Have just started working more intensively with powders. My question relates to good studio practices to prevent cross contamination of colors and to keep the area clean.
(use a proper respirator and a big white cotton shirt over my warm clothes).
Because I am just starting, I am preparing small test tiles to go in the kiln together with any bigger piece. The test tiles are one small square of one color, and a strip with 2 or 3 colors partly blended. Often make several test tiles, so end up with lots of colors being used at the same time.
My questions are:
Can I wipe the plastic spoon with a tissue each time and keep using the same spoon for all the colors? Is this cleaning with a tissue enough to prevent cross contamination or do I need to use a different spoon for each color?
Same question about the little sieves. Is it safe just to wipe them well, or should I wash and dry them each time before using a new color? The sieves are the red ones with a flat bottom and a twisted wire handle.
At present I drop the used spoon in a bowl of water, and use a new one for each color. Wash and dry the sieves each time (currently have only two sieves).
Saving the powder:
I use a new piece of recycled printer paper for each tile. When using only one color, the spilled powder goes back into the bottle. The paper gets folded and into the waste bin, then use a new piece of paper for the next color tile. When I am mixing colors, the spilled mix goes into a small plastic container, labelled.
At the moment ending up with lots of little containers, with just a bit of powder in them.
Working area:
Have placed a large self healing mat on the table (a left over from my textile days). On this I use another, smaller (22"x16") mat. This smaller one I take out at the end of the session and hose it down. The bigger one underneath it I wipe clean with a wet cloth.
Keep a bowl of water handy to rinse my hands if they feel gritty.
Label all the powder bottles (currently only the small 5oz bottles) according to BE reactive chart, so I don't need to look it up each time.
I am hoping that those of you that work frequently with powder will share with me how you keep your space clean and the powders organised. I don't mean so much stored, but perhaps labelled in some meaningful way?
Am I perhaps paranoid about cross contamination? (reading about reactive issues is keeping me on my toes
). Is my cleaning regime good enough - or too much? The studio is in my home, and part of it is my office. I am not neat - my computer desk is always an untidy mess - but have learned to be organised, out of sheer necessity. I use the same table for cutting glass, for powder work, for cutting fiber paper, for assembling pieces to go in the kiln. So each lot with corresponding bits and tools has to go back to its storage space before I can make the next step.
When I started with glass, did one year at a local technical institute. We learned about good studio practices among other things. But I didn't work with powders then, so not sure where the reasonable line is between doing it right and not going overboard and wasting too much time.
Many thanks as always, seachange
Will get the Brite Chem. Black markers, even the waterproof ones, don't last at all.
. Cynthia's suggestions about making samples are both great. To my understanding, pate de verre makes use of many subtle variations in color depth, so the repeatable and deeper molds are really a necessity for that.
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