Out of the Studio Wednesday

As I mentioned, I'd been working on something new in the studio.  I had purchased Sherri Haab's Dual E3 Etch/EForm Kit about a year ago and had only taken the time to do some etching.  It only takes about 30 minutes for sterling to get a good etch and I love the fact that it's environmentally friendly.  And finally, I took the time to experiment with the electroforming set up and I have to say, I'm hooked.  I've been into this mixed metal phase lately and I'm looking forward to combining some silver/brass with it in the future.  The first thing I did was texture some black polymer clay.  After it cured, I drilled a hole, cleaned and covered the whole piece with the graphite conductive paint.  I set the electroforming solution up and plated the first piece.  That piece was eventually made into a pair of earrings.  For now, all I've had time to do is a LOS patina.  But there are so many color possibilities - my mind is spinning. 

And the piece I got out of the bath late Tuesday and haven't had a chance to patina, is this bead.  

I had plated every inch of the first three pieces and blackened with the LOS.  It wasn't until the 4th piece that I realized I would just paint the part I wanted to be copper figuring I would patina the background anyway.  I like it because the variation is so strong.  For the back of this piece, I only painted the exterior rim.  If I hadn't done that, the plating would literally fall off the front of the piece.  But again, it wasn't necessary to paint the entire back.  So I will be experimenting a little more with color and texture.  Oh, the earrings look much heavier than they are.  They're actually very light because they're polymer inside!