Cement Sculpture now with some colour - go to last post to see!

Hi All,
I am pretty new around here and wanted to show some of my works carved and modelled from cement. I have been experimenting with different mixtures and techniques. I hope you enjoy the pictures and I look forward to hearing some feedback (hopefully good!)

For the big sculptures its a thin layer of cement over foam blocks that have been carved to shape. I wrap the foam with basalt roving which is a rather exotic Soviet aerospace material. Think of it as string made from molten basalt rock (yes lava). It provides some reinforcing and helps stops the cement falling off. A four to five foot carving weighs about 100lbs when finished.

The smaller wall hanging guys are solid cement roughly shaped on a flat board. After about 2 hours of setting I carve in the details. As the cement gets harder you can carve in finer details and refine the finish a bit. They have a lot of lightweight aggregate which makes carving a bit easier than sand and cement type mixes.

The cylindrical guy is more like a palm wood carving. I cast a cylinder of cement and let it set for 4 hours. Then I striped the form off and carved and scraped away. I did a relief sculpture on the flip side so you can see what he is smiling about. Its a mix with more sand and has a rougher finish than the others.

Next step is staining to bring out the detail and get away from the pale cement look and a sealer to give a bit of shine.

Cheers

Thom

[ Edited by: notiki 2013-03-16 03:41 ]

[ Edited by: notiki 2013-03-24 05:35 ]

[ Edited by: notiki 2013-03-24 05:49 ]

[ Edited by: notiki 2013-05-23 06:44 ]

Hi Thom, I really like your tikis and information. I've often thought of doing cement tikis for our yard but I always imagined using wire to support the cement. Your foam is such an excellent way to achieve your goals that now anything seems possible. Please show your step by steps with making these. You could start another thread for all those that you have completed on the Gallery page. Wendy

These are all looking great. Fun and interesting pieces- since I don't work with those materials, I'd be curious to see how it all comes together as well. Look forward to seeing more.

"Basalt roving is bundle of continuous monodirectional complex basalt fibers."
"During 1960s to 1980s, this technology was classified for the exclusive application in military and aerospace projects. In 1995, the technology was declassified and allowed to be used for civil purposes."

I had to check into Basalt Roving - very cool. Kind of like Kevlar?

Welcome to TC Thom. Nice sculptures, I'm surprised at the amount of detail you are able to carve in.

---

Clay, the oldest and most divine art media;
"And now, from the clay of the ground, the Lord God formed man" Genesis 2:7
Pirate Ship Tree House

[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2013-03-13 16:56 ]

I'd like to see some step by step photos too! I need some concrete tikis for the backyard. You never know, you might inspire a bunch of us to follow in your footsteps. Welcome to TC, btw.

Hi,
Thanks for the warm welcome!

Wendy and Lori. I will get together some in progress / how to photos. The foam works well as a core as it is light and easy to carve and shape.
Mike. It is a bit like kevlar reinforcement except it is natural rock made in some super special machine. I got my material as a remnant from a German company that sourced it from Georgia (former USSR country) It is good for cement because cement is alkali and alkali attacks things like normal glass fibre rovings. You can use stucco mesh or chicken wire as well.

For some tips ; As a start look at http://sandpudding.com/ the method shown there is how I did the round dark grey tiki.

Cheers Thom

Here are some sequence photos of another work. Not pure Tiki but it shows the method.

Rough In Foam Work

Refine the Foam

The foam sure makes a mess. The waste beads can be mixed with soil for plants to grow in! I use a pruning saw to carve of big blocks. A lot of chapping is just grating away with fingertips ( no tools )

Wrapping with the basalt roving. I use a big needle now to get the inside shapes/parts reinforced.

More wrapping

After cement is smoothed on. About 1/4" to 1/2" thick. This guy is not carved, just modelled in the wet cement.

Finished with my fireplace ash finish. We burn a lot of recycled painted hardwood pallets that have a blue paint so the ash has white kaolin in it. The ash is rubbed on and "cemented" with diluted "Bondcrete"

Off to a local arty show

I made a fun "peep show" ...

Inside the box

The red lady is red cheese wax over cement over foam.

Cheers Thom

Hi,
Here are some photos of my most recent carving. Its in a lightweight cement and stacks on top of my last Tiki to form a mini totem.

He is a lot more 3d than the last but still "from a log". The lightweight mix is a lot easier to carve and does not set as quickly as the more sand and cement mix of the the guy on the bottom of the totem.

Hope you enjoy the photos.

My Cement "log"

Thank you so much for posting these step by step photos. This is very interesting and creative. You are doing a fabulous job of making tikis. The peep show was very fun. I hope you continue to post so we can enjoy all your creations. Wendy

I REALLY want to try this when it gets warmer outside! Thank you so much for posting the pictures, how to's and inspiration.

Mahalo,

---

:)
Lori

Edited to ask: what's the recipe for lightweight mix? Do you use those cardboard tubes as your mold? How long do you all the concrete to set up before you remove the mold and start carving. Although you make it look easy I think there's a lot I need to know first. I guess I need even more step by step! LOL

[ Edited by: LoriLovesTiki 2013-03-24 11:36 ]

"red cheese wax" !!!??? :o Do you eat a lot of Gouda? Why do you just happen to have 20 lbs of red cheese wax laying around? :lol:
I thought that roving would be more like a net.
Love the latest guy too.

Here are some shots of one of "Taming of the Snake" wall hanging after some colour has been added. Hope you like it.

and some glossy, too much flash shots. It does show some of the technical detail though.

Very nice NoTiki, great color and detail.

Great to see a different take on tiki making.

Really great to see you evolving already with your art and designs.

Thanks for sharing and keep posting.

(btw MadDogMike is a wizard with making just about anything out of styrofoam---I know you have his mind working overtime with ways he plans to try this technique out!)

notiki, looking great. Love the original posts as well as the latest pieces. Like Mike, I'm curious how you came up with all of that cheese wax- impressive! Look forward to seeing more, and thanks for posting the step-by-steps!

Gday notiki,
good to see an aussie artist making interesting stuff. i have carved some big foam moais before (6 foot) and wondered if i could render them and put them outside. Not sure about the mix though (was thinking a sticky sand-cement-bondcrete mix), and just use chicken mesh as all that fancy stuff you mention sounds pretty beyond me.
carving lightweight concrete tikis also sounds like a good project for a yard tiki... please share your lightweight mix!
Keep posting here,
cheers.

Hey thanks for the comments. A few answers and thoughts...

Red cheese wax....came from...an auction at Cheese factory! I was going to use it for some other project. Lets say it was cheap and it is fun to carve with.

Chicken wire over foam will work fine. Its just hard to manipulate the wire into the shape. If you don't need to move your 6' tiki afterwards you can use a thicker cement coating to cover any imperfections in the wire forming.

My lightweight cement uses E spheres. These are a very fine filler made from fly ash floaters. These are from a coal fired powerstation. They are little hollow balls and are light and free flowing. They are used with normal cement in place of sand. As they comprise of flyash they do react a bit with the portland and make the cement stronger over a long curing period (like years). They are an industrial material and not readily available. I also mix in tiny basalt fibers. The cement part is about 10 percent silica fume and 90 percent portland.
Its not really the stuff you get from the local hardware store. I was thinking of bagging up some of the powder so other Aussies could give my technique a try.

Cheers