Latest work in progress "Essence of Bee": (see how I made the armature on Blog a) page)...
My Custom Ferrocement Mix is:
4 parts(a part is like a tupperware dish you put 4-6 muffins in) white Portland cement (from Sutton Garden & Building Supply on Finch avenue in Toronto-who sell it in smaller bags)...
2 parts Aggregate...
(Now the 2 parts aggregate is in 4 parts itself, so 1/2 a part each of:
*Alkaline resistant glass fibers at 3/4 inch size (from Kreitmaker near Laird & Eglinton)
*Perlite (also from Sutton) (this makes it lighter but more fragile, so don't always use this)...
*White Silica sand (from Sutton) (you can double up on Aragonite sand & drop this out of the mix too for greater stickiness)...
*Natural Aragonite Sand( this is actually marble, but you get it in small bags atPetsmart in the reptile section-also called Calcium Carbonate sand-this was my own stroke of genius when I couldn't source crushed marble)...
Ok, now to that mix you add your liquids:
I am now using 1 part Eco-Sealer for Cement, a custom mix sourced from Eco-House made of Rainsil to Primasil (a 1:9 mix)...(This is the only Concrete Sealer on the planet that has Absolutely No Smell whatsoever...)(ask for Elizabeth)...
Then to that I add 1 part water (with 25 % of that Acrylibond cement bonding liquid)...
This is my newer ameliorated Ferrocement Mix for a really nice gooey weatherproof long lasting freezeproof concrete mix...
The work is tentatively titled "Essence of Bee" thanks to Nick Nickolson a sculpture teacher who is really really great btw if you can find him...
Oh...I also added some gorgeous Blue Mineral Silicate paint from Eco-Housethat is designed for cement...I am mixing it IN not on...(a little experimental)...
Dusting of Gold Powder from KamaPigments.com ...Then spritzed with water...
Sunday March 25th, 2012:Filled a bucket with Paul Mitchell tea Tree Oil Shampoo (I keep the gallon size on hand) & hot water, & descended with my Sham-Wow Mop (really handy for studio floors), to clean the floor of the studio...When dry the room smells like Tea Tree Oil, which is just so cool...
Ok...Then I carefully put the Bee upside down into two large cardboard boxes for support, so when I get more cement I can start right away with the bottom part...(white cement in small bags is actually hard to source, I am hoping Sutton still carries it)...
This morning, I spend my Googling Searching on finding Tee connectors or cross connectors to join rods together...Simultaneously almost I fantasize about welding...Though my fantasies do not burning myself or losing an eyeball to a stray spark, which is why my loving husband says I should find cold mechanical ways of joining my rods better...I am going to revisit the kite making site which is abound with weird rod connectors...
Monday March 26th, 2012: Went back to Sutton Garden & Building Supply on Finch avenue at Willowdale road...As a favour, they put 8 kilograms of White Cement into a small bag for me instead of me having to buy the 40 KG bag, which I cannot carry...I also get my "Milk" there (cement bond admixture)...(ask for Warren)
I am adapting my concrete mix a bit- 2 parts white cement to 1 part aggregate still, but I have dropped both the Perlite & the White Silica Sand from my mix for now...The Perlite increases fragility too much, & I'd rather up my levels of Aragonite (marble) sand than use the straight silica sand which isn't sticky...
Tip: Wet your goggles or glasses & rub some regular bar soap in a film on the inside (I use Irish Spring bar)...Then let it dry...Then polish the film with a cloth...Now your googles won't fog up!!! Totally works!!!(Do this every time you use them!)...
http://www.exclusivepaints.com/classic/exclusive/paints.cgi Exclusive Paints carries the respirator that I use & the replacement cartridges...It is worth the drive because Exclusive Paints sells things at a fraction of the price that anybody else does...Plus they are lovely & smart people...(ask for Aron)...(they also sell gold powder you can mix into cement, 2 part epoxy to create unbelievable shine, & no VOC paints...)
http://thecementsolution.com/ This link takes you to the Reusable Concrete Mixing Bag...You can mix your concrete in it, or put smaller quantities of cement into it for easier to work with weights...(Or ask your cement dealer to put a small quantity of white cement in it inside of having to buy the giant bags...)
This evening, while the concrete was still wet, I mixed some gold powder pigment (from Kama Pigments Montreal), into some Latex Adhesive (cement bond admixture, from Sutton Garden & Building Supply on Finchave.), & gently brushed & rubbed it on with Joseph's Herban Cowboy shave brush...(he never ended up using this gorgeous shave brush, so I adopted it)...(Herban Cowboy'sshave cream in a tub is awesome by the way-for men...)...So the bottom of the Bee is done...p.s. RockBottomDeals sells the Herban Cowboy shave cream in tubs by the case for a song if you can find it...
Tuesday March 27th, 2012: Pilgrimage to Petsmart at Laird & Eglinton for a 30 lb. bag of Aragonite sand($22.99 Cad) (which is actually the same as crushed marble- they use it for reptile aquariums)...Also, got a better mask, this is a Particulate Respirator with Coolflow technology- I made an executive decision today that my respirator with the two cartridges attached (those scary looking things) was way too heavy & was hurting my nose & impeding my vision & ability to work...So I went backwards to a more normal looking dust mask but that is way more sophisticated than the ones I used to use...(Canadian Tire welding section)...
Last thoughts for the day are: I am thinking of sanding down the wings of the Bee a bit in places & removing all traces of colour except for the gold, so it looks closer to a metal piece...The striping of the Bee looks a little kitsch to me...Joseph, of course, the practical one, likes kitsch more than me, since he knows kitsch sells...Ah, how did I descend? When did this happen? Is this my fate, to descend into trite? I, who used to be such an abstract expressionist snob? Are the masses winning the fight? Is my integrity something I have misplaced into the abstract form mistakenly?
Shopper's Drug Mart carried Life brand artificial tears (eyedrops)- I use them profusely after washing my eyes out after working...Great for sculptors & painters...I protect my eyes with the very best Oakley sunglasses I can find, rimless so not to obscure vision, shield style so it wraps around to protect from dust, & in clear lens or rose tint lens...I have Bolle Googles but they fog sometimes but mostly the pressure on my face bugs me...If you brush gold powder (Kama Pigments Montreal) into the wet cement with latex adhesive (also called "Milk" or cement bond admixture), it sticks really well & forms an integral bond with the cement...A shave brush makes a nice brushing in tool here...I use Fotoflexer.com to edit my photos by removing backgrounds-choose Geek tool & Smart Scissors in that...March 28th, 2012: My concrete mix is now just 2 parts white cement to 1 part marble sand to 1 part glass fibres to 1 part "Milk" to however much water is needed after that to make it wet enough to work with...Add mineral silicate paint (blue in this case) to that...(Eco-House.com carries incredible colours in mineral silicate paint especially for Cement)...
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