Testing Methods of Creation
Once I had an idea of the concept I wished to achieve, I knew I needed to find a way to make this come to fruition. I felt that MDF would be a good base for the structural element. I contemplated the use of coloured resin to create the 'glass' part of the piece, however, this seemed like it would be a messy and expensive process which didn't necessarily look how I wanted it to.
My second option was to use coloured perspex pieces and cut them to jigsaw together with the wooden frames. To begin with, I trialled it out with the scrap pieces from the laser cutting room, I wanted to see if it was a feasible project. What I realised was that some of the segments were quite small and fiddly to place, there was also more risk of them getting lost.
I knew that you could purchase sheets of translucent, coloured perspex, but I wanted something that seemed raw and handmade as the medieval glass was hand blown. I began by painting the pieces with ink mixed with glue, trying to gain a tint to the perspex. Some of them looked okay, but the colour didn't stay on as much as I would have liked.
After thinking about it for a while, I talked to one of the technicians about what I could do and how I could go about it. He informed me that perspex could be dyed and I set out to experiment with this.
Dying Perspex
Once I found out that this was something that could be done I headed to the print and dye workshop to get in touch with someone who would be able to help me. I organised with the technician to have a session teaching me how to dye the perspex so that I would be able to do it on my own.
To begin with, I needed colour swatches, these were scanned and broken down into pigments so that I would be able to recreate the colour with the dyes. I had to work out the measurements using a series of sums, based on the weight of what I was dying, how much water I would need and how much dying powder to add.
Once these were completed next came the dying itself which took place in a vat over an induction hob. I had to bring the solution to the boil before adding the pieces of perspex, from there it took around ten minutes before the molecules were broken down and the perspex took the colour in.
If the colour was what I wanted it to be, I could let the pieces dry, if not, I had the ability to alter the colour by redying the segments and changing the recipe by adding more of a certain powder.
I was extremely happy with the results and knew that I wanted to use this method going forward to hopefully achieve my final outcome.
