Phase 2 - Boundary Oak

After picking up the pieces I would turn into a couple of submissions for the Exhibition at the Bedford Gallery, the next thing would be is to decided what I would be creating. The main thing to me is to be unique. Something I would probably not see in this gallery or have seen in the Tri Valley. I love going to galleries and enjoy the artwork others have created, so I had a good idea of what others were making. I decided to make a table top using my talents in varied mediums. So a mixture of Resin, Metal and embedded items. I went online and purchased a table top mold, because I wanted to be sure it wouldn't fail, if I tried to make a mold myself. I'll only get one shot with these pieces. Once used there was no turning back, so I needed something fail safe in a mold.

Deciding on the size was another thing... How many of the pieces did I want to fit in one tabletop? One or 2 or all three? I settled on 2 pieces because I'd have to cut up a complete slice which I didn't want to do, if I wanted to fit all three.

Preparing the pieces, I blew off the webs and loose pieces and then sealed them so the dried oak pieces wouldn't soak up all the resin. I poured a thin layer of Clear Resin into the mold after using my Vacuum Chamber to remove as many bubble as possible. The key for this piece was to have it be crystal clear if possible so the beauty of the oak would shine through. I placed the sealed Oak slices into the mold on top of the clear resin and let it set up over night.