Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Electroforming Adventures


My thoughts on gathering yesterday reminded me of the scorpion from Italy that traveled home with me.

No, not alive. After terrifying poor Rebecca in her room late at night, being sprayed with Lysol and hairspray, then relocated by a rousted-out-of-bed Gordon to the great outdoors, his poor shellacked breathing pores succumbed. Immobile, he waited the sun to be gathered into a container to cross the great ocean for an electrochemical adventure.

As a gift for Gordon at Bead & Button, I painted the poor beast with conductive paint, then electroformed a thin shell of copper over him. I didn't let it get too thick, because I wanted to retain as much detail as possible. After a dunk in liver of sulfur to remove some of the shine, he turned a wild rainbow hue (not my favorite).

He literally came out of the system and was packed on the way out the door, so I forgot the photos, but Gordon was kind enough to send me some. Thanks, Gordon! Hmmm, I wonder what a rattlesnake rattle would look like in copper?