Laser cut letters - Part 1

My first instinct with what to do with the laser-cut letters once I got them back to my studio was to play with them! I didn't have any words or phrases in mind so I thought I'd experiment with the aesthetic of them instead.

While I was initially drawn to the rawness of the laser-cut letters as they were I thought I'd throw paint, glue, and varnish at them to see if I could enhance them at all.

Paint - an obvious choice, I went for black, white, and purple (a colour from my research into artist-teachers). I found that thick coats were needed to ensure full coverage. I wanted to keep the natural burnt sides of the letters so had to practice my best 'staying in the lines' painting - something I'm still working on!

Colour still makes me a little nervous so at the moment I am preferring the black and white letters. The contrast of the white paint and burnt black edges pleases me, but I also enjoy how the black letters almost become voids. 

Glued together - the laser cutter can only cut letters so thick (6mm I believe), which these 'm's are, however, I wanted to see what happened if I made them taller. As with my painting, I also need to practice staying in the line with my glue. 

Once dried I wasn't too convinced the extra hight added anything. 

Varnish - I like the idea of outside art and varnish is the way to go to achieve work that will not just rot away. There two k's took a dip. More coats are needed, I found the MDF just seemed to drink the varnish in - I'm not too sure how water proof they are currently. 

Sanded - the burnt edge of the letter is one of my favorite parts of them, but I wondered what they would look like without it! It was difficult to sand off the burn, time-consuming and fiddly, and then after all that I was not a fan of the end outcome. I felt it made the letters feel wrong in some way.