I Love Epoxy

I have been dying to make something with epoxy ever since I made an epoxy floor for C2 Paint back in 2002. Kids, work and the like have gotten in the way of that dream.  I have longed to collage a floor or back splash or counter in color chips and make it super glossy glossy.

Well I finally gave into the dream in the form of artwork. It was kind of by accident and my impatience. See I found the below image while I was Googling "ferris wheels" (why? why not.)

I liked this one from the LA Times for the color factor in my kitchen. I had planned on having it blown up to massive proportions on that wall, but the fact that it would take 3 days to get and the expense and the chance that my resolution would be sucky smashed that dream.

Instead, I messed around on Picasa with their "make a poster" feature and started printing out tiles of the image at 600%...

I was digging it, and it reminded me of my epoxy and paint chip days, so I went with the moment.

I'm so impatient. If I did order the giant poster it would still be sitting in the tube while I contemplated framing. I'm a "do it now or never" type of girl.

That's my secret to getting crap done. 

So off to HD to buy some thin plywood and some 1x2s. They cut it to 38"x48" for me. Kind of wish I did bigger, but I wasted all my printer ink on the first go with Picasa.

Next time. Boy's room.

I cut and painted the 1x2s.

Spray mounted the photo tiles to the plywood.

Then glued the frame together and onto the plywood.

Let it dry with weights...

Next I mixed up a 32 ounce kit of epoxy, (the kind they sell to pour all over bar tops covered in pennies and dollar bills). HD sells it. Mix it well and pour away. I used a ruler to spread it...

The key to getting rid of the little bubbles is to blow on them. I nearly passed out, so I broke out the hair dryer. It seems heat makes the bubbles vanish too and really fast, just don't inhale the fumes. Let it dry for 2-3 days flat. I didn't listen and hung mine the next day. After a few hours it started looking wavy because it hadn't cured and gravity was winning. I had to lay it back down.

Also, a few tiles started lifting, so i stuck thumb tacks in the corners and removed after two hours.

By then the epoxy was setting up, and oozed nicely back into the pin holes. You'd never know they were there.

Now just imagine all the stuff you can gloss up. Here is some good epoxy loving artwork for you to get inspired by...

apartment therapy

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I'm thinking backsplash ...