The Process

I've turned live a couple of times, but lately it's been more to myself. My escape from everything going on around me. But I'll fill you in a little.

For the blanks, I make multiple of each (as recommended to me by someone much wiser than I am when it comes to making brushes). And each time I pour a blank, I tend to make 4 "practice blanks", which I use to think up new shapes. I use specific dye for the polyester resin that gives it that fluid and sometimes shining appearance, and lately, I've been "Drop Pouring". I'm using this term because I'm not sure if another term exists for it and frankly, I don't care. To do this, I'm filling my molds up about 3/5 of the way with clear resin, then quite literally dropping in (see what I did there) the dyed resin. This encases it in the clear, and gives it a really cool look as if it's bleeding down. Naturally then I gotta let them sit overnight.

Inspiration for these color schemes can come from anything, really. But my favorite so far is an ocean themed brush that I gave to my cousin for Christmas (sorry it was late, Brandon). It was in my Genesis style, and had a clear waist and tail, but the head was white that faded into swirling blues. I look at it and immediately think of home, coastal North Carolina. With the crashing waves of the oceans, sea foam, and gorgeous clear skies overhead. And a ton of Marines, but that's a story for another time. It also reminds me of deployment, sitting in the hangar bay, watching the sun set on the horizon with nothing but the beautiful clear blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea around me.

Naturally these get turned to shape, wasting a practice blank or 2 in the process, then sanded and polished before being fitted with a knot to give you the pieces I love to see so much in the end.