Memento Part II: Finished

The memory of my memento: 

I was in Paris for a long weekend during my time living in London, and let's just say the city did not meet the standards London had set for me. The metro was far filthier than London's Underground, the city seemed to be run down whereas you could hear and see parts of London always under construction, wrought iron fences being painted and repainted to maintain levels of aesthetic and hygiene...and sorry, France, but Parisian's live up to the stereotype of French people hating foreigners, especially the Americans that we were. It was not until the last day, on our way back to our hotel that we were walking behind an elderly woman who turned to me since I was the fastest walker and came even with her first. "Are you Americans? Oh, I love Americans!"

The next twenty minute walk turned then entire weekend around because she was possibly the nicest, most enthusiastic person we had ever met and really redeemed the behavior of the Parisian people so I wanted a material that could start off cold with the room temperature and then heat up the longer you held it. Aluminum foil is an insufferable material to work with if you want to keep it flat and crinkle-free, but eventually I weaved it and placed in the bottom of a plastic mold (a Christmas ornament with the top cut off). I did not have resin yet, but I had "craft water," or the gooey, clear stuff people use to look like water in fake flower arrangements.

I did not stick with this first attempt because the gooey fluid was still a bit wet and did not stick to the foil once it had set.

 Here is the weaving process of attempt #2 once I had finally found resin.

Cutting the ornament mold and peeling it off was surprisingly easy, and here are shots of the finished piece. The one above is the underside.

The top side.

They are difficult to see, but inside are blue crystals inside. I did not expect them to be so hard to see, but I actually like that you have to move the piece or the memory around in order to find those brighter, colorful parts. I chose blue crystals because since the city was renovated in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the boulevards are really open to the skies, so the memory has a bluish-grey tinge to it.

Below are two shots taken in the photography studio....but resin is very reflective to light.

 The chain around it is to prop it up.