Bubbles, bubbles, everywhere, but nor a stick to pop.

I poured an 8 ounce batch of urethane mixed with steel pigment and it went into approximately 30 pieces in a variety of molds. The bubbles formed the longer the urethane was in the mixing container, so as I went deeper into the pour the more bubbles appeared in my work. I popped a few of the easy to get to bubbles, but gave up on the pieces that had batches of small bubbles. I'm just going to let them set and see what happens when I sand them down. The only use I have for these pieces is raised sticker emblems, key chains or magnets and I'm not that worried about the back side currently. These may end up being give-a-ways for the Y-Que store in Los Angeles.

Selling things is harder than it seems, so I don't really think I can sell this stuff until it's been tested. Secondly, most everything on earth has already been made by companies much more professionally than I have done. The world of etsy and printerest may be a market for craft items, but I haven't really spent enough time developing a profile on these websites to think that I can actually sell stuff there. My own website gets a lot of traffic, but t-shirts are the products there and these emblems may be able to blend in with my printed shirts since most of the designs are the same. I like the idea of proliferating the emblems by giving them away and then at least they may end up spread around Los Angeles versus randomly distributed through the web.

To isolate what makes these pieces different is a bit of a mental exercise. Over time I have worked with a wide range of materials and developed some exclusive techniques at mold making and casting that allow me to make these items, but to identify what makes them different isn't obvious from the outside looking in.

The first technical development is my methods for taking a high contrast image and creating a relief and mold without having to use a laser or hi-tech equipment. The cost for the mold is relatively cheap, unless I make a silicon version, then I have to add the cost of the silicon. The silicon mold will be more useful for a wide range of materials. The second character of my work is the mixing of the metallic particles, cold casting, to create a metallic finish that is also resistant to weathering. The third character is the thinness of the pieces which allows me to place the pieces on other materials like magnet sheets and sticker paper, thus making a emblem type of item that can be used as a sticker. Now with the urethane I can speed up my production time and take my work with me to make things on the go. I have also been adding a second color to the background and creating a layered effect that is more colorful than just the monotone reliefs. Together I have finished photographically produced emblems that can be made cheaply out of plastic and yet look like metal.