I really love Crafts Report. It’s one of two magazines I always read cover to cover (the other is Wood Carving Illustrated). Do you know what medium would be best to use to reproduce my carvings? They’re plaques ranging in size from 5″ x 6″ to 3 3/4″ x 8 1/2″. Thickness ranges from 1/4″ to 7/16″. I’m currently having them made in resin outside the USA but am not happy with that arrangement. I tried for over a year to find a place in this country put the prices I received were prohibitive. I’d really like to reproduce them myself so they’d be more personal and also keep them in the USA. I’ve made polyurethane molds and have experimented with 6-7 different types of plasters but all were too easily broken because of the thickness of the plaques. Any suggestions about what I can try next or where I can go for more information? I would really like to have samples ready for a big show I’m doing in January. Thanks for any direction you can give to me.
Lynne Krestan
Simple Wisdom, Inc.
“Each Plaque Tells A Story”
888-322-5373
Sorry I can’t help you with your January show, we put this magazine together 3 months before you see it. Have you tried clay? It sounds like your plaques could easily be made using press molds. The pieces could then be bisque fired unglazed and then painted in much the same way you would paint the resin or plaster. There would be new issues to deal with, none insurmountable however, one of the biggest is figuring out how to control warping with clay that thin. Congratulations on wanting to be a made in America artist.