practical terms.
I know I can have a use for this, but my epoxy veneers have me thinking I can solve the warping problem without adding thicker and heavier layers, which is the obvious method for stopping the warping. Sure I could add a little carbon fiber or fiberglass and strengthen the backside, but at a cost of materials and complexity. Who needs that type of work anyway? Not me, that's for sure. I just want stuff that just sets and stays that way without any fancy footwork. Epoxy veneers will do the trick, I think. If I apply an epoxy veneer to the surface of a screen, instead of setting it in a mold, then the screen and the epoxy can work to deflect any weathering from the exterior, which additional layers can be adhered to the epoxy on the inside as needed, with canvas or plaster being used to create a warmth or to inhibit the flow of heat to the interior. Epoxy can be sealed on seams and thickened with each layer accepting another layer of the same material. Epoxy and epoxy veneers are a useful tool for building a thin, durable and potentially stable structure that can be merged into other materials that will allow them to move and stretch with variable weather and extreme conditions of hot and cold. Also UV resistance can be built in by the pigmentation of the epoxy when casting which keeps the exposed layers from breaking down with exposure to the sun and uv rays.
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