Polymer & Resin Results

Posted on February 26th, 2010

Yesterday was my first attempt at adding a polymer resin finish on my work. I saw this process on many works at the recently attended LA Art Fair. Artists in LA go to surf shops and have professionals apply this finish to their works. We have no surf shops in Buffalo. I of course want to try it myself to see if it would be a good finish for my recent graffiti paintings I am working on. The way I work it is not really the best addition to my paintings due to the depth and additions I add to the surface. Most of the paintings with this finish were flat and a even surface where as mine can vary going up and down quite a bit. So yesterday I mixed up this material and tried just pouring it onto the surface of a older painting. I did this as a 50/50 mix and made sure I was in a well ventilated area as the fumes can be dangerous. I poured slowly starting at the lowest point on my work making sure the area was flat and clean. The excess that happened could be cut off after this process. It took about three hours to totally harden on a 24″ x24″ painting and not tacky to the touch. After seeing it on a actual painting I would like a square edge on the sides of the work. This was how the pieces looked in the LA show. They looked like a piece of eighth inch plexi glass was on the top. This means I will have to build a mold so the art sits within it tightly to get this results. This is a continuing learning process and once the mold is made with my husband’s help I will try again. My first priority is to finish the four works I am considering for this coating first. I will post my next experiment in a few weeks. If anyone has any experience with polymer resin please comment or write and share your experiences. Thanks!