Hello ye who can help me.

Just a couple quick questions for the moment. First-
1, Since my lime putty is submerged in about an inch of water to keep it fresh in the bucket, when I take some for use, does the water that comes up with it as I scoop it up interfere with anything? Its just that I know you are supposed to add no water whatsoever as you mix in your sand or marble, and i was just wondering if this would be a problem, or if i should make some sort of concerted effort in removing any excess water that may come up from the bucket.. (if that makes sense. ???

2, should i get myself a few 5 gallon buckets and pre-mix the putty corrasponding to what layer of plaster it will be used for (sand 2 putty ratio), and store it in its own container? Or should this simply be done a few days in advance of beggining to apply to the panel?

3, i buy my pigments at the moment from a company called Gamblin. They come in powder form in little jars. Do I still have to vigorously mix them and crush them into the water before i can apply them to the plaster, because they seem to dissolve quite nicely with a bit of a stir?

3, i have done a few test panels. The pigments seem to adhere, but i can scratch them of if i try with my fingernails. Im guessing this isn't supposed to be happening. They dont just rub or flake off, nor does water wash them away, but it just seems like the plaster doesn't harden enough since i can scrape it off with my talons. They have been drying for nearly a month now. Any advice? I am using construction high calcite hydrated lime as my putty at the moment? could this be why?
Please help, i have no where to turn and am obsessed!
ps. pulverizing marble is hard!!!

thank you for your help, i imagine i will be needing much MUCH more in the future.

>
> Hello ye who can help me.
>
> Just a couple quick questions for the
>moment. First-
> 1, Since my lime putty is submerged in about
>an inch of water to keep it fresh in the bucket,
>when I take some for use, does the water that
>comes up with it as I scoop it up interfere with
>anything? Its just that I know you are supposed
>to add no water whatsoever as you mix in your
>sand or marble, and i was just wondering if this
>would be a problem, or if i should make some
>sort of concerted effort in removing any excess
>water that may come up from the bucket.. (if
>that makes sense. ???
>

Pour the water out, scoup enough lime and pour whater back afterwards. (remember you need to use the least water possible for your plaster)

> 2, should i get myself a few 5 gallon buckets
>and pre-mix the putty corrasponding to what
>layer of plaster it will be used for (sand 2
>putty ratio), and store it in its own container?
> Or should this simply be done a few days in
>advance of beggining to apply to the panel?

It is better to mix a few days before application/painting. Storing for over 40 days might be tricky since if there are bits of clay in the sand it will aventually set the plaster.

However if you are to paint a large fresco you need to mix plaster in one batch for the whole project - so you keeep it consistent for the whole job.

> 3, i buy my pigments at the moment from a
>company called Gamblin. They come in powder
>form in little jars. Do I still have to
>vigorously mix them and crush them into the
>water before i can apply them to the plaster,
>because they seem to dissolve quite nicely with
>a bit of a stir?

Some pigments will take longer and some will mix faster some mineral pigments "repel" water so they will not just "stirr in" so use the muller to mix into the paste and keep them as that. This way your color will be more consistent and you will have more controll over how much of which pigment you used to match colors for the next giornata...

> 3, i have done a few test panels. The
>pigments seem to adhere, but i can scratch them
>of if i try with my fingernails. Im guessing
>this isn't supposed to be happening. They dont
>just rub or flake off, nor does water wash them
>away, but it just seems like the plaster doesn't
>harden enough since i can scrape it off with my
>talons. They have been drying for nearly a
>month now. Any advice? I am using construction
>high calcite hydrated lime as my putty at the
>moment? could this be why?

This is normal (scratching) what you are scratching is the plaster - find an old stuccoed building and try to scratch - it will even with cement they put in stucco.
1 month is a "second or a minute in fresco time". 6m to 1 year is the first round of curing - even then you will be able to scratch.

>"They dont
>just rub or flake off, nor does water wash them
>away"

This is good! This shows that it is a fresco.

> Please help, i have no where to turn and am
>obsessed!
>ps. pulverizing marble is hard!!!
>
>thank you for your help, i imagine i will be
>needing much MUCH more in the future.

Thank you so much Ilia!
I know they seem like silly insiginificant questions that any simplton should be able to figure out for his or herself, but sometimes its those questions, or those little problems that make all the difference. I just want to make sure that i provide for myself a solid foundation to learn this art upon, picking the least bad habits up along the way as possible. And i know that answers have been posted for most questions at one point or another on this forum, but the information does vary from time to time, and at times - contradicts, and the tiny things that by some may be taken for granted are often over looked. But the best teacher is experience.
I am slowely trying to pull together my own buisiness in the Decorative Arts here in my hometown peice by peice. I have an excellant foundation in interior design and commercial and residential painting, working for my family for the past 5 years, meticulously learning the ins and outs of painting (however meticulous house painting can get), for i come from a long line of painters, however comical that may seem. But at the end of the day when i am done the walls and the ceilings and trim and prep, i go home to the studio and emmerse myself in my true love for art, oil and sculpture. Now i am fusing the two together to do what i know i can do best. So my point is i want to be able to provide my costomers with the option of fresco ohh soo very very much. I have been reading everything i could find on it for years, dreaming about it, learning it in my mind even though i couldn't with my hands. And then at last i found this site, saved up enough money to order the Lime putty you offer and called to do so. Of course, being a canadian i foudn out that you couldn't ship it to me because of the charge the governemtn hits you with down the road, but the man on the phone was nice enough to tell me about construction lime, and that i could use it firs to practice and get the hang of it. Fire Crackers went off in my head. Not to say that it wasn't almost as equallly difficult of an adventure trying to find the right sort of hydrated lime around here, but i did. and here i am. Painting Fresco. So I'm happy. I want to cover this city in it. Im 'Fresh Obsessed"! So, my point is to say Thank you very much for being here on this site, helping all of us and for just making a great place where we can all congregate together and discuss that which touches our soul so profoundly. Without this place i would be lost, light years behind. I wish so much with all my heart i could find some sort of apprentisship that I could dedicate myself to somewhere Anywhere. Maybe someday, but for now i am an apprentice of TrueFresco.com. And for that i am gratefull.
Keep up the good work, if i had a couple grand i would love to go to Baltimore with yo uguys and learn on the cathedral, but alas i do not and am heartbroken as a result . But i know you will do an awsome job, and i know that no matter where i am or how much help i have, that i will learn and i will master it come heaven or hell. Thank you for your time.

'Fresh Obsessed'
Ryan

Ryan -

You should be looking at the world of lime paints. This would do real well in your area - plus they are environment friendly and kill all the moulds and germs.

Here is a British link I recently discovered <http://www.mikewye.co.uk/mikeprices.htm#video>

Also the English book by Jocasta Innes I have recommended many times "Applied Artistry" should be showing up used on abebooks.com by now.

As I have mentioned before, the long and amazing history of using lime in the decorative and construction arts, nearly everywhere in the world, is the history of adapting your local materials to your local need. Don't be afraid to use what is local and accessible, and then go from there, improving the process step by step, generation by generation. The history of lime if closely linked to the history of man.

Thank you so much for your reply Gary? Very helpfull and encouraging. Thats so funny that you recomended that book by Jocasta Innes. I have been reading that for some time now, i found it in my library last year sometime and Loved it instantly. I found it the most helpfull amongst all the books our library provides.

I have a couple more questions for Ilia, or anyone who beleives they can help.

1- Okay, so after 4 attempts at fresco on the backs of tiles, i have finally found the correct recipe for my Arriccio and and Intonaco. NO CRACKS!!!! Yaaaa. (though they look pretty cool none the less i must say). My paint is adhering and everything seems to be going pretty good. My next problem is my surface. I can't seem to get the intonaco to go smooth like glass. First of all i understand tha perhaps it may be attributed to my Trowel. Im using a really cheap one with little bend and I'm hoping to get a new one soon, a little more flexible. but it seems it has to do with the sand in it. I'm using pulverized marble for my intonaco, i sift it through a screen, but still it c omes out quite bumpy, and no matter how much or little io trowel i can't get it any smoother. I find the more i beat and mix it before hand the creamier the lime becomes. Do you think that if i used something like en electric beater it would help me any? Or would that be too much. Now that i get no cracks, in my next attempt i am going to try even less marble in the mixture and see if that won't help with the smoothness of the final product, yet still refraining from cracking. So basically, im just wondering hopw to get a glassier surface? Any help?

2- I am using River sand for my Arriccio. I don't buy it, but rather go down to the river and i have found a sand deposit down there that i take it from, bring i home, seive it and wash it the best i can. Is this okay? is that what you mean by river sand, or is it just a name tacked to another kind. it seems to be working, but its SUPER gritty. Like cement almost.

3- How important is it for me to use -'distilled water'? For my first batch of lime i just used tap water. Could this cause me any problems while i am learning?

Anyways, thats all that comes to mind at the moment. ao i will leave you with that and see if you can't help me out at all. thank you all soo much. Keep thinking, learning and discussing. (this is soo much fun!!!)

Ryan Van Dijk