Hydrated lime finish over lime wash with secco painting.

I was commissioned to apply a 'chinois' design around the main room of a Georgian folly that was situated in the heart of the Cotswolds. The folly was one of the last remnants of a vast estate that was no longer in existence. It was set on a buff overlooking the Severn valley, on a clear day you could see The Mendips one way and The Brecon Beacons the other.

The building had existing lime plaster throughout and this particular room had had numerous lime-washes applied over the years. These and the plaster was largely secure. After minimal repair, I applied a casein primer and lime wall finish base. These are both totally suitable and compatible with substrate.

I then applied a second coat of a hydrated lime plaster called Kokyu - this has an added paper pulp, a by-product of local paper industry and another example of up-cycling.

Once this had been completed, I applied two coats of sora, a beautifully refined hydrated lime plaster. Tagawa Sangyo have created such a wonderfully adaptable and versatile series of plasters that I have been able to accommodate all projects no matter how diverse.

I started to apply a monochrome 'chinois' design using lime paint

Although there may well have been areas of sora that were still wet - so technically the painting could be 'fresco' - the majority of the lime painting was undertaken when base was dry.

Katie B Morgan assisted me on this project and spent two weeks applying painted detail to foliage alone.

This short film shows the entire room

Rammed Earth ( with Rowland Keable)

This week has been a varied one - one minute we are riding down a trout filled  ‘Le Tech’ river in beautiful sunshine - tired after having just passed through a woofing station on the way home to overcast UK autumn.

By the week-end,  I am in the Welsh hills - enjoying a very stimulating course at the Centre for Alternative Technology.

Rowland Keable delivered a fantastic and informative ( both theoretical and practical) 3 day course on methods of producing rammed earth structures.

The typical weather drove us from our preferred location to having to build prototype under the eaves of a barn.

We began to build form. The shutter can be created in numerous ways. We proposed to build with a simple form that could be created in the most basic of settings. This process of setting up was the most time consuming - but it crucial that the form be structurally sound.

The earth has to contain enough mixed sized aggregate and clay to increase and aid it’s cohesion after being rammed. Clay becomes a pretty essential element acting a little like the glue - a clay particle is smaller than a red blood corpuscle and cleverly knits together the various aggregates with the addition of enough water.

It is essential to test soil both for its moisture content and ability to crush together and hold its form.

We tested a block and then progressed to testing soil under usual stress method.

Take handful of mixture compress two fisted and drop onto board from shoulder height - if it breaks into 3/5 regular pieces it is ready.

If is is decimated, there is not enough moisture content and if if stays as one block, you need to add more dry soil.

The rammed earth once fully compacted - takes on a different sound - it has a wonderful resonant tone - but an equally good test is to try and push finger print into surface - the stiletto/elephant effect.

The completed prototype corner with arch opening - may not have been the straightest or prettiest wall - but everyone felt that it was a meaningful introduction to the process.

On the last night, Rowland showed us a selection of his work from across the world - and a few images of how dynamic and surprisingly earth can be used and formed. These two projects were reproduced by kind permission of   http://www.rammed-earth.info/

I found the chalk rammed project with its wonderful curved surfaces and the fabric formed structures particularly inspiring.

The earth remained vulnerable until it had fully dried - dried out too quick it would shrink and crack and too much moisture content would force earth to swell and the structure would be undermined.

Although it is a very different beast to lime - it shared a lot of its characteristics. It was humidity regulating, it had thermodynamic properties, absorbed odours and is a breathable surface.

The surface could be dressed at a later date with lime plasters. In Morocco, the rammers polish off the surface using flat river stones - larger than those used for tadelakt. 

I tried a tadelakt stone on our rammed earth wall - it did polish and compress the surface - but weirdly - I felt that this dressing took away from its authentic ruggedness. 

Damp, clay, earth and lime

The stage was set for a week of experimenting - a disused piggery in a lovely rural setting mid-Cheshire.

I've been soaking hemp fibre for a couple of days - so that it doesn't form great hair balls in the plaster - it disperses more evenly in the mix. Lime, sieved earth and clay. Straw, hemp, seaweed glue.
Various different sized aggregates and earth pigments.

At the end of the week I had prepped up 20 boards and completed 4.

An Izumi sample for a client, another saisei ( including eggshells from wild duck eggs abandoned a month ago) sample for another client.

I managed an otsu sample and a haitsuchi sample. They were really satisfying mixes to work with despite the change in weather. I'm on the edge of woods and it had been raining for a week and a cold 12 degrees - the next day it is 24.

Once I get some more time I'm pushing to do a whole series of otsu samples, maybe some hainaka and mizugone. Getting the time to experiment is a luxury at the moment.

In reference to my previous post dated 23/12/12 - the latter portion was generously sponsored by  'Specsavers' - how well did you do?........................
I will retype - my skills around blogging are limited at the moment - soon they will be rattling off the press like a well oiled machine - nothing like a mixed metaphor.

In this age of nora virus, MRSA and Closteridium Difficile, why aren't all hospital wards, corridors, lavatories and theatres clad in these hygienic sterile plasters? I have seen wards full of patients ravaged by these bacteria.
We have known for centuries the benefits of lime but we have abandoned it in preference for the short term cheapness of gypsum plaster.

• Lime mortar is easy to remove from bricks and blocks allowing the reuse of the bricks.
• Lime is biodegradable.
• Lime is burnt at a lower temperature  making lime production not only more environmentally friendly but also more economic as well.
• Lime is recyclable
• Lime allows the building to "breathe". Water can escape by evaporation, unlike cement where the only way the water can escape is by being absorbed into the bricks and therefore, risking damp and erosion of the building substrate.
• Lime is soft and flexible. It allows the building to move without cracking and letting water in. It has been termed "self-healing" because of this ability.

Northern Europe, although we plundered the world, seems only to have celebrated the tradition of Scagliola. I'm assuming what held us back was a lack of marble ( home-grown). I'm guessing that in an environment where you have a abundance of marble - you can afford to be experimental and irreverent with it - slap the chaff in with a little plaster and see what happens - whereas we pursued the painted marble surface - I'm also assuming our weather had a bearing. Lime has a pernicious habit of misbehaving when the temperatures are extreme. 

If the Egyptians were using a version to polish the interior corridors of the pyramids, the Aztecs were using a variety to adorn their palaces and temples - as were the Southern Indian, the Mediterranean dynasties both European and North African - what was the missing element for Northern Europe which is not the case now.

Has wealth, freight, central heating, down lights and our obsession with interior design through mags and TV - meant that these sleek finishes are now viewed as desirable, practical and suitable in our once gloomy and damp interiors? And in a world where we need to start considering the environmental impact of our constructions - have not these noble ancient finishes stepped back into the 'limelight' at the most auspicious of times.

China, like Britain, has an abundance of limestone, they produce a dull grey lime based plaster that you cannot burnish, they have little marble deposit. Across a small stretch of water, Japan has a wealth of lime based plaster finishes that have been perfected over the last 1500yrs ( these are tried and tested materials) - and they have plenty of marble quarries. Eggshell, limestone and marble are all forms of calcium carbonate - what denotes the final result - is the degree of pressure and heat applied at the point of creation.

Which brings me around to the cycle of lime.....it has enabled Japan's craftsmen to create a plethora of styles - utso and shikkui being the most common. These plasters are fully recyclable and totally lacking any artificial additive.

They are made from slaked lime, seaweed extract for plasticity, jute fibre for strength and flexibility, marble flour for form and the plasterers ability to burnish surface and the most remarkable ingredient of all, diatomaceous earth. Due to Japan's unique geology - the deposits of diatomite are unique too. I will write more about all of these later. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy my future writings. M

ps we have a short film on you-tube  :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAo3cEFFY4g

the journey to reach shikkui (in short)

I have worked as a decorative artist for thirty years - when I started, I diligently ground my earth pigments and mixed them down with casein, egg yolk, boiled linseed oil etc etc.. I then became lazier and the raw ingredients became less easy to locate especially in a hurry... and aren't we always in a hurry- gone are the days when I could prepare a surface for a week. ' Hobbies-R-Us' and their awful ilk have chased the decent independent art supplies off the high street. I am still slightly averse to buying pigments and sundries over the net. I love to see what I'm buying - Cornelissen's is an Alladin's cave.

A few years ago, I started to look in ernest at what I was applying to the interior spaces of peoples homes and work places - I have lost any idea of what this chemical additive in paint or that chemical would or wouldn't do. The other occupiers of my home suffered from a range of atopic allergy. I looked into using lime washes and/or fresco. This led me to a noble decorative and functional surface, it was a Moroccan polished plaster called 'Tadelakt' - or 'caressed plaster'. The high alkaline content of this lime and marble based plaster created a surface hostile to the growth of mold, fungi, bacteria and virus - many of the aggravators of allergy. By applying a final coat of marseilles soap - through the natural chemical reaction between the soap and lime, saponification, a hygienic and hydrophobic surface was created. In this age of nora virus, MRSA and Closteridium difficile, why aren't all hospital wards clad in these plasters?

We in Northern Europe have known for centuries the benefits of lime but have abandoned it in preference for the short-term cheapness of gypsum plaster. Maybe if we had cultivated a style of interior that honoured and celebrated the virtue of lime plaster - we might have had a tradition beyond Scagliola. Seeing as we have plundered most of the world I wonder why we have not brought home this regal tradition of polished plaster - is it just a lack of availability of marble? maybe if it is commonplace you can afford to be experimental and irreverent with it - slap the chaff in with a bit of plaster and see what happens. Has freight, central heating, down lights and our new mass obsession with interior design meant that these sleek finishes are now suitable and practical in our once gloomy and damp interiors.
The Egyptians, Moroccans and much of the Mediterranean basin, the Aztecs, South India have/had a version of polished surface - often used within palaces and temples. China, with all of its resources has a lime based dull grey plaster that you cannot polish, they have no marble deposit. Across a small stretch of water Japan has had a wealth of lime based plaster finishes that have been perfected over the last 1500yrs and they have an abundance of marble. Eggshell, limestone and marble are all forms of calcium carbonate, it is all a matter of the level of pressure and heat applied at the time of its creation that denotes what is the final result. The cycle of lime is a truly marvellous phenomena. Calcium carbonate once heated becomes calcium oxide, slaking creates calcium hydroxide, allowed to air dry creates calcium carbonate again ad infinitum.Japan's master craftsmen have created a plethora of styles - utso and shikkui being the most common. The essential ingredients are slaked lime, seaweed extract for plasticity, jute fibre for strength and flexibility and marble flour for form and decorative polishability.

Dean Reynolds and I travelled to Tagawa to meet the President of a 3rd generation family run business called  Nobuyoshi Yukihira san. His business, Tagawa Sangyo is at the forefront of sustainable and innovative product design. Many of their shikkui plasters have remarkable, unique, functional and aesthetic qualities.