PROJECT: Resin Artwork

The core idea and creative process of this project was to learn the basic knowledge of mixing and pouring artificial resin into different moulds to create my desired workpiece. To gain the basic knowledge of resin art, you had to ensure that you got the correct ratio of 1:2 of the Epoxy Resin and Hardener, once you knew the two measurements, you would pour in the hardener as the lowest ratio part 1, and after the hardener, you would pour in the Epoxy Resin to the largest ratio part 2. 

You would then mix the two for 4 minutes, but if you have chosen to add any colours make sure to add those before you mix. The final step to making Resin art is pouring the resin into the mould and popping any bubbles with a skewer or toothpick. After knowing the basics of resin art, I was able to develop my first art piece, a coaster. The coaster took 48 hours to completely dry, before being able to pop it out of its silicone mould. When I would take it out of the mould, I would inspect it to make sure that there were no cracks, wet splotches or even a massive split in the middle of the coaster. If there were no cracks, wet splotches or even a massive split, I was able to place it on a table, where it would be used. Furthermore, after creating the coaster I felt as though I understood exactly what had to happen to ensure that every one of my art pieces turned out the same way, consistently.

My second art piece was a piece of Jewellery  -  a bangle. The Bangle took a solid 72 hours to completely dry as the mould for this one was a bit different and it was a lot more detailed. As it was a difficult mould to fully get the bangle out, I had to ensure that my pressure and movements wouldn’t crack or snap the bangle into two. When the bangle was fully out, I inspected it to make sure that there were no cracks, wet splotches or a massive split going down one of the sides. If there were no cracks, wet splotches or even a massive split, the bangle was able to go onto my Jewellery holder, where I would be able to use it. Finally, after creating the coaster and the bangle, I felt like I was able to do a piece of Resin art that is challenging, but also includes some of the more basic elements. 

My final art piece was four pieces of coasters but instead of using normal basic moulds, I decided to cut and sand, natural pine wood pieces and pour the resin, mixed with either a marble effect, crystals, foil flakes or even some flowers onto each of the wood pieces. There was one issue that I ran into and was that, I was unaware that one of the wood pieces had a bit of dent or crack in the outer piece of the wood. This caused some of the resin to flow down that little valley and onto the plate I was using making the wood get stuck to the plate. 

To get the wood and plate to separate I had to slowly twist and turn the wood piece around, so they wouldn’t cause any more problems or harden whilst connected to the plate. However, I felt like the wood coasters weren’t enough for my final project, so I decided to make two tiny little trinket trays, they turned out glossy and wonderful as the heart was a nice shade of pink and had little crystals at the bottom, while the square had a gold tint to the resin, some rose gold foil flakes and lastly, some flowers. The drying time for the wood pieces took 27 hours, while the trinket trays took 24-48 hours.

The motivation behind this ALPS was that I enjoyed the making process of these and how you can be creative with it, but make masterpieces even if you mess up. Making Resin art was also very therapeutic, in that you would mix and then watch how satisfying the pour of the resin would be. The only downside and lack of motivation that I encountered was when I kept on making the resin overflow. I felt frustrated but I was able to push through and create a piece of work.