MY FIRST METAL ART CREATION

Using metal to create works of art is another interesting media for crafters and metal artisans.
Since mixed media is my cup of tea, I am so excited to explore metal art with the aim of incorporating  into scrapbook pages or altered projects or simply as a wall hanging or decor.

In the world of metal art, different types of metals are used like brass, aluminum, copper,pewter, art metal foils and metal tapes etc...etc..

Designs can be created using stencil, molds, die cuts with cuttlebug or sizzix, rubber stamps, hand drawn,, sketch or even photos can be translated into metal.  Wow really cool!!

The basic materials and the tools for metal art were waiting for me when I arrived in London.
Ever so eager to try new things I started to play with it the minute I had time to spare.  Well, would like to share with you what I had churned out..... take a peek....

This is a piece of aluminum foil with a colour on one side.  I hand drawn  on the metal by dividing into sections.
Using several types of molds I had the foil embossed with 4 kinds of designs. Each design is refined using a teflon tip tool..  For extra texture, a brass brush is applied in a circular motion with the aim of removing some of the colour on the foil giving the metal a brushed finish.  Love this wonderful effect!
Colours are then applied.  Here the first layer is a coat of gold/copper  Daler & Rowney acrylic paint,
followed by mustard seed - Tim Holts Rangers Distress ink and finally I used different colours of Staz On ink pad.  Before each coat of ink, I will lightly wiped off excess ink and the effect is beautiful as the ink gets into the crevices.

I intend to use these pieces of metal art for my scrapbooking or altered stuff or notebook covers or as a metal art wall hanging, cigar box, jewlry box .. etc...etc...  Here are more pieces ...

I tried using alcohol ink and stamped with 'Staz On' ink pad.

These are borders and I experimented by applying Lumiere acrylic ink and it worked.  Ready to frame a picture for my scrapbook album or for card making.

 Applied 3 types of  coloured medium, alcohol ink,  stamped with Versa Mark  ink pad and buffed  with copper acrylic paint.
 
There are many antiquing finishes that can be used on metal like goldfinger for buffing, acrylic paints
etc...These will give the aluminum and copper sheets a rusty finish.  Various products like utee,  wax and even gold leaf  can be experimented with to achieve the desired effect.

When I was in Tokyo last year I bought 2 wooden blocks cut in the shape of a dress form  from a craft shop.  It was meant for creating 'Japanese Folk Art', a simple painting on the block.  However I decided to dress up the block using metal aluminum sheet. I think the dress I made is gorgeous......yes?

Embossed design on a turquoise aluminum sheet, gave it a brass brushed effect and painted with platinum ink. Embellished with beads and ribbon to make it dressy.

To make it more interesting, the metallic outfit on the other side of the block is finished in a different coat of medium.

The design are refined with pointed erasers for a better detail. Paper stumps are used to flatten edges.

To cover the joints at the sides, another piece of metal sheet is glued on.

After brass brushing, stamped with 'Staz On' ink direct from ink pad, wiped off the excess ink then buffed with final coat of gold acrylic paint to give the dress a rich appearance.

To achieve a rich texturity and an overall stunning effect, the composition of molds, mediums and embellishments are necessary.