While it is true what they say, that it's the singer and not the song, and tools don't make the man, or whatever it is they say . . . still, sometimes one stumbles upon a hitherto unknown implement that radically alters one's experience forever. Thus it was for me and my agate burnisher.Evidently agate burnishers are made for doing gold leaf, and I got mine at mammoth Shipwreck Beads in deep industrial Lacey, WA (also mailorder), as a birthday treat to myself a few years ago. I do a lot of burnishing in my film, printmaking, and craft work, and I collect agates whenever I'm on the beach (like my Dad before me), so it was a natural match. But I never could have anticipated just how useful a tool it is - right up there with my lupe magnifier, razor blade/ exacto/ metal straight edge & cutting pad, and tweezers as essential tools used daily.
Burnishing in general is something that doesn't get emphasized enough in art classes besides some forms of printmaking, but I have found it is a critical step in going the extra distance to polish up work to greatness. Metaphorically speaking, it's good for your reputation too, give it a good rub in all the nooks and crannies! There's two places I'm most commonly burnishing: 1. in making sure stuff stuck on film is good and seriously permanently adhered, on every square millimeter. This ends up making a big difference down the line over time, both in the structural integrity of the film original - making sure it holds together, but also in getting everything stuck on there in as sharp focus as possible, by smoothing it down onto the same fine plane. 2. the other common technique I use often is the tape-lift technique, and here burnishing is critical to ensure that as much ink or toner as possible gets lifted off the paper, by sticking every bit of the tape down. In both these burnishings, I usually use several light sources at different angles (flourescent lights are especially handy when available), so that I can see the reflection as I'm burnishing, and this shows me fine details where I've covered with the burnisher and where I still need to rub more.
The coolest things about the agate burnisher are that it never wears down, and it never leaves any mark or residue, no matter how hard you press. Both plastic and metal burnishers can sometimes have these drawbacks. Plus there's just something that feels good about using a beautiful rock that came from the belly of the earth eons ago, to buff up your stuff to a brilliant sheen.
