Very nice work! Wonderful fountains! I love the frog on the edge of the birdbath.
Thanks for sharing!
Marcia

Hi, valolson1 love the primitive look that you have given these pieces!
Yes, must agree it has gone rather quite here, could be something to do with the weather, heat, storms, flooding-yes lets blame it on the weather!-at least the search engine works great! lots of info' there! Wendy

How did you make those saucer/shallow bowls? What did you use for your mold???
Julie

I love big saucer type shallow bowls and you can really get creative with molds. I've used plastic snow saucers, the wire cage that goes over a fan, and sometimes I use a big restaurant stainless steel bowl and only go halfway up with the mud. You can also use baskets covered with several large garbage bags. You just have to keep your eyes open for interesting molds. Good luck and happy mudding!

I ran across you photos a few days ago and loved them. I love the pot you made with the lids and the pot that look like 3 together. Very nice work. I totally agree with you on having to find what works for you and just playing and having fun.There a a few things you have to do and the rest is up to you just haveing fun and getting creative . I have found Im now the most popular lady in the neighborhood with all the kids. We have had to have a few kid days. They just cant stand a adult playing like that and not being a part of it. Thanks for shareing you beautiful work and giving me some wonderful ideas.
Bea

Your post is over a year old and continues to inspire! thank you so much for this link. I'm going to try making a stand with a tash can I was about to throw a way.....

OK, I'll take you up on sharing tips. I have been making hypertufa for years, and taught classes at the botanical gardens many times, but I am still trying for that perfect appearance. I have acheived it on ocassion, but have problems duplicating the look I want. For example: I have made many pieces inside a large plastic salad bowl. The unmolded piece naturally has a slick looking surface that needs some work. I have sometimes misted water on the partly cured surface to wash out some of the surface cement. On others I have lightly brushed the surface to remove the slick look. sometimes I have waited to wire brush the surface after it is pretty hard. I like a rugged look so I usually pick out the exposed peat moss spots to give an erroded appearance. I find that using a Behr's sealer on the surface helps retain the color and appearance on pieces not to be set out in the weather. I think my problem with consistency is my impatience and not being able to wait for the right time to brush, etc. The look I want is a rugged, pock marked surface with some visible perlite, surrounded by a rock like finish of uniform color. After the sealer it will have a very slightly shiney appearance if you look closely at it. I guess there is a question somewhere in all of this, but mainly your comments or finishing suggestions will be appreciated. Your reply should be helpful to others too.

When doing hypertufa, I think we all want to achieve that "elegant primitive" look. Yes, we want it primitive, but not amateurish. What I always do when I unmold is take a wirebrush to the piece. There is a limited time you can wirebrush and that is usually within about 24-32 hours, depending on how hot or cold the weather is. On an especially large piece, I wirebrush the outside exposed part, but let it set another 24 hours before unmolding...to make sure it is hard enough to flip over. Believe me, I've broken many a piece by "flipping before it's time".

To achieve that "elegant primitive" look, I religiously wirebrush, and then I save the "shavings" for the next batch. Then, I take a putty knife to the edges. I do not like a rough or uneven edge, and many of my customers don't either. I carve around the outside edge, as well as the inside edge. I want it to have that look of being chiseled out of a rock, much like an Indian grinding stone or metate.

My favorite part of hypertufa, is wirebrushing and carving with my putty knife. Even tho I "de-clump" my peat moss before mixing, I never worry about those random clumps of peat moss, because they usually leave the most interesting pit marks.

Much of the success with hypertufa is just using the recipe of equal parts of peat moss, portland cement and perlite. The other part of it is using plastic bags over everything you use for a mold. If it's big, it never hurts to use 2 or 3 bags. It makes it so much easier to release the mold from your project. I've also found that when you find plastic bowls or other type molds with no edges or seams, your finished piece will have a more seamless "rock like" look. Another trick I like to use is to use a mold within a mold. In other words you can do an inside mold and fill with mud. Take a smaller bowl or whatever you want to use that's smaller, and cover it with plastic. Squeegee (spelling???) or squish it down the center until you have the depth and width you want. Take out the inner mold. At this point, I like to use a plastic wrapped nerf ball (in other words, don't unwrap it when new) and just roll it around the edges. It gives it that rock-like smooth edge. This nerf ball is one of my best tools. You'll see.

You can experiment with a square shape like one of those plastic trays that carry flats of plants. You line the tray with two garbage bags and fill with mud. Take a smaller bowl, covered in a plastic bag, and squish it down the center. You'll have a nice circle within a square. These are great birdbaths for meditation type gardens.

Sometimes, I feel like people make it way too hard. I basically like to keep it simple and have found that this makes for the most interesting look.

Thanks for the reply. My experience agrees with yours exactly except I have never tried a nerf ball. I think my problem is not using the same routine of wire brushing each time, and I over do it sometimes, removing too much material. I think hardness of the piece and the amount of brushing are critical. I'm glad to hear my thinking is not too far off. I find a coating of Behr's sealer helps retain the original look.

I agree. Behr's Wet Look Sealer is the best...I just wish it wasn't so expensive.