Stephani Stephenson on mon 17 feb 03
Sharon Wrote:
"I have used skim milk to fix a clay/sand mixture on some of the adobe
walls in my house. I made a finely sieved powder (like face powder)
from the local soil from which we made the adobes and mixed it with
water to the consistency of heavy cream or maybe a little thinner and
used my hand to apply it to the adobe bricks. After it dried, I
sprayed skim milk on to "fix it" to the adobe. I used skim rather than
whole milk because I had read somewhere that the fat in whole milk could
attract insects. The skim milk walls have been standing since 1987 and
the skim milk seems to have worked as the clay/sand coating has stayed
in place, and doesn't rub or wash off. Plus no insects except for a
wandering scorpion now and then but nothing stops them. Also on other
adobe walls in our house which have a 3-coat white plaster job, I used a
paste bees wax applied with a rag and then buffed with a hand buffer
machine. The wax turned the white plaster a pearly gray and makes it
look like leather. But never tried the wax over the unplastered walls
that have the clay/sand/milk coating."
Hi Sharon
Thanks for sharing your process with adobe! It's great! I am always
curious about these processes. A friend of mine who made sculpture for
theater and stage sets use to dip fabric into a mixture of
"non-instant, non-fat dried milk" and water . She then squeezed out the
excess , then formed and draped the fabric. Some of the
forms/sculptures were quite large. The fabric forms dried hard as a
rock and seem indestructible . She did apply a shellac or clear varnish
finish .They still look great after 20 years. So there is definitely
something to the durability of the casein
I also wondered about the use of whole milk in the terra cotta finish
versus skim.
I wonder if 'torching' the terra cotta via the alcohol and flame,
somehow burns off something in the whole milk or renders it less
attractive to insects or less likely to spoil???? Will have to find out.
Stephani Stephenson
steph@alchemiestudio.com
| |
|
