Recently I started working in Resin, and I love it. Now I want to
incorporate with sliver creating Fine Art Resin. The pour over a
picture is fine but I want to create resin bracelets on sliver and
other jewelry on sliver.
I’m assuming you meant “silver” here. but nevermind…
Start with the admittedly somewhat condescending comment of:
There’s nothing wrong with, and a lot to be said for, doing your own
research, making the inevitable mistakes, and working out what really
works for you,
There seems to be somewhat of a trend in this field, developed over
the last several decades, where people (sometimes newcomers) expect
to be given entire techniques and methods just for the asking, with
no effort or research required.
Often, they expect this all to be delivered in a quick weekend
workshop. Now, that’s fine as far as it goes, and if you can find
such a workshop, by all means take it. But remember, those folks from
whom you’re learning, probably had to work a whole lot harder for
that info that you’re expecting to. Now, nothing wrong with hoping to
avoid that, just understand where people are coming from.
You can read directions and books, and still be unclear if, in the
end, you don’t really understand the material. And the main way you
get there, is to use the material. Experiment. Try things and see how
they work. Be bold! Don’t shy away from trying things you are not
sure will work. Be willing to waste some material on experimentation.
Keep in mind that there is almost never any single way to do things,
or a single way from which one must never deviate. If that were the
case in metals, we’d all be still beating on raw native metal chunks
with a rock, and that’s as far as the technology would have gone.
Invent.
Explore. You’ll likely waste some material and time, but it’s no
waste, and you can send the metal scraps in for refining and get most
of the value back. It’s how those who already know the field, got
there, and it’s why people like that artist you contacted get rude.
They feel they paid their dues, and went through the process, and
perhaps rightly feel a bit miffed that you feel they should just give
it all away to you for free. I know that feels rude to you, but
unless they are in the business of teaching, why should they just
give you that could easily allow you to go into direct
competition with them six months from now? Pay your dues, do the
work, work it out for yourself. Then those same people will be
colleagues, not just those with whom you might compete. Approach them
then on those terms, and you’ll likely find much more acceptance.
And for a start, a really good start, instead of looking for books,
start with the manufacturer of the resins you’re considering. You can
be sure they already have reams of technical info on what their
materials can do, how they should be used and applied, what they will
adhere to, and all the rest. Go to the source for the best info. Talk
to their engineers and chemists. If I want to know about sterlium
plus silver, I can come here to Orchid and ask those who use it.
But I’ll get better results if first, before doing that, I have a
long talk with the metallurgists at United Precious Metals, who make
the stuff, or with the experts at Stuller, who represent and sell
that alloy. The same can go for most of the technical materials we
use in this field. Now, it’s not always this way for everything. You
can buy tools, for example, from many tool dealers whose business is
the selling of tools, and maybe even the making of them. They may not
always be experts of the actual use of those tools. But for
manufactured materials like resins, alloys, and the like, start with
the manufacturer. They’re likely making the stuff for industry, which
will have exacting needs technically and for on the
material to match those uses. Your needs are likely to be much less
exacting than the total amount of info they’ll have on the stuff.
Once you have the technical info on the material, you’re in a great
position to start playing with your own methods.
Peter Rowe