Resin is one trend I just cannot understand. I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I think it's so tacky and ruins materials that could be better used elsewhere 🥲
Resin is lovely if you use it with pigments and don't try to make it into something like... this. I make resin pendants and magnets and such with mica powder and they look really nice (I mean, of course I think so...) but materials like opals and other stones don't belong entombed in a plastic coffin.
Exactly! Whenever I see a poor crystal stuck in resin, I just want to set it free! It needs to breathe, lol. I don’t like putting them in glass either, even if it’s a pendant. I like to be able to touch my crystals, not have them lock up in jail, lol.
Agreed. Like I make DnD dice (for myself) with resin and just use pigments or glitter or whatever. But this? This is an atrocious use of resin. I'm so sad to see all of those opals ruined :(
Resin is great for things like minature models, like using it for water if you are making a underwater model. Or those dnd dice if done right. Its people who use these basic molds you can get off of amazon that makes it tacky
I use it to turn old trading cards into keychains. But up the ones that aren't worth anything but a few cents but have nice card art, cut out the art, encase it first in clear resin then add colored resin to the back so both sides look good. Give cards that would otherwise never be used or just sitting in a binder for the rest of time a second life.
That's awesome! A way to make a functional item out of an existing (but fragile) work of art. That kind of thing isn't "look at this resin art" it's more "resin is not the point of this, just a tool"
Exactly. I also make parts for cosplay with it. It's a useful medium if you use it for it's purpose and not just those a bunch of random shit it in and call it a day. I think of it like clay: yeah you could just squish it around to make a random shape out of it and call it art OR you could put a little extra work in and make something actually beautiful.
Its like picking a fight with planet earth. Imagine spending millions of years making something incredibly beautiful, only to have hairless apes making plastic gore with it. I'd be pissed off
With a bit of luck, once we've gotten much better at making cheap yet good looking synthetic opals (that look like actual opals) people like this will use the artificial ones instead of real ones for resin projects like these.
Ugh, I have a bowl full of raw opals that I like to sit and look at and run my hand through.
This just makes me sad for all those lovely opals. What a waste and no telling what that’s going to look like long term. Just want to dig all those out somehow. 😭
Well, that's one way to make dozens of beautiful stones into something ugly that looks like cheap tat. I love making resin art - but it does not mix with opals!
Why??? There are some beautiful pieces of opal there. They may all be thin slices, but there are definitely uses for them (doublets, triplets, etc). To use things of beauty is a terrible waste of the most gorgeous and colorful gemstone nature produces (IMO).
I have some ethiopian opals. They are really fragile. I tried soaking some in water to see their beauty. But they cracked once they dried up. Some even crumbled even if I didn’t put them in water.
I even think that making them absorb resin and then put in jewelry will make them more durable.
this is made by opaltrove. they’re a company who goes to ethiopia and resells roughs through socials so this was done for more social media engagement likely
"Jewlery grade" yeah no, they're resined to death because they're hydrophane and literally need to stay "wet". These specific type of opal do not have the same shine and color payoff when dry, they're just a milky cloudy rock until you submerge them in water. They have to stay wet in order to look anything like a regular Opal, which doesn't make making them into Jewlery easy.
Anyone remember the gawd-awful splotchy looking plastic trays and dishes from the 50s/60s? Looks just like those ugly ass pieces of shit. Except that tray will get more yellow than an ash tray in the 40s!
We need to have laws for this kind of atrocity! Set them in a nice wood or under urushi lacquer and this would be a beautiful work of art, just sticking them in resin is such a waste.
Popular demand? By unpopular demand, I demand that people please find better uses for their gems.