"I'll have a Silkie with a side of Opalescence..."

[Bob in SF]

Fun commission just completed: One of my list members heard I was casting silk pens, and emailed: "I'll have a Silkie with a side of Opalescence". I responded playfully that she either wanted an Asian species of fluffy chicken (Asian Gallus gallus domesticus, aka Silkie), or the singular form of a pair of silk "delicates". She opted for a pen:
Cactus Juice vacuum stabilized hand and airbrush-dyed Habotai 8mm silk, hand painted with a little Pearl-Ex interference blue mixed with Cactus Juice prior to parchment paper wrapping, heat cured for 1 hour in the toaster oven at 200 degrees Fahrenheit, then cast in Douglas and Sturgess PR using clear PVC pipe mold (and she likes it):

Happy Thursday to all - Bob
(it's more opalescent in "real life")

 

[Charlie_W]

Those are really slick Bob!....slick as silk!

 

[Bob in SF]

Many thanks, Charlie!

More fun than a barrel of resin.

 

[magpens]

Exquisite !

 

[KenV]

Great colors

Well done

 

[Bob in SF]

Heartfelt thanks, Mal and Ken - weekend of experiments ahead (stay tuned).

 

[stuckinohio]

Very cool. I think it has just the right amount of fabric so as not to overwhelm the design. You might need to start selling these blanks!

 

[Bob in SF]

Thanks, Lewis - not ready to sell blanks (yet) - but I am refining and extending the working methods (so far very fun, but very time-consuming).
big weekend of experiments ahead -
This one is intriguing:
Handmade Thailand Kozo fiber paper - this pic shows boiling up the fiber at pH10-11; then the fiber is beaten to a pulp with meat hammers, turned into sheets with an improvised mold and deckle (standard washi technique), then pressed between sheets of blotter paper with a simply-constructed 2 ton bottle press; then dried and ready for dyeing/painting, Cactus Juice stabilization, inclusion into blanks, etc.
Makes sense to make paper, put paper in pen, then put pen to paper - also invites some interesting pen/paper sets for commissions.

Stay tuned.

Best regards to all, Bob

 

[Herb G]

That is a visually stimulating pen for sure.
Definitely unique.

 

[stuckinohio]

Wow. What a process!