I finally got some Baldwin’s Patina to try on my pieces of mixed bronze and copper clay. I learned about it from Hadar’s blog, and was happy to see that Rio Grande carried it. It makes quite a difference. The copper turns to a rich color that contrasts better with the bronze. I wish it did not color the bronze at all, but it does, slightly.
The piece on the left has been oxidized with Baldwin’s Patina.
To try another patina, I took the untreated piece on the right and suspended it in a sealable container over a shallow layer of ammonia with a little vinegar added. I then sprinkled the piece with salt. I left it covered for about 6 hours. Love the color! There seemed to be no difference in how it colored the bronze or copper. I will definitely try this again, in a more controlled way. (I wonder if there could be any kind of “resist” used to control where the blue color goes.) I also applied Renaissance Wax to this to see if it affected the color. It didn’t seem to change it much. Below is the piece, with the Renaissance Wax applied.
Next, I took another piece and tried a mixture of oatmeal, cranberry, and chocolate, and applied heat for about 10 minutes.
Barbara S Fernald Jewelry 
you totally got me with the last one! the way i read your blog is read/scroll/look/read/scroll/look…i couldn’t WAIT to see what that last patina was going to do! (did i mention i was a bit distracted in a room full of ninth graders?!) i may be a dummy, but how did you get salt to stick to a suspended piece? that blue color is gorgeous…. so sorry you had such a stinker of a day the day before!
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It does have me thinking about using oatmeal and ammonia….Or wondering how tea leaves would work….
I had seen the solution in a book about patinas. (The Jeweler’s Directory of decorative Finishes by Jinks McGrath) Then, when Fritz’s girlfriend, Meg, was here, she mentioned having tried it in a jewelry class. She made a little wire form to hold the piece flat above the ammonia/vinegar mix. So I just used some brass wire to make a nest and placed the piece flat on top. It was above the ammonia. I sprinkled Kosher salt on top and put the lid on. It totally worked. I’m psyched to try it again on just bronze.
The day before might have been frustrating, but I took the blue patina photo that night in the kitchen. Then I looked over at the rack of cookies that were cooling, and I cracked myself up!
Still no luck coming up with a random $1,000 for the conference in Chicago…..Looks like Purdue in 2010 for me.
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me too…i’m working on finding kid-care for a day or too so i can maybe still come work with you a couple of days….if the summer hasn’t filled up for you yet!
xoxo
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ha ha!! You are too funny Barb. My reaction to the cookie wasn’t far off from my reaction to your other pieces: oooooh, mmmmm!
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