Wow! I love that. . .I am so devoid of creative ablility. I do love to look and admire the works of those with it. I hope this thread fills up fast.
Great job!

Looks good! Just make sure you allow it to fully cure. When did you finish it? Typically for a thick piece, it can take a week or two to fully cure if memory serves. In the mean time, keep it constantly damp if not outright wet. (Easiest way for you from what I'm seeing will likely be to cover it with a bunch of wet towels and throughout the day wet the towels down as they get dry.) The longer it stays moist, the longer the chemical reaction can continue and the stronger the piece will be.

AlmostHooked, I put a link below to some very artistic hypertufa work done by Little and Lewis, formerly of Bainbridge Island WA. I hear they have finally moved to Mexico, but their creative efforts continue to grace the Internet.

The link is to GardenWeb posts etc. about them or by them.
I have ONE of their cement works, the White Dove, and I really treasure it.

The work you did is a great first effort. Good job!

Here is a link that might be useful: Little and Lewis hypertufa google search

Faye, it was my fountain you copied and you did a fabulous job!!! I cant wait to see in installed.

You want to keep it wet while its curing- concrete and hypertufa need to cure, not dry. Its recommended you keep hypertufa covered with plastic for a month, but I have typically moved my projects out into the garden after a week or so. Concrete reaches most of it's strength in the first week of curing. Keeping it wet is important- you dont want it to dry out because that will make it weaker.

I have done a lot of things with hypertufa and concrete- I will gather my pics and post them later.

Coil _123 I hope you didn't mind me trying to copy your beautiful project , I looked through about 5 pages of postings before I gave up trying to find it again. I had copied the pictures and went back and forth a dozen times to see what you had done. It is so humid right now and inside my husbands shed but I will take all your suggestions as to keeping it damp and not get too anxious in moving it until it is cured. It has only been 3 days and hopefully was not too soon to carve it. I was concerned it would get too hard to do if I waited too long. I haven't put anything on it to seal it but I would guess it should be well after it is cured?? I think I could live with this and do my appropriate waiting period so that it gains the strength . I should have maybe put in chicken wire in the middle but never thought of that as I was doing it.
What an inspiration coil and it was a fun project even if it is not as perfect as yours is. Maybe with time and practice
My husband left the pipe longer until I know where it is best placed and then it can be cut off and pump turned down so it won't splash out all the water. Keeping it level so water flows over all sides will be a challenge too. Thanks again
Faye

No I dont mind at all! You can carve it whenever it feels set up enough. I think I did mine about two days after I made the disc. The only real rule is to keep it damp as it cures. none of my hypertufa projects are sealed, and I leave everything out all winter and nothing has been damaged. I think the stuff is tougher than many people give it credit for. Oh, the one thing I do use sometimes is concrete fortifier in the water- this is a small bottle you get at Lowes or HD in the cement aisle. I notice the tufa sets up quicker when I add that, so it may also add strength to the project. I just add about a quarter cup to a bucket of water. I dont always use that, though.

The other thing I have done with all my projects is spritz them with concrete acid stain. As the tufa dries, it gets pretty pale, depending on what recipe you used and also how much sun it sits in. I like mine to blend in with our natural stones so the stain helps that.

Creative and amazingly energetic - that's Faye! I was down there on Saturday or Sunday and it was still in the planning stages. Amazing! It's going to look so great. Every time I go there there is something new and wonderful.

Mocc. I should take this moment to thank you for pointing out Little and Lewis. I am so inspired by their creativity and stunning and unexpected use of color. I got their book when I was in Seattle in May. I was planning on making the hollow spheres but had no idea how to do it. Now I can make the spheres and also the leaf castings. Thank's so much for the link. This will happen once I get caught up on the garden if it ever STOPS RAINING.

Way to go Faye, see you soon.

Faye, your project is already on Google.

bk

Thank you Moc for the heads up on Little and Lewis site. I had a glance at Myrle's book and there were a bunch of I wants in there too. Thanks to my husbands shop area I can work inside as it is raining AGAIN.

BKay are you sure it is my project or is it Coll_123 's? I pirated his beautiful fountain and he does deserve the credit . I haven't had a chance to check it out yet

Myrle and I will be doing some of the other projects and she is welcome to come do it in our shop too.

Coll I will get some of the fortifier too and do like the idea of keeping it darker like real rock. The bench I got looks like a grey piece of slab with two stumps and it is made of concrete and so heavy. It would be a fun project to try duplicating too. I saw a bench that looks like two joined leaves and that would also be a fun , challenging project.

Here is my fountain, which is really getting green from algae...have to go try to scrub it down.

I started with hypertufa by making containers...it was a good project to do in the early Spring.

After we lost a big tree in 2010, I knew I wanted to put two semi circular retaining walls up on the hill where the tree was to plant more hostas. But palettes of stones are expensive, and I am a very bad stone stacker, so I didn't trust I could build a structurally sound one. So I brainstormed a way to do it out of hypertufa, sort of. I first made a mold to cast a form- sort of a curved, zig zag shape piece that would stack. I cast the form, which is styrofoam with about a half inch of concrete around it, and a hole up the middle for rebar to go later. Then, on the face of the shape, I applied and sculpted hypertufa to look like a stacked stone wall. I was happy with the end result, and best of all, they were light enough for me to lift and stacked neatly. My father in law helped me install them and he pounded vertical rebar rods into the ground that go into the holes to make extra sure this thing stays put.

Here is the area with tape indicating where I wanted the tiers to go

Here are a couple of the blocks..you can see the shape of them...they were sort of interlocking

this is in process. I used a row of real stones on top. In the background is a real stone wall, so I wanted to try to match that.

This is how the two tiers look now...the ferns obscure the lower one and the hostas are starting to obscure the upper one...so a lot of work for nothing, lol. Well, you can see my faux stone wall in the early spring, anyway.

I had a couple blocks left over so I made this small curved bed. Again the top row are real rocks and the rest is carved tufa.

I have another recent project to share, which I'll do in the next post...

My latest garden project is a statue I made of my beloved dog who we lost in 2010. He is made out of a blend of cement, sand, and vermiculite and is a combo of casting and direct scupting and carving. I started working on it before he died, never realizing we would lose him so soon. He died of a brain tumor at age 10. He was a once in a lifetime dog, I think....just so special in so many ways. He loved to pose for pictures in the garden.

I just finished it but will soon put some acid stain on it so that he is the same color as the pots.

This spot I chose for him is right up front

gone but never forgotten

Faye, I forgot to mention that I love the bench, too. And "faux bois" concrete is very much on my "to do" wish list thing! There are many incredible examples to be found online. Actually with the statue of my dog I sort of tried to make it look like he is sitting on a tree stump.

Oh, and I'm a her, not a him! ;)

Faye, it's your photo on Google. the hair brush is in the background. Yes, I've seen Coll's photos on Google previously. I just thought it was interesting that it hit google images that quickly.

bk

Coll that is absolutely beautiful and all your projects have opened up a new fun thing. After I said "he", I realized I should have had a ? behind it . Your dog statue is so special. We have three wiener dogs and the old fat one is slowing down but I have no talent for something that complicated . What a special memory of your dear friend.

BK I will look on the internet now that supper is finished and TV crappy.

Coll, your efforts are amazing and thank you so much for sharing how you achieved the look. The 'rocks' are made out of sculpted styrofoam and you covered it with hypertufa? Each one of those two forms in photo #3 is one piece?
Your dog is lovely :)
Thanks,
Paula

Coll, very talented to imagine, execute, and plant it. Maybe one day I can do a plinth or pedestal for raising pots up for display. I was inspired by what I saw in the Little And Lewis book and their web site. Like them, you are an artistic individual.

Have you made a hosta leaf? Or a gunnera leaf?

Wow, Coll, your doggie statue is awesome. I really admire it. I also love your stone fences. They are rustic, yet there is a rhythmic beauty to them.

Love the fountain! And Coll your stonework is amazing!
I have made a few hypertufa planters in the past few years. Would like to make one large enough to plant some miniature hostas in sometime this summer.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hypertufa Planters

Spectacular Coll. You can see how you poured your soul into the statue of your pet.

Jon

What a journey this thread has been! How beautiful your garden is! Thank you so much for sharing the fruit of your talents. . your heart and friend, also. What a beautiful tribute to your little friend. I lost a sweet red nosed friend in January 2000 and still think of him every single day. I dare not get another as I am an asthmatic and allergic to dogs. But oh, I'm tempted.

serenitycove, thank you so much for that link. . .what a beautiful planter. I especially love the fern look! You almost have this non creative ole lady thinking she might be able to try this out!!

Thank you ladies, I've enjoyed sharing your projects. The results look really great.

Coll, we lost our beloved rat terrier last year on the fourth. You still miss them for a long time. The statue captures him well.

bk

Thanks, everyone. Dogs bring so much unconditional love to our lives...they really take a piece of hearts when they go, I think.

Serenity- I love that planter! The organic edge and leaf impression are really lovely.

Mocc- no, I've never done anything with leaf castings. I don't really have a place to put one, so I suppose that's why. I've got a couple leaves on Parhelion this year that are probably big enough to give it a shot, though.

Paula- in that pic, there are three blocks. Yes, it's basically a block of styrofoam insulation, coated on all sides with concrete, and then the hypertufa is applied to the face and carved.

Faye, it's easy to get hooked on this stuff. It's not hard or expensive. The only difficulty is lugging the materials and having an adequate work space -it can be messy. I've got a couple more projects I want to tackle this year.

Excellent job on the statue of your dog, Coll! You have talent, to be sure.

Enjoyed seeing your other pieces as well. What did you make your molds out of?

SO many great ideas and thanks. I see that big planter with the fern and they grow wild on the sides of the roads to Myrle's , Now we have another project to tackle. This is a beauty but may have to practice more to tackle this one but everyone can always use another bench or two or give them for gifts. My one daughter would just love this. hey live in the mountains with stream going past the log home. Thanks for all the great ideas
Faye

This post was edited by almosthooked on Wed, Jun 26, 13 at 14:32

Coll, unconditional love yes. Also they know their rights. When my dear fiance (who later became DH) first came to my house, my little boy Maltese, MoonPie, did not like another male in the house. So he walked over to the chair where DH sat, and hiked his leg and peed. Take THAT! Attitude and he made it clear.

Well, I was shopping and saw an almost life-size figure of a white dog hiking his leg....PERFECT....so I bought it and shipped it to MA. I thought everyone would know what was going on with the dog, right? But when I went up to visit later on, I saw the dog with both back legs sitting on the ground and only one front leg. I asked what had happened. DH had never been around dogs, so he did not know it was the habit of males to mark territory in that manner. I cracked up laughing.

These days, that statue of the little white dog is in the Back40 hosta area, which is called the MoonWalk in honor of little departed Moon, who had liver and kidney failure last October at the age of almost 13. He never wanted to get his feet wet, so I laid red pavers all through the back yard so he could follow me everywhere. I got the hosta Moon Shadow because he was always with me like my shadow. Anyway, that statue has a leg up on H. 'Purple Boots' right now. If he didn't like something, you knew pretty quick.