Electro formed necklace

Electro forming is a way of casting objects through currents and voltages. I will be electro forming little rubber figurines/toys, that are creatures from under the sea. 

The process of electroforming is in a lot of ways similar to electroplating. It is best described as a process similar to electroplating, but one that is used in manufacturing metallic articles, rather then a means of producing surface coatings. Simply put, the difference in most cases, is that plating is a coating over a metallic item, it is a thin layer and becomes part of the work piece. Electroforming in most cases is metal built-up over a non-metallic surface, it can be quite thick and it can be separated from the mandrel or work piece as a stand alone object. Some of the common uses for electroforming are jewelry, mold making and reproduction of parts.

Under The Sea-Pinterest board.

Felieke Van Der Leest is what influenced me with this piece, I will create a charm necklace or bracelet, using animals, repetition and colour. Just as he does. Here is some examples of his work...

"Unusual attributes like toy animals, crochet work and precious metals are being combined to form humorous and colourful jewellery and objects.
 
The magic is not just in the unconventional combination of technique and materials but above all in the casual way that she presents this wonderful world ..."

http://www.feliekevanderleest.com

2004
Cowboy Lion Cubs Necklace
necklace
plastic, gold, textile, glass beads 
18 x 18 x 4.5 cm

2006
Snail-with-Sprouts Train
object with bracelet
textile, plastic, silver, coral
object 32 x 4.5 x 6 cm

2004
Magician Tiger Cub and his 5½ Little Rabbits
necklace
silver, textile, plastic
tiger cub 7 x 2,5 x 5 cm

To add my own twist, I will add enamelled domes, because I want the piece to be bold, large scale, full of colour, and have some depth to it. I am thinking of adding different sized domes  and enamelling them in blue tones, to represent bubbles, keeping to the 'Under the Sea' theme. I will also be adding the actual rubber figurines/toys, that haven't been electro formed to add colour, texture and a bit of fun! 

Here are some images of my sketchbook pages, they include photographs, artist research, processes, methods, techniques, designs, inspiration, sketches, ideas and thoughts, and samples. 

Step 1

I will glue my objects on to copper wire. When dried, I will paint on an even coat, and when that is completely dried the next step can be made. 

Step 2

I will set up the acid solution with the copper sheet inside, then hang my object in to the solution, and clipped to a device. It needs two leads that come out of a digital rectifier, the red lead is connected to the copper sheet, the black one is connected to the copper wire. There also needs to be a magnet tablet at the bottom of the solution, so that it can create a current in the solution for an even cover on the object. 

Step 3

The rectifier needs to have a voltage of no higher than 0.12, and left for a few hours but depending on how thick you want the object to be. My objects were quite small, so they only needed to be in the solution for roughly 2/3 hours. 

Step 4

It must then be stirred in distilled water after it has been through the acid. It is then ready to be filed and polished.

Here are some images of my final piece...

I didn't think the colour and finish on the electro formed pieces were effective, and so I pattinated them in jax, I think this was very successful as it highlighted the texture very well, and I was able to have more control over them, by scrubbing with a scourer where I wanted lighter areas, and darken other areas with cotton buds. I appreciate learning new techniques, and having the opportunity to try this, although I didn't enjoy it, as there was a lot of waiting around, and I had to re-do the process many times on one object, as it wasn't a successful finish, and so I had to pattinate it.