Get Muddy! Make Earth Art
(Page 2 of 4)
October/November 2007
By Kiko Denzer
A well-finished plaster won’t rub off easily and can be cleaned. If you have pure fine clay soil and “sharp” quartz sand, your mud will be quite tough and hard. If you have silty soil and soft, “round” sand, your plaster will be more vulnerable.
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Earthen art can be further cemented and stabilized with binders. One approach is to mix sticky stuff like lime putty or wheat paste directly into the plaster. The other approach is to paint a penetrating wash, such as casein, whitewash or sodium silicate, over dry plaster.
Most plaster sticks well to most surfaces, though texture is often helpful, and sometimes necessary, depending on the thickness of the mud. Texture on a wall helps thick plaster stick — the thicker and heavier the layer, the more surface texture you’ll need for it to stick well. A thin plaster sticks beautifully to plain or painted sheetrock, with little or no prep. It’s also easily applied to most masonry, such as brick, stone or block. I even have applied it successfully to masonite and glass. Very fine mud works best on a smooth surface. Mud sticks to wood too, but because wood swells and shrinks, it must be covered with a layer of tar paper or other waterproof barrier, followed by a textured material for the wood to grab onto. Otherwise it cracks and falls off when the wood moves.
Maintenance needs vary, but the beauty of mud is that “worn” surfaces made of natural materials often look more interesting than fresh ones. Look at our love affair with ancient buildings. Traditionally, old buildings were maintained with a fresh coat of lime wash or other natural paint which, over the years, produces a “patina of age” that can’t be faked.
LOCAL COLOR
Colors can be mixed into the plaster itself or applied to finished surfaces. Try colored earths if you have any around your area — they’re especially common in the Western states. I collect natural earthen color pigments when I see them in road cuts or construction sites. Various shades of yellow, orange, red, brown and black all are common around my home in central Oregon. However, if you don’t have easy-to-get color underfoot, concrete pigments work well (Davis Colors, for example), and often are composed of various iron oxides that are quite potent in small amounts, and relatively cheap at builders’ supply stores. (Be aware that some blues, yellows and greens, especially those used in potters’ glazes, can be highly toxic; some contain heavy metals and pose hazards even just with skin contact.)
THE PRICE OF CREATIVITY
What does it cost to add earthen accents to your home? Well, how long is a piece of string? If you hire a contractor and buy commercial products, the costs could mount to the point at which a deluxe paint job starts to look cheap. If you do it yourself with local mud and sand, you may spend nothing. Your best bet is to take the time to experiment and play. Prove the truth of my favorite quote, “An artist is not a special kind of person, every person is a special kind of artist.”
