Leaves and Feathers

[budnder]

Picked out a few pretty leaves and pressed them this week. Following some of the stamp tutorials, I wrapped the tube entirely in a leaf. That worked ok, but was a little boring, so I wrapped just the ends with a contrasting leaf. That looked pretty good, but needed something in the center for interest... so I grabbed a couple of pheasant feathers I had and glued them down in the center. Cast in Silmar 41.

Love the colors, and was happy they didn't really change that much from what they looked like pre-cast. I would work a little harder next time and getting the feathers to go on a bit smoother, or just use something else for center interest.

I polished it as I normally would a resin, though the shine/glare is almost a little distracting. Does anyone ever do a "matte" finish on a resin cast to improve visibility (e.g. no glare)? I don't recall ever seeing a discussion on that.

 

[bpgoldo]

who;d a thunk

What a wonderful surprise your materials created. Always something new here, and congrats on being the latest to generously donate. Very impressive.

 

[JohnU]

Love it Roy! I've never had leaves look that good and a nice touch with the feather.

 

[Charlie_W]

Super job on the cast! The feather and leaves go together very nicely!


As to the non glare matte finish, several years ago, Jonathon Brooks posted about using a torch to create just what you are talking about...a non reflective/ non glare surface allowing one to see into the blank.
I seem to recall that he did a video as well.

 

[Bob in SF]

Great job, Roy!

 

[budnder]

Thanks all. I started a couple more "leaf" castings today to see if this first one was just an accident. My leaf supply around here goes away in another week or two