A Special Vessel

Way back when I took the class with Kate Fowle, one of the main reasons I took it was to learn about electroforming. I wanted to put metal handles on some of the vessels I make.

Unfortunately, the subject was skimmed and I didn't feel I had really learned much about it.

When Tink Martin decided to put kits together and sell them, I jumped at the opportunity to buy everything in one place.

The electroforming kit sat and gathered dust while I got up the nerve to try working with it.

I made this vessel some time ago. It didn't have handles and I thought about wiring it sometime in the future.

A couple of days ago, you saw the results of my first couple of tries. They were okay but this was really what I was thinking about all along.

I read some more on an online forum and looked at all the examples and decided to try something different with this vessel.

The handle is formed from stiff twine. I wrapped it around the vessel and superglued it all together. I knotted the ends and then coated it all with the special paint. It was in the bath for a few hours, but apparently not long enough. The copper coating wasn't think enough. The knot cracked. So, I painted over some of the thin spots and put it in again.

The first picture shows how it all turned out. The picture is a bit out of focus, but the feel of the piece actually comes out in that one. You can see the loop a little better in the second picture.

This is the "Galaxy" glass that I love. The first batch I got was a lot "truer" - this is it. Later, I tried ordering more, from a different source, but it, unfortunately, has a yellowish cast to it. I save the original stuff for really special things!

The copper came out of the bath bright and shiny, but I put a green patina on it so that it blends in a bit more with the vessel - picks up the blue green color. This is more evident in person.

Anyhow, I'm just glad that this piece is finally finished. Well, unless I decide to "antique" the cork somehow!

I'm not sure how much of this I will be doing since, for some reason, I get a funny taste in my mouth and and my lips feel funny whenever the rectifier is running, but if I get to the bottom of THAT, I'll definitely be doing more.