I did a two-day course in London and clearly remember being so excited after the first day that I couldn't sleep because I had so many ideas. You can read more about it here if you care to.
I love the effects that it can give and the fact that every piece is different and a complete one-off. I couldn't duplicate them even if I tried. I must confess that I do often think about laser-cut acrylic and how much easier it would be to produce jewellery like that, but I just can't do it. Why do I need to make everything so time-consuming? I don't know. But I find the results beautiful and fascinating, and when you buy a Shark Alley piece of resin jewellery, you will own something individual that has had a lot of work and time and love put into it.
So come on, let me tell you the story of two hares . . .
Step 1: They start life as this uninspiring shot glass of thick, clear liquid.
Step 2: The resin liquid is coloured using various pastes and powders and either poured or applied carefully into the moulds, depending on the effect required. Here I'm going for a lapis lazuli effect, and 'painting' small swirls of white and gold into a base of clear resin.
Step 3: Blue resin is poured in over the top until the mould is full. All I can see now is what will end up being the underside of each piece - I have absolutely no idea what the front will look like and how the different colours have blended.
Step 4: After 24 hours, the pieces can be popped out of the moulds and I finally get to see how they've turned out. These look OK! Now for my least favourite part - the sanding.
Step 5: The hares have come out of the mould looking quite matte on the top and rough on the bottom. To get them smooth and shiny, they need wet sanding with 6-7 grades of sandpaper. These start off coarse, and get finer and finer. This takes ages, and is hard on the hands. Have I mentioned how much I hate this part?
Step 6: Hurrah! The hares (and their friends) are all sanded and are having a final rinse.
Step 7: All dried off and ready for polishing. Sanding has removed some of the top layers of colour and left behind this lovely natural marbled effect. They look quite different to how they did in Step 4.
Step 8: Now it's time for the fabulous and multi-tasking Dremel tool to get buffing. I have about three different buffing bits that I like to use. This flat one is good for getting into little spaces and doing a good surface polish.
Step 9: After the buffing, the hares are given an extra polish with a special magic ingredient recommended by my friend Moira. You can clearly see the difference it makes - the pieces look like glass.
Step 10: The Dremel is put to use again for drilling shallow holes for the eyes to sit in. If one of the pieces going to become a necklace, I use a smaller bit to drill through the nose and tip of the tail.
Step 11: Vintage diamanté eyes are chosen and glued in.
Step 12: A brooch back is glued onto one hare and the other is put together with a star on sterling silver chain to make the Leaping Hare And Star Necklace.
Step 13: FINISHED! These hares have gone up to Crown Studio Gallery in Northumberland.
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