Two months ago I got 3 smallish ornamental rhubarb leaves from a friend. Since it was too cold to play in the mud, I put them in the freezer. Several days ago, I thawed one and cast it. I found that when frozen, it was very brittle and fragile, when thawed, it was very limp and fragile...almost like handling one sheet of filo. I taped up a few holes and tears and proceeded to cast the leaf.

Today I flipped it and started de-leafing it. Much to my surprise and delight, about 65% of it had taken on a reddish stain from the leaf. Unfortunately, there were also a lot of tan to brown speckles on the leaf. However, I don't care about them. I don't think I'll be painting this leaf. Rather run some brown stain in the veins. I'm still in the process of de-leafing. When it's finished, I'll take a picture and post it.

Does anyone have any idea what caused the brownish spots? Sugar escaping from when I pat, pat, patted and injured the leaf causing juice to escape into the wet concrete? Any ideas, anyone?