Resin Autopsy

As a followup to my crushing resin experimentation, I have exchanged information with many artists using resin and the best guess seems to be that perhaps my resin - particularly the catalyst, has probably expired.

One artist told me EnviroTex Lite has a shelf life (again, particularly the catalyst hardening agent) of about 1 year, which is not hard to reach if you include the time from when it is made, sitting around until shipped to a retailer, then sitting around until it is purchased (and then mine sat around for probably an additional 9 months until I got around to having the nerve to try using it).

So rather than give up entirely, I am going to buy some new catalyst (now I know I can skip the quart size stuff) and try another round of experimentation.

It was hard to throw away 6 ruined paintings and I have yet to throw away my skateboard landscape painting, but I know I have to at some point here. It is never going to harden. It was a good thought. It looks cool. Too bad it is a gooey shiny surface.

I'll leap in again. I've got to get it right at some point here. The basic lessons I've learned so far are: mask and ventilation, measuring accurately can not be overly emphasized, stirring sufficiently (at least 2 minutes), low humidity/high temperature (about 70 degrees or so), heat gun helps removed bubbles... and resin *does* have an expiration date.

It won the last battle. We shall meet again...