This week I’ve been undertaking a series of experiments to attempt to create a variety of colours on a variety of metals.

Patination experiments

This has involved using various chemicals, stamping my experiments so I know which is which later, taking copious notes as I work and using Top Secret (!) recipes which take anywhere from three seconds to two or more days to get the desired results. It really has made me feel ever so slightly like a scientist!

I still have some more experimenting and testing to do, but so far I’ve had some interesting results, as you can see above.

In my experiments I’ve been using a variety of chemical recipes to try to achieve a wide variety of colours on a few different alloys, including sterling silver, gilding metal and shibuichi. I’ve also been testing the finishes to see how well they will survive general wear and even being coated to help preserve them.

So what’s this all for? Well it’s a start on the new range of work I plan to have completed in a couple of months and which will be sold in my handmade jewelry shop. I’m using my trip to Ubud in Bali as inspiration and really want to bring some more colour into the work to reflect the vibrant nature of the place. I’ve also wanted to start using some different metals in my production work, so this is a good excuse to test the ways in which they can be used as far as patination goes.

I’ll write more about the development of this range as I move ahead with it. For now, you can see some of the photographs I took during my trip on Flickr: here, here and here.