Can I Make A Raised Design On My Hypertufa Pot?
How Do I Sculpt And Carve Into Wet Hypertufa?
A reader asked:
On your The-Artistic-Garden website under ‘Painting Techniques’ there is a close-up photo showing verdigris colouration. There is a design on the planter. How did you accomplish this?
And, is there any other way to decorate a hypertufa pot except by painting it? Can you draw on it before it cures or somehow sculpture a design on it?
I answered:
Oh yes you can decorate the outside of a ‘tufa pot. The easiest way is to carve or sculpt into it. Just make sure you make the sides of your item thick enough to carve into if you want to produce a really deep textured or carved design.
Or, after it is partially cured, you can add other raised details or embellishments made from a freshly mixed up batch of ‘tufa onto the item. Just make sure to wet down the main item; “paint” on a liberal coat of bonding agent onto the area(s) where you’ll be applying the new ‘tufa pieces; and make sure you’ve added bonding agent into the new batch of hypertufa.
Here’s a page I wrote about sculpting in hypertufa that will give you some more ideas, and a recipe (though you can sculpt in any ‘tufa recipe – just depends on what you’re making, it’s size and such that will determine what recipe might be best for your purposes): Hypertufa Sculptures.
In reference to the raised design on the planter (here’s the photo referred to) – it was already part of the pot.
That planter is one of those polyresin pots – very light-weight but water tight. I love these type of pots as not only can you paint them if you wish, but they are very lightweight because the polyresin is a very lightweight material. This sure makes these pots a little easier to move around once they’re filled with dirt and plants … especially if you are into LARGE pots like I am.
Polyresin pots are great for those of us living in climates that have freezing temperatures, as they can be left outdoors in all seasons without the worry of cracking like almost all real terra cotta pots do (except the very pricey Italian terra cotta).
