If you've ever wanted to try your hand at fluid art, a tray is the perfect place to begin. It's small, contained, and easy to manage - giving you the freedom to play with color, movement and techinques without feeling overwhelmed. Plus, you'll end up with a piece that's just as beautiful to use as it is to look at!
Artist Rakhi Jha is known for turning trays and other everyday objects such as charcuterie boards and furniture into stunning, functional art.
In this tutorial, Rakhi works her magic on a plain gold tray using layered resin, pigment, and alcohol inks blown into an abstract design with a hairdryer.
Follow along as Rakhi walks you through each step and shows just how approachable fluid art can be.
Let's get started.
What You’ll Need:
- A metal tray —Rakhi used a brass tray
- ArtResin
- Disposable gloves —for safe handling
- Mixing container
- Stir stick
- Small mixing cups and stir sticks —one set for each colorant
- Resin paste —Rakhi used Epoke Resin Paste in Plum Purple, Cardinal Pink, Light Pink, White, and Black
- Mica Powder —Rakhi used gold
- Alcohol Ink —Rakhi used white, gold, and pink
- Kamar Varnish —to seal the alcohol ink
- Maker’s Studio Torch —for popping bubbles
- Hair dryer with nozzle attachment — for blending layers
- Dust cover —to protect your piece while curing
Step 1: Prepare the Resin
Rakhi begins by figuring out exactly how much resin she needs. To keep things simple, she uses ArtResin's Resin Calculator - no guessing, no stress.
Enter your tray's dimensions (round or rectangular, in inches or in centimetres) and the calculator tells you the exact amount of resin and hardener to mix.
💡 TIP: For this project, plan to mix 2-3 times the calculated amount. You'll need a fairly thick coat of resin for the base layer and for the tinted resin used to create your design.
Once measured, Rakhi mixes equal parts resin and hardener for 3 minutes, scraping the sides and bottom to make sure it's fully blended.
She sets aside a larger portion for the base coat, then divides the rest into smaller cups. Next, she tints each cup with resin pigment paste and mica powder for the gold. Her palette includes purple for the base coat, light & dark pink, white, gold, and a small amount of black. Each color is mixed until smooth and evenly blended.
Step 2: Pour the Base Layer
Rakhi begins with plum purple for the base, pouring it evenly across the tray. She tilts the tray gently to help the resin spread evenly from edge to edge.
Once the surface is covered, she runs a torch over the resin to remove surface bubbles.
Step 3: Build the Wave Pattern
Next, Rakhi layers colors directly onto the base layer, starting with dark pink, then light pink, and a very small amount of black.
Next she adds a layer of white, a little more dark pink, and finally, finishes with gold.
This sequence keeps the colors balanced and lets them blend beautifully.
She torches once more - not only to remove the bubbles, but also to gently warm the resin. Heat helps the colors expand, blend, and begin forming cells.
Step 4: Blow Out the Design
Rakhi uses a hairdryer on low speed to blow the colors outward from each side of the wave. This creates movement, flow, and that signature fluid-art energy.
At this stage, Rakhi pauses. Cells are already forming, but they continue to evolve with time and gentle heat.
She lightly torches again, then lets the resin rest for a few minutes to allow the cells to develop naturally.
This is also a good time to fine-tune the design - use a toothpick or popsicle stick to pull out soft curls and refine the edges.
Once she's happy with the design, Rakhi covers the tray with a dust cover and lets it cure for 24 hours.
Step 5: Enhance with Alcohol Ink
The next day, the cured resin looks gorgeous - but now it's time to elevate the design even further.
Rakhi adds alcohol ink for a translucent, layered effect that lets the resin design underneath to shine through.
She starts with a bit of white alcohol ink on the surface, followed by a drop of pink and a few dots of gold. Using the dryer, she gently blows the ink outward.
She repeats this 5 or 6 more times, building delicate patterns across the tray. The effect is delicate, layered, and absolutely stunning.
Rakhi steps back, assesses the design, and adds more ink to any areas that need balancing.
Before pouring another resin layer, she seals the alcohol ink with Kamar Varnish. This step is important - it prevents the ink from shifting or bleeding once the resin is poured over top.
Step 6: Pour the Final Resin Layer
Now it's time for the final clear coat of resin. Rakhi pours a layer over the entire surface, tilting the tray so it spreads evenly from edge to edge and torching out bubbles.
Next, Rakhi adds a final blown-out design on top using plum purple, white and gold to echo the base layer.
Using a hairdryer, she blows the colors outward, then torches to remove bubbles and encourage cell formation. Finally, she uses the torch to remove bubbles and encourage cell formation one last time.
Rakhi allows the tray to cure completely. Allow the resin to cure for a full 72 hours before putting the tray into use.
💡 TIP: If desired, you can add one more clear coat for extra depth or if you wish to use the tray for serving food. ArtResin is food safe once cured, but if pigments are added to the clear resin, it can no longer be considered food safe. In this case, we recommend pouring a final, clear top coat to restore its food safety and allowing it to cure for 72 hours before use.
Rakhi says: " Look how gorgeous this tray is! You can’t even tell you’ve done it in layers. Although you can see each layer, they all blend so well together."
We hope you enjoyed this tutorial and feel inspired to make a fluid art tray of your own!
To see more of Rakhi's work:
Visit her website: www.mohanima.com
Follow her on Instagram: @mohanima_art
Watch her YouTube tutorials: @mohanimabyrakhijha5276
ArtResin: The Original Epoxy for Resin Art.
