Post #89990 by pariartspaul on Wed, May 5, 2004 11:15 PM

For covering the fireplace brick with lava, I think it would be pretty easy. Get some of that metal lathe that they sell at home depo and nail or screw it onto the brick. Use mason's mix cement and give it a once over. After it sets, give it a second coat and do your sculpting on this coat. Use a little whisk broom and pat on an overall texture to start with, then come in with little sticks to make more holes here and there. For the paint, we sprayed on exterior latex and it worked great. We also imbedded little sea shells here and there, it looks cool if that's the kind of look you want. Oh, and at the end, I sprinkled on a little very fine mica or rainbow translucent glitter for a finishing sparkle. But just a little!

About imbedding the tikis in the lava, well, I'm going to try to sculpt an Easter Island type head next, maybe six feet high or so. I'll let you know how it goes.

Mahalo all for all the encouragement and good advice!