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.