Project by Margaux Jones from Seattle, Wash.
Margaux has used her art background to create something totally original. She gets her inspiration from her seaside town of Edmonds, the views of the Olympic Mountains, and the ferries and freighters of the Puget Sound. She makes her gorgeous candle screens using an original technique of fusing a computer-scanned image onto acrylic plastic and framing it in steel.
Materials:
2 pieces of acrylic
fresh flowers
computer scanner
computer printer
light tissue
spray mount
heavy bond paper
craft knife
white nontoxic glue
light box
nontoxic wood sealer
sandpaper
foam brushes
nontoxic polyurethane
steel frames (pre-cut from local metal fabricators) *
water
gas torch
double-sided tape
wax cotton cord
acrylic clear coat spray
* Note: A couple days prior to working on this project, place metal frames into a vat of water.
Steps:
1. Place fresh flowers onto computer scanner bed and scan an image. Alter the image to your liking and print two copies onto tissue paper. The tissue paper should be spray mounted to a heavier sheet of paper so that it can run through a computer printer.
2. Print two more images of the fresh flowers but this time, print the reverse of the image.
3. Cut out the tissue images.
4. Cover the first side of the acrylic panel with white, nontoxic glue. Quickly put the acrylic glue side down on top of the tissue. Also quickly, turn it back over and smooth out the creases with a piece of scrap tissue paper (this helps prevent tearing).
5. Once both pieces of acrylic have tissue on one side, coat with the sealer and allow to thoroughly dry.
6. When dry, repeat take the dried pieces and repeat steps 3 to 5 on the opposite side, only this time use a light table to make sure that the registration of the two images is perfect.
7. Coat with the sealer. Each side should have about two coats of the sealer. Allow to dry.
8. Sand each panel on each side.
9. Apply a final coat of polyurethane to both sides of the sanded panels.
10. To make the metal frames: Remove the frames from the water and wipe clean, making sure they are thoroughly dry.
11. Use a gas torch to slowly fire the frames, making sure the metal does not get too hot (it turns a really ugly color).
12. Once the frames have been fired and have cooled, they should be sprayed with a clear acrylic coating for protection.
13. Attach the frames using the double-sided tape. Use a drill press to drill four holes into each panel.
14. Lace wax cotton through each set of holes and tie into a neat knot.
Website: www.lightminer.com
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