Technique

 I need to read back myself and figure out things I have seemingly forgotten, like how to get the dried gelatin out of the dishes. I use pyrex pie plates, bowls, and other glass dishes to make the pieces because I like the gloss that comes from the surfaces, but actually flexible plastic is so much easier. 

I swirl the molten gelatin around in bowls to make large pieces for the flowers, conveniently shaped like flowers already. In the plastic bowls, the thinner edges generally pull away from the bowl as they dry, since it shrinks a little I believe. If the gelatin is in the right stage, I can pull on the loosened edges and pry the rest of the piece out carefully, avoiding tearing it, and the gelatin can stretch as it pulls away, adding lots of ruffle and shape that I can't control, which I like. Most times I can get it out in one piece, or a couple anyway.

With the glass bowls, the edges stick too tight, but sometimes I can make a little cut in the still wet gelatin in the bottom of the bowl and pull it out from there. Gelatin is surprisingly strong and holds itself together unless it is too thin or too wet. I can also get the edges  slightly wet, using a brush, and that rehydrates them enough to be at an earlier, more flexible stage. Other times I use a knife or my fingernail to cut through the wet part enough to get the piece starting to pull away enough to leverage the whole thing.

Sometimes with the pie plates I have to run a little water over the whole thing, a little like starting over, and then wait until it is at the "right stage." I am pretty sure this is my problem with things sticking too tightly to remove. I've gotten lazy about timing and am letting them dry too long before tending them.

If I mix it up in the late afternoon, it is usually too wet to mess with at bedtime, and by the time I get to it 12 or 18 hours later, I missed the flexible stages. If I mix it up in the morning and then try to flip it over before bed, that is probably better. I just have to plan it that way and then stick to the plans. 

When I assemble the pieces, I often brush them with water to bend them a little, tear them with a ruffly edge, or make a cut or glue a joint. To glue them, I use molten gelatin, spoon or dip the places I want to glue together, and hold them for 90 seconds, or prop them in some way that they will self-adhere. It can be messy and it takes a lot of time, as well as hand strength. I usually work on multiple pieces at once so they can sit and really get firmly attached, because it is easy to accidentally make them come apart and have to start over. They accumulate a layer of a kind of cubed-up gelatin that is past the glueing stage and just makes the joints thicker and less clean-looking. I generally try to scrape that off.

So in case you are working with the dried gelatin, here is my recipe again: Fill a quart canning jar half full of cold water, and stir in 6 ounces of gelatin powder, gradually, avoiding lumps. Hot water will lump it up fast, so be sure to use cold. (Hot water is advised for the Jell-O brand, to dissolve the bigger quantity of sugar, not the gelatin.) I just use plain, generic gelatin I buy in bulk online.

Then let the mixture sit for 10 minutes or so, to "bloom" or absorb water, and then melt it in the microwave for 2-3 minutes. It should end up clear, and then you can pour it into smaller jars to add dye or other things (like gold powder) and then into your dishes or molds.

If you are just starting out you may find silicone or plastic molds work easily. You can flex them to pop the pieces out, but keep them thinnish, say 1/4 inch thick or thinner. A cupcake of gelatin will not dry and will probably mold, but just the outside layer of a cupcake will work fine. 

There is usually a layer of foam on top of the quart jar, which you can skim off, lay in a plastic lid or something, and use for clouds or seafoam or lace, as it's nicely white. The plain gelatin is kind of yellowish. I just use fabric dyes mostly, because I have those around, but you can color it with a lot of things, from food coloring, to candy coloring to paint. I also have a lot of powdered pigments like metallics and neons that I use regularly. You should certainly experiment with what you have around rather than investing heavily in expensive art materials. Remember, Jell-O Art is kind of anti-art, in that is accessible, inexpensive, experimental and irreverent. Nobody is going to be a Jell-O Art Critic. 

So check on your gelatin after maybe 6 hours and see what it will do. You can cut it, press things into it, and later paint it or whatever works. You can coat fabrics or cheesecloth with it. Here's some human forms made eons ago by the person who first tried drying it, in our group anyway, Celeste LeBlanc. They're made from net and fabrics coated with the gelatin. I think she made it even thicker than I do, and embedded various things in it, like snakeskins and ribbons.

The image at the beginning of the blog I made by cutting a pie plate of fairly thick gelatin in a spiral cut, from the center out to the edge. Then I carefully pulled it out an hung it up to dry. It is boingy and very fun and I have made lots of these and smaller ones since then. Getting movement out of gelatin is just extra fun you can have.