Joint Craft Venture! - LEAF
CASTINGS
![Two Finished, Painted Concrete Leaf Castings at St Francis Cottage Two Finished, Painted Concrete Leaf Castings at St Francis Cottage](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mM4168smNkg/V5VALyi5NPI/AAAAAAAABR8/nrWx4JLJiJc5c4ERKqpC_YEc9dpiofxfgCKgB/s640/Concrete%2BLeaves%2B01%2BIMG_9723E8S.jpg) |
Finished Concrete Leaf Castings. |
We enjoy making leaf castings
from elephant ears, hosta leaves and other leaves with a distinct vein
pattern.
Nancy makes the castings using
a high strength mortar mix reinforced with a central layer of fiber mesh joint
reinforcement tape (used for sheetrock joints).
![High Strength Mortar Mix (Any good brand will work) for Concrete Leaf Castings High Strength Mortar Mix (Any good brand will work) for Concrete Leaf Castings](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nZ5-4xggftM/V5VAL3NnjLI/AAAAAAAABR8/PB_WTaTeWOMSYlYUK6zfZbPPKC0zdE8lACKgB/s320/MortarMixES.jpg) |
High Strength Mortar Mix (Any good brand will work) |
![Fiber Mesh tape (comes in various widths from your local hardware DIY store) Fiber Mesh tape (comes in various widths from your local hardware DIY store)](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-82cNh5UDw5E/V5VAL31cRUI/AAAAAAAABR8/_VKAm-pgNhsQUTYkHpr4ENm1lAWg0tyjACKgB/s320/FibermeshTapeES.jpg) |
Fiber mesh tape (comes in various widths) |
![Molded Concrete Leaf after curing for 20 days at St Francis Cottage. Molded Concrete Leaf after curing for 20 days at St Francis Cottage.](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg93ImxyNv9Sq7gBantWN6OLuY1FJk86TCT2wFIdyTTuFoOj6mYd1Bt5CehcYRjQU1tnQgo7QYRZU2OSaK_bHGMNDtMPwqmHVZnF5LzAzrabXCaY7ub3WACyKt2Wdtov2jioBijuUK1vxM/s400/Concrete+Leaf+Raw+WS+IMG_3652E8S.jpg) |
Molded Leaf after curing for 20 days. |
![Close-up of molded concrete leaf detail at St Francis Cottage Close-up of molded concrete leaf detail at St Francis Cottage](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FP7ba3rXvwM/V5VAL5zBpEI/AAAAAAAABR8/0LAkZ_Rbgi4mEB6qug6b7cQ9VdJ4XVUSACKgB/s400/Concrete%2BLeaf%2BRaw%2BXCU%2BIMG_3653E8S.jpg) |
Concrete Leaf impression detail. |
Wallace takes over with the painting using acrylic or water based paints
and stains using simple sponge brushes and small utility art brushes. Styles
are usually taken from nature, but we sometimes just do colors that we like. Some folks airbrush the patterns, others leave
them plain and just seal them.
![Painted Molded Concrete Leaf at St Francis Cottage Painted Molded Concrete Leaf at St Francis Cottage](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd7J3yUrgridtqUclPuGp776Mb3EeC8ts4nU3x9YbevxnRi9s5pKU2YOwn5vc6kFS5gLG7Oln6rwD4mD2NczmkPwBtOyUdGkAN_fZxp6CjAnYj7f0PJ-XW1S2BastsdKFNaTlNINpEEvQ/s400/Concrete+Leaf+05+IMG_6330E8s.jpg) |
Painted Molded Concrete Leaf |
We finish
them with a cement sealer or multiple layers of clear acrylic spray paint,
making them suitable for outdoor use. All of the leaves pictured are between 15 and 22 inches in length.
![Molded Concrete Leaf Painted. An early pattern. No two are alike. Molded Concrete Leaf Painted. An early pattern. No two are alike.](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJzBtxi-BiZYJXozHaoVTLsPOl8-8TkmZPE2rwB2nC95xRWG1iKtfK2s1iEjNEpP04hRaB5fiM5PbTU5Be5s0ed06LeqeNsCT2Fw_mKxz2t5EW9M5W1VrwBDdNIxwQ8cRCFZ-nGhQRPmw/s400/Concrete+Leaf+04+IMG_6924E8S.jpg) |
An early pattern. No two are alike. |
![Another painting variation. Molded Concrete Leaf at St Francis Cottage Chattanooga Another painting variation. Molded Concrete Leaf at St Francis Cottage Chattanooga](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrmd_QWUghlSCpvNcUumQm0SUHeseyKTsjWRxqzdTbXI2Cu4uWeySZPoiiMntzO2McQUREhqifPwiabCjueC0t-TfJC9fBe46ZvyXxA-A3dTAt512KT36VPvOp49zdEaPmn9aSuTLYYs0/s400/Concrete+Leaf+02+IMG_7044E8S.jpg) |
One of many variations. |
There are many ideas, hints, lists
of materials and techniques posted on the web.
We combined a number of the methods and experimented with a few mortar
mixes to find what we liked best. Look
around out there and see what you find that suits your artistic style. .
These are gorgeous and you are inspiring!
ReplyDeleteThank you, very much! Look forward to seeing you two soon!
ReplyDeletehmmmm
ReplyDelete