patination experiments
Patination of glass is something I have been interested in for years, even before the idea of making my own glass was a reality. Edwardian/art nouveau and deco glass was often patinated, but it's fallen so far out of favor and fashion that the methods and materials (patination is just painting/adding surface colour) have been lost in the mists of time.
I contacted the Corning museum of glass, who were wonderful and helpful on this subject, but the information just wasn't in the archives. It would have been nice to have a historic recipe card to follow, but it also appeals to me that no-one I have seen is using patination any more, and I can reclaim it for my work.
What was used to permanently adhere colour to cast glass?
One ancient method was Enamelling, obviously, but this seems so risky and potentially heart breaking to me, I didn't want to re-heat a cast piece, with all the risks attached, and I don't want a shiny surface.
Painting, cold onto the glass was next, and I spent some time researching pigments, oils and more modern, predictable paints.
In order to see what works, resists a soapy scrub in the future, and gives the semi transparent effect I was after, Angela and I applied some different finishes to my lizard testers. The idea being that the patination will adhere to the matt areas of glass, enhancing the textures and carving, but wipe away from the high shine/polished areas.
I have four lizards to test on. They were sandblasted, ½ then acid finished ( which gives a more velvety finish to the sand blasted surface ) and the high points in the carvings were taken up to different levels of shine, and brush/pumice finished.
I'm not great at scientifically recording results, I get too involved in the doing, not taking notes, but I narrowed my test coatings down to four which seemed to attach to the glass enough, and come in easily mixable/available colours. Each lizard was painted, dried, scrubbed with warm water and a soft bristle brush and detergent, and then the process was repeated, using the most successful mediums. Some paints just scrubbed right off.
Acrylics stayed put, and importantly wiped from the shiny high points, and seem buildable, so we have a winner, with acrylic inks coming out tops.
I then patinated my wildflower paperweight. It took several thin coats, allowing the paint to dry, and build up colour. I'm really pleased with the enhancement to my carving and the surface texture. This is definitely something i'm designing into my next series of work.