Casting around for a new craft

 I've just attended my first in-person craft workshop in a very long time!

Here's my workstation set up at the Acrylic Resin Casting Workshop.  It was organised and run by Lynne of Snap Crackle and Pip at H1 in Aberdeen, a studio space for creatives off Anderson Drive.

Having created beautiful stained glass pieces for many years, Lynne branched out into resin casting during lockdown.  The array of sample pieces on display for us to peruse on arrival was inspiring.  

I especially liked her soap dishes.

The samples are made from Jesmonite, a relatively new material developed in the 1980's as an eco-friendly alternative to cast concrete.  The brainchild of building technologist Peter Hawkins, Jesmonite is now widely used in architecture and manufacture as well as in the craft sector.  

The addition of coloured pigments let's the creative imagination run wild!  

Lynne explained the components of Jesmonite, a base powder and water based acrylic resin which must be mixed together swiftly and smoothly then poured into the silicon mould provided.  Coloured drops are added to all or part of the mix.  Lynne had weighed out what we needed to create our first piece, a trinket dish.  I chose the stone coloured coade pigment and marbled some drops of terracotta through it.

As much as possible of the Jesmonite is scraped into the mould which is then nudged gently to rid it of any unwanted air bubbles.

And then we had to wait for 25 minutes.  Under half an hour and our resin pieces would be set.  So speedy!  Plenty of time to get the kettle on and admire the underside of each others work.

Trinket trays in the making by Zoe, Kirsten, Carol and Christine

The really fun part comes when it's time to ease the trinket dish out of its mould.

Zoe and Kirsten's finished trays are pictured together, then Carol's, Christine's and my own

Some colours are bold and some are more subtle - but everyone had made an original piece of Jesmonite and we oohed and aahed at each others creations.

There was time for us all to make a second piece and we looked again at the display table for inspiration.  I liked Lynne's soap dishes and chose to make one for myself, deciding on a monochrome colour scheme.  Lynne knows the precise amounts of resin and powder which each mould requires and measured them out accordingly.

I marbled the black pigment through the natural colour of the Jesmonite.  And waited.  

There's no way of knowing how it will look after it's set which is certainly part of the fun of this workshop.

And here it is.  In all it's monochrome marble loveliness.

One of the great pleasures of being part of a class is seeing what everyone else makes.  

The other attendees kindly allowed me to photograph their work.

Christine and Kirsten made beautiful plant pots whilst Zoe made wee decorative cacti and a pyramid.

Carol made a beautifully marbled dish from a silicone mould Lynne created herself

All in all a very productive day!

Everyone left Lynne's workshop wearing big smiles.  It had been a lovely couple of hours and we were all very happy with what we'd made.  I can't recommend this workshop highly enough. 

Lynne sent us off with paper carriers.  Not only would they hold our precious makes, they also held resources to finish off our Jesmonite pieces at home.  The bags contained sandpaper to smooth any rough edges, varnish and an applicator plus thoughtfully provided stick-on surface protectors.

 

I've now completed these final steps and can put my soap dish...

and my trinket tray, into use.