trolip, You did a great job painting it. Just beautiful! You can use masonary screws on the back and wire. You can mortar a wire to the back. I think Marly was embedding plastic straws then threading wire through the straw. Billie

Ooh! The straw idea sounds good for future reference!

Great job painting! Did you use an airbrush?

Thanks for the compliments! I just used a art brush about 1/2 inch wide, with watered down acrylic paint & a lot of paper towels to dab the paint away :)

GT, Never thought of using an air brush, good idea. Check with Marly about embedding the drinking straw. I think she did that so the cement wouldn't corrode the wire and if the wire broke or rusted you could replace it. Billie

Some while back Peak Poet had good success with attaching a hook for hanging with Plumbers Epoxy Putty on an item that he had done a while before and decided that he wanted to hang it.......Wonder how he is doing?

Jilly

Nope, no air brush. Just a simple artist brush. With feather like strokes from the edge of the leaf inward.

I don't think you would want to put screws in the back of that leaf. You risk breaking it.
Any good epoxy should work well provided you scrub and rough the area well to remove any surface film/dust created by the curing concrete. But wait until the leaf has fully cured before doing anything.
You might want two separate glue contact points on each end of the wire.

I tried the plumber's epoxy and it was not a success for me. I had several leaves crash to the ground before I knew it. I embed the wire into the wet cement, although I didn't think about the corrosive aspect. What about using galvanized wire?
GB

GB
Plumber's epoxy is probably a poor choice. There are epoxies you can buy at your local boating store that are designed for concrete. G2 Epoxy is an excellent choice. It doesn't set glass hard like most epoxies so it gives a bit rather than crack. I use it and it is terrific. After all it's used to attach stuff to concrete boats hulls.:)
But there are a couple of factors most people don't take into account.
One is forgetting to remove unseen surface film created by the curing process before applying glue.
The other is the tremendous force that the weight can apply to a poorly positioned contact point. The combined forces can be huge but trying to explain good positioning is difficult.
Best is to install hangers while the work is wet.

But if you have a big piece you want to hang overkill is a good idea.

Maybe a ruler shaped chunk of diamond wire mesh (most everyone has this stuff) maybe a inch or 2 wide right cross the back pressed into several glue points along it's length.
Then using the exposed diamonds attach several wires. Never tried it but it's what I would try for a heavy piece.

Howdy... just got a chance to read this thread today and saw my name! lol Here is a pic of that flexible drinking straw imbedded into back of my sun/leaf/man....

{{gwi:70077}}

It is still holding strong!

If your piece is thick enough to drill screw holes into, make the holes a bit larger and then put one of those hollow plastic screws in the hole and THEN your screw. Be gentle with tighting the screw ... the plastic will give you a little 'give' but don't push your luck! lol

I might try that epoxy idea a try for some of my 'after thoughts'. ... can you get that marine stuff at a Canadian Tire store?

Marly

The straw idea is cool.

Lee Valley Tools will sell you some G2 Marly.
They have other epoxies that are good as well.
I was told the West System Epoxy is even better, if you can figure out which one. Very specilized stuff that!

Here is a link that might be useful: Epoxy up the Ying Yang!

I just want to clarify a misunderstanding.
Marly I completely agree that screws can be used.
I've been screwing concrete for years with great success.:)
I was referring to 'that' lovely leaf pictured on Garden trolip's table specifically. :)
It was my view that it doesn't appear be thick enough and has so much separation between it's parts that a screw strong enough to support it would possibly break that leaf.

An improvement on the straw could be aquarium tubing. It is more flexible. Even if it rots out, the wire could be replaced. I would try the tubing with wire in it when embedding, so you keep the curve you need and the plastic doesn't try to straighten out before the concrete sets.

I have also learned to use that braided wire for hanging heavy objects, the kind used for picture frames.

Sue