Copper Experimentation

A week or so ago I took my copper out of the kiln earlier than I normally do, it was about 500 degrees. When I rinsed it under water it coughed and sputtered, but with a few swipes with a wire brush I really liked the results. Much more rustic than when they are tumbled to a high shine and then torched.

Although I was pleased with most of them the results were fairly inconsistent.

So when I fired a load last night I tried something else, I did take them out of the kiln while hot quickly quenched them in cold water then I gave them a very quick tumble, no more than 5 minutes.

I liked that too!

These were ok but I thought what happens if I torch them now...

LOVE!!!

It softens up the bright sort of brassy look the copper can sometimes get and give it a soft iridescence,
a soft matte glow.

Here's a grouping, the 3 on top are given a micro tumble and then torched,

2 bottom micro tumble only.

Here's a comparison of a long tumble, bright copper that has been torched on the left and

on the right, micro tumble then torch.

I've created this piece and the first piece at the top of this post on Scratch Foam,

 here's some info on that in case you missed it.

Scratch Foam Original Textures

I love that you can do so much with copper, it's like a Chameleon!

I hope you enjoyed my little experimentation!

Here's some more I posted on My Blog that I fired last night using micro tumbling.

Kristi

KristiBowmanDesign.Etsy