High Desert PolyGlaze
Applying High Desert PolyGlaze is very easy, but it is sloppy, so work on a styrofoam plate or on waxed paper (something the tile won’t stick to).
First, shake your glaze. Since this creates air bubbles, it is smart to do it at the beginning of your work session, so some of those bubbles have a chance to settle. When you’re ready to glaze, pour a little in a small cup.
Wet a fat brush and dip it in the glaze without removing much of the water. “Slop” the glaze on the face of the tile, making sure to get it to settle into the depressed areas of the image. Run the brush around the tile edges to glaze them.
Add more water to smooth things out and add more glaze to add more color until you get a look you like. If you can’t get satisfied, rinse the tile under running water and start over. As long as the glaze is wet, it will wash right off. Once the glaze is dry, though, it will not need to be sealed because it will be permanent and waterproof.
Poke at any air bubbles with the tip of the brush to break them. If some still remain, pick up the tile and drop it from an inch or so above the surface. That should get rid of them.
Set your tiles aside to air dry. Using a heat tool or hair dryer to hurry the drying along is not recommended. A glaze, by definition, is meant to suspend pigment in a transparent, even layer over a surface. A hair dryer or heat tool will move the pigment around during the drying process and interfer with the evenness of the color. When all the shine is gone, the glaze is dry.
The cactus and bushes were glazed with Chamisa Sage and allowed to dry. Then the whole tile was glazed with Adobe Dust - trying to avoid the cactus and bushes. Chamisa Sage was then gently fed into the wet Adobe glaze and allowed to blend as far as the horizon.The tile was left to settle and air dry.
A reader asked last month if we had tried adding Pearl Ex powdered pigment (Jacquard) to our glazes. We hadn’t, but always up for a new experiment, we thought we’d try it. The first opportunity presented itself with this unusual two layer polymer tile.
The tile itself was made as follows:
The Petroglyph Stamp (Rubber Monger) was stamped on a piece of Sculpey (1/16" thick), which was then cut out with a deckle edge scissors (dipped in cornstarch powder first).
Another Sculpey tile was made (1/8" thick) which was textured with the Hemp paper from our Texture Pack. We powdered the paper, laid it on the clay and rolled a brayer over the back of it. We put the petroglyph tile on top of the textured tile, patted it down a little, and baked the whole thing.
When it was cool, we glazed the top tile with Adobe Dust and let it dry. We wanted a darker, rock-like color for the textured layer that would harmonize well with the Adobe, so we used the Adobe glaze and mixed in some Pearl Ex Antique Copper. This mix went on rather dark, so we came back with a wet brush and lightened it. Then, while the glaze was still wet, we dipped the tip of a dry brush into Pearl Ex Sparkle Copper and flicked some on the tile here and there. Pretty interesting - now we’ll have to see what else we can do! We’ll let you know.
Lots and lots of you already own our Texture Pack. But, it is a product that we are always trying to improve, and every time we encounter new textures, we add them. Usually this changes 1 or 2 pieces out of the 18 different ones in the Pack (2 are repeats because they get used more) and we don’t mention it. But this time, we hit a bonanza and added 7 new textures at once. If you bought the Pack prior to July 15, you might want another one. Don’t feel sad - there are textures in your pack that are gone now. Here's a look at the newest configuration: Texture Pack. If you don’t have these, you might want them.
By the way, we know this product gets mentioned a lot, but that's because we use it so darn much!!
