Today's meeting was at Odaybea's house and we talked about all things wax!
Odaybea showed us her Matt Wax Gun (from Rio Grande and Metaliferous about $150). It looks like a glue gun and gets plugged in; will heat to 3 different temperature settings. It comes with 2 different-sized tips.
Also are available are these wax pellets- 3 different hardnesses are available. And yes, you load it like a glue gun...
Here she used the gun to wrap around a mandrel. It's ready to send off to the caster!
It can also be used in a tray of water- so the piece remains round ALL THE WAY AROUND. One can 'draw' with it, even making monogrammed names, for example, for custom name necklaces, etc... Of course, you can also 'draw' with it on your kitchen counter.. but the back will not stay round!
Here is Odaybea's famous 'Hand Ring'. Yes, it's famous. Sorry I forgot to shoot the silver version with it holding a pearl in the palm and seed beads creating a bracelet around the wrist...
Here are some pieces Karina is working on- very very cool! She's thinking she may want to hollow out the shapes lest they be too heavy and cost-prohibitive.
This is a kistka, or an electric wax pen. Pysanky is the art of polish egg decorating and this is the tool that's been used for generations- electrified. The old version would be held over a candle in order to melt the wax. I've been using it to create wax granulation. It has a smaller, finer tip than the Matt Wax Pen. I use the medium #2 tip. It's about $32. Here's a link:
You also need to buy wax to fill it with. I bought wax 'wire' strips and cut them 1/4" at a time and feed the tip that way.
I made this ring above by using a rod of pre-formed wax and attaching the ends with hot wax, then used the kistka to attach granules. Fun!!
You can also use it to create a nice surface texture without having large granules- these are more like bumps. You could also 'draw' with it to get a low-relief detail.
And here we all are- it was a lovely day so we sat outside- Nina, Lucia, Bodil, Karina, Caroline....
...Odaybea, Mimi, Brenda (who looks BEAUTIFUL by the way!), Sharon, Karen, and me (Dana) not pictured.
See you all next time!
