Mimmic Gallery & Studio

Hobby-X Midrand

2011-08-29T09:23:00.000+02:00

Creative Workshop

2011-06-29T13:03:00.000+02:00

Face Workshop

2011-06-29T13:01:00.000+02:00

Beginner Workshop DVD

2011-06-29T10:12:00.000+02:00

This is why we haven't set the new workshop dates yet.....

Learning the Art of Pewter is now as easy as buying a starter kit and a Beginner Workshop DVD!! We will be launching the DVD at the Creative Crafts & Arts Expo which is Starting on Friday 1st July. We couldn't wait until then to share it will you, so here is a little sneak preview... Enjoy!!

Pewter Filigree Work For Trays & The Use Of Liquid Glass

2011-05-16T10:06:00.000+02:00

I receive many enquiries on how to use liquid glass, resin or Pratliglo (a name brand) to finish off trays that have been pewtered. This post is specifically for the lady who emailed us last week enquiring about the Pratliglo and for my Thursday students who are all busy making trays. Here are a couple of tips and thought processes to help you through this somewhat daunting process.

Filigree work also known as lacework is a perfect way of creating pewter for a tray. It allows the wood to show through the design and creates a tray cloth effect. There are a couple of important tips to create a fail proof project.

Only create LOW RELIEF work. If you do high relief work you have to use an enormous amount of liquid glass to cover all the raised work which will make your tray expensive and very heavy!
Use our cutting tool (on a cutting mat) to cut out the negative areas where you cannot get scissors in to do the job, the cutting tool helps to create a smoother edge better than that of a craft knife.
Make sure your work is properly polished and remove any ugly marks, neaten all edges, be precise and very neat as the liquid glass acts as a magnifier and emphasises every tiny imperfection!

Your pewter work does not have to be sprayed as it is sealed with the liquid glass. Glue the pewter down very well with an overall thin layer of glue, this is very important as the liquid glass will run under the pewter and lift it and / or air will be trapped under the pewter which will then escape in the form of little bubbles later when you have covered your work and left it to set, these bubbles are so annoying because you will only detect them when it is too late to remove them and they will remain as a reminder that you should have glued your work down better!

This tray which Michelle did was not cut out to create a filigree pewter piece. Instead, Michelle applied her patina, polished her work to create a beautiful shiny background and then re-applied patina with a paint brush to the design creating a stunning contrast between dark and light.

Pratliglo is the liquid glass product which we sell in the studio. It is a very simple but very precise process used to apply the product. Follow the instruction very carefully. I have a couple of important tips that will definitely help you through some issues you may have when working with it.

1. Never work with it when there is moisture in the air (when it is raining.) It will not set!

2. Equal quantities is imperative for the resin to set.

3. The two bottles of mixtures have to be thoroughly mixed; a missed speck of unmixed liquid on the side of the cup could cause the mixture not to set properly.

4. One box is sufficient for our long cocktail tray and two boxes is needed for the large square tray.

5. The 'huffing' not blowing motion over the poured resin is an extraordinary and fun process, the CO2 in your breath miraculously make the millions of bubbles disappear and leaves a beautiful clear glass effect.

6. Don't forget to cover the tray properly, a hair or ant stuck in your glass finish won't be great!

Fun With Pewter Trees

2011-05-06T09:20:00.000+02:00

A charming tree! We cut a wooden blank and covered it in pewter with bits of design and pattern work. The heart on the trunk was embedded into the pewter and other charms were glued on afterwards. The tree was glued onto a boxed canvas which Nicole painted sooo beautifully with Mimmic Studio wall aubergine, (my favourite colour!) before Nicole's paint job, I applied acrylic texture paste to the root area and the top right hand corner to give the canvas a bit of a lift. A fun creative project.

This tree canvas Nicole glued layers of torn newspaper onto the canvas and then did a paint wash over the print. Nicole covered her tree in pewter and painted areas as well. The finished canvas has this awesome funky look and both these trees have found a spot on the studio wall.

We have been a bit obsessed with trees over the past month, here again Nicole (who incidentally has become our great creator within the Mimmic walls) has made some more trees on canvases painted again in my favourite aubergine Mimmic wall colour! These are itsy bitsy small little canvasses and are such fun to group on a wall with a set theme of pewter work done on them.

There is nothing more important to feed a creative mind than sugar overload provided from an incredible source. Michelle arrived at the studio this morning with this deliciously gorgeous chocolate cake with seven minute frosting over it. Whoever past through our studio during the course of the day was treated to a slice of this delicious mouth watering masterpiece with their coffee. We love the idea that Michelle has gone on a baking frenzy and love being her vacuum cleaner. Yesterday was chocolate cupcakes, not sure if 3 times lucky applies and that we may have something tomorrow.

Pewter Coasters

2011-05-03T11:36:00.000+02:00

Hearts, hearts and more hearts. The theme I chose for this great set of coasters.

There is nothing nicer than sitting around a pub and having an unusual coaster to put your drink onto. Being able to create a practical and personalized set of coasters from pewter sheet makes for such a stunning gift. The pewter work is done in low relief, so as not to create bumps or lumps for your glass to sit comfortably. Themes could include drink names, family names, logos etc.

Our set of 6 coasters come in a matching wooden stand beautifully factory sprayed in an almost black lacquer. Cost R95 for the set (without the pewter work). The round indent can be done with a pewter inlay or the entire top can be covered with pewter as done in our example here. This is a stunning project to do for a guys 21st, 30th, 40th, Fathers day etc.

Happy Easter

2011-04-20T09:54:00.000+02:00

Cats - Pewter & Real

2011-04-08T07:43:00.000+02:00

This pewter lion was part of a framed Big 5 work which I did a couple of years back. My intention was to give the lion a realistic look. The texture on the background to the left is the leather look embossing plate in the Fiscar's range. I decided to put this photo on the blog after I had taken the photo below of our little black Panther, (well, that's what she thinks she is!)

I tried to grab an hour of quiet time after a hectic day yesterday with the intentions of working on a little pewter face in front of TV. My work surface is a cushioned melamine TV tray, the left half is my hard surface and the right half my soft (felt) surface. I had just gathered myself and picked up the first tool to start working when Bizkit the cat quietly climbed up onto the tray. She pawed each tool in tern until all the tools where on the floor besides the one in my hand. She then curled up on the piece of felt and started purring with delight at her comfortable space. I worked for 10 minutes using Bizkit's back as the soft surface to stretch my pewter and then neatened from the front on the melamine hard surface. The work deteriorated at a rapid rate and I gave up, not before I took the pic with my phone!

Pewter Book Covers

2011-04-02T12:04:00.000+02:00

A book with a beautiful personalised pewter cover has to be one of the most special gifts.

We spend many hours in the studio designing book covers for clients.

Here are a few examples of bookcovers we have created in the studio.

This is my handbag book. I never go anywhere without this book, not because I need the information inside it BUT simply to write information in it because I have a memory like a sieve and I fear not being able to remember things. This little book has helped me out more times than I can remember. It is filled with the most valuable, sometimes hysterical, informative which includes figures, facts, colours, measurements, book titles and any other arbitory wording, that when written seems to be of utmost importance to me right there and then. This wee little book makes for some fun reading and memory revival on long distance travelling when I am a bored passenger, (possibly the only time in my life that I have the luxury of sitting idle!)

My recipe book! I love this book, filled with my entire life as well as recipes of course! It is a huge thick leatherbound precious book. The right hand pages are filled with my glorious tried and tested recipes, (I am an avid cook and love food, food and food.) The left hand pages are filled with my written life, almost like a journal but more random info, facts, stories and bits of painting, sketching and design work. The cover is a pewter interpretation of Cerridwen the welsh goddess of Inspiration and creativity. She brewed a broth for one year and a day which produces three drops of inspiration.

Simone's dad's recipe book, the overall layout and design just worked so nicely.

I did a series of these lovely little notebooks some time back. The blocked design was done seperately and then backed with firm board, edges folded over and then glued onto the pewter cover of the book. The wording was engraved into the pewter as well as the fine lined designs on either side of the wording.

I have a fetish for blank books of all shapes and sizes and am presently creating a pewter and mixed media stunning small hand made book with matching box. I will post photos when it is complete.

New Workshop Dates

2011-03-31T17:09:00.000+02:00

For all the new workshop dates and to download the booking form please click here

Creating Pewterwork For Large Orders

2011-03-26T17:19:00.000+02:00

I have just returned home from a very productive and fun, full day beginner workshop at the studio. The photo above of some of the students first works all on a board together made me think of large orders that we do from time to time in the studio and how we work them in batches. Which in turn gave me the idea of a post on large orders.

It can be quite a daunting feeling when asked to produce a 100 wine labels or 50 jewellery boxes or whatever quantity of a completely hand made product. It is not generally the problem of working out what to charge but rather working out exactly how long it is going to take to complete the order and whether you have the time and or energy to complete so much work in the time schedule specified. Never forgetting that you do in fact only have two hands to do the work and bearing in mind that we pride ourselves in hand made individual items and do not create machine pressed work with a factory finish. Below are some sample pics of the larger orders that we at Mimmic are often faced with.

John and Simone's wedding in October 2010. Michelle and I created a design which we produced in Pewter as wine labels for the male guests and trinket boxes with a pewter lid with each lady guest's name worked on the top. The wedding was held at a game lodge near Bela Bela and the guests spent the night at the lodge. The wine and trinket box was placed on the pillows in each guest's room for them on their return from the reception. The gifts were the talking point of conversation the next morning at breakfast.

These jewellery boxes were created for a large American based company for their annual awards evening. We created a variety of faces and then produced each box with it's own character and finish. These were placed on the plate of each lady attending the ball. I was invited to the function and with amusement and pride watched as each lady touched and inspected her own beautiful personal jewellery box. The comments that followed from each and every person at the table was quite overwhelming as they discussed their stunning gifts and how they had never seen such amazing and unusual work, none of them aware that I had been the creator of the products!

Little wedding boxes, we made 120 of these boxes for a wedding using the leather embossing plate for the background and sides of the boxes. The invitations had the same logo on which I designed using the couples initials. They were so precious and looked stunning all together.

Tea boxes by the masses, with all kinds of designs. The tea boxes have always been so popular and make for a special and practical gift.

The teapot designs on the tea boxes have always been a firm favourite.

Trays and more trays with pratligo on. The pewter work is preferably done in low relief and filigree work (cutting out of the backgrounds of lacey designs) is done to show the beautiful wood beneath.

Another big order of pewter wine labels done for an insurance company for the world cup last year. The same design was created on a variety of wooden boxes and books.

Hope these pics have given you an insight into the corporate gift and function gift ideas for future pewterwork projects.

New Products!!

2011-03-26T10:51:00.000+02:00

Hi Everyone!

Just a little update on the new products that we are now stocking.

We are finally stocking a clear lacquer varnish!!

We are now also stocking square and rectangle silver frames!

Rectangle Frame

18.6cm x 21.5cm

Insert – 9.5cm x 6.5cm

R100

Square Frame

18.6cm x 18.6cm

Insert – 6.5cm x 7cm

R95

Back by popular demand are the tins. The are great for packaging munchies & nibbles, with a little pewter label on the top, makes it a perfect, personalised and affordable present.

Ink Tin

Oval Tin

Rectangle Tin

Small Rectangle Tin

Small Square Tin

Square Tin

For all prices and measurements visit our website

The Birth Of A Blog

2011-03-22T18:35:00.000+02:00

It is with delight that we start our Mimmic Gallery & Studio blogging journey. The need to tell you who we are and where we work from is obviously very important, so here are some pics of us and where we spend our days.

Mary Ann Lingenfelder

Michelle Grüner

This is the view of our gallery side of the studio with our offices in the distance

A weekly class in progress around the long Bali table.

Mary Ann watching over a beginner workshop.

Visit us often and share your thoughts with us. We plan to give you oodles of fun ideas, pewter tips, pewter ideas, pewter pics, design ideas and inspiration from all corners of our studio.