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Thursday, September 1, 2011

Beautiful Steel Patina - aka rust!

Two questions I am asked frequently about my Tile Plaques are "What is the backing made of?" and "How did I get that beautiful patina?"

Well, the backing is a mild steel that I've salvaged in sheet form from a local scrap yard. I haul it home in the trunk of my car to store until I need it. (Side-note: I haven't figured out how I'll do this with a car seat now in the car? This just adds to the growing list of why I officially want a mini van now. There. I said it. My secret is out.)Anyway, this ladies and gentlemen is my "Steel Storage Area" otherwise known as the pile of sheet metal stacked up on cinder blocks outside my studio. The cinder blocks just help with drainage and keep it a bit dryer. You cant even see them in the photos.Yep, that beautiful patina I'm always asked about is All Natural! I just leave the metal outside to rust.Then when I need them, I haul the sheets inside, cut them with a plasma cutter...
And then coat the front and back each with 2 coats of satin polyurethane. Done!
LinkAny questions? Holler at me. Or if you know of any other fun metal patinas, I'd love to hear about them.

Oh yeah, and I just listed 6 new Tile Plaques on Etsy this morning! Three of which incorporate slumped glass which I don't do too often these days.

Cheers!
Meagan