flatr things!

I have so many ideas floating around in my head and sometimes I actually attempt to make them. In 2011 I wanted to make Flatr Rings. Something I had thought about for a long time. I found a laser cutting company and had a go. I think I had about 800 made in my first efforts to get them right. The idea was to have these very thin, clear rings with messages etched into them, turning the images or messages WHITE in the etching process. You would read through 2 or 3 rings and have the message. I tried it with very thin acrylic, which ended up being too thin. They broke after a couple of days of wear. I had to move to a little thicker width, 1/8 in thick acrylic. I had lots of them made in all different sizes and sent them off the friends to wear and give me feedback. Let me explain, I happen to like very large rings, so the size did not bother me. But it bothered many of my friends. The other complaint was they felt "rough" on the edge. Now, unless I wanted to have molds made, have those rings poured, which would be very expensive, the cut edge of the acrylic would be a problem. I pulled out of wet/dry sand paper and started sanding, until I had just about sanded the end of my fingers smooth. So now all of these years later, I would like to see what is up with the rings and my original idea. I even made a fun little logo! (Below is my first concept drawing, showing shapes, words, transparency and colors choice .. .unfortunately, acrylic does not come in these lovely colors, only blues, red, yellow.... )

Then while I was making Flatr Rings, I was trying to make a skull in resin. I had this fabulous idea that I worked out every little detail on my way to and from work for years. This was a great way to keep me sane during my insane commuting years. In the end, it was just too expensive to achieve what I wanted. But I did not give up. I was thinking about the rings, and though ... I could cut some skulls out of clear acrylic, place them on the wall with stand-offs for a sleek modern take on an old idea of skulls floating on a wall. I talked it out with Branden, my very important person who knew all laser cutting, etc, things. After thinking it over, I decided to have my to do my first run in MDF as a prototype. I have gotten one painted and the rest wait for me in my studio. And now, I want to make more. In acrylic!