Time for the Blog Carnival! What patinas do you use? Any favorite recipes?
Any disasters? Techniques & tips?
Any disasters? Techniques & tips?
I do a lot of torch fired enameling. I like the colors you can get with enamels, but a lot of the time I think of enamels as a patina. Not trying to get a solid even color, but a color mixed in with metal, leaving a more weathered, aged look. The benefit of using enamels in this way is that the look is relatively permanent. I don't need to seal it in any way.
BUT one of my favorite things to do is experiment. AND patinas on metal just cry out to be experimented with. You also have to give way to complete control when experimenting with patinas. For me, part of the fun is seeing what happens when you mix it all up. (Also when experimenting with patinas, it is a good idea to be sure to wear the proper protective equipment – goggles, gloves, dust or fume masks, etc.)
| What you see here is an experiment with borax and heat. It is also cool to watch the borax bubble up when you torch it. | 
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I like to collect patinas. That means when I'm doing other processes like etching or pickling, I can't help but notice the reactions on the metal when I leave a piece out (for a long time - I'm a little sloppy!) after etching and noticing the natural patina it has. So I gather the materials that created that look and match them up in different ways. I have an old plastic muffin tin (is it still called a tin if it's made out of plastic?) and I'll put the bits I have left over or mix up some new combos. Later I'll add water and paint them on metal.
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This is a piece of steel with a torch patina
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| Here is a pair of earring with patinized enamel on the top discs and a salt, lemon juice, and copper patina sealed with clear nail polish. Sometimes I will seal my patinas with a carnuba wax, or hair spray (Aqua Net), or clear nail polish. A friend of mine just gave me a can of Nikolas spray lacquer, but I haven't tried it yet. She liked it a lot, said that it didn't affect the patina. Other patinas I use are liver of sulphur, prismacolor pencils, sometimes LOS with prismacolor pencils. | 
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