A Testing Patina?

I was in the shed earlier on, spraying the footrest I've made for my daughter a metallic purple.

As I ghosted the can back and forth, a waft of paint drifted onto the workbench adding another colourful contribution to the happenstance Pollock that's been building up since I fished the boards out of a skip in the centre of town *cough* years ago.

That's not to mention the various scratches, cuts, dents, dinks, and drill holes that pepper the surface. Yes, I thought to myself, this bench has a real patina.

On seeing my bench, a fellow maker and fixer would recognise it. The layers and shapes are archeological evidence of the variety of activities at different times, with different materials, operated on by different tools.

Which got me thinking: how and where am I building up patina in my work in testing? And how would anyone ever see it? And would they be able to appreciate it if they did?

Edit: I followed up with a few ideas in A Testing Patina

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