Fijigal.... I am in absolute AWE at your skill at this! I absolutely, positively LOVE ALL OF THEM!!!

You have a wonderful sculpting technique. Just love the Mayan theme you have going... I've been doing miniatures! lol I think you should be able to get your hands on lots of powdered pumice stone for tufa way down/over there! I sure hope so because that can result in incredible and smooth textures and is light weight! Can you get vermiculite and perlite where you live?

I can't believe you did all that with spagnum!!!! Did you have to grind it all up? Do tell how you did it!

I am totally delighted you decided to try tufa and even MORE delighted that you joined us here!!! You ROCK!!

Marly

Anna,
Wonderful items. You are on your way to lots more.
At nurseries there, they should be able to offer you some ideas for lightweight planting mediums that may be able to be substituted for perlite or vermiculite (if you can not get those) Sphagnum moss, I have the same questions as Marly.
Thank yo for sharing your work.
Dena

What a wonderful inspiration you are to all of us! Keep coming back and sharing your talents!

Vicki

Marly and Dena,

Thanks so much for your positive Feed back. I really haven't had anyone's here yet except my parents - and they love them, but parents tend to be biased!!:o)

I did use sphagnum - My parents are in the cut flower industry - specifically orchids and anthuriums so have a large quantity of sphagnum moss available to them. I basically sifted through the bags we have and separated the smaller pieces which is what I used for all the mixes. I did the same old recipe 1 cement : 1 sand and 1 sphagnum moss (pressed into the measuring device).

I found that when doing the sculpting part I had to wet the mix a little more (just used a spray bottle - easy to apply in small quantities) and then let it dry for a bit before continuing the sculpting.

The fish was the most difficult and ended up being very heavy. I would do it differently if I did it again.

Thanks so much for your help. I did consider trying to use pumice but so far have been unable to source it will keep looking though I'm sure someone , somewhere must have it. I did think about using Rice Husks - what do you think?

WOW!!!...Absolutely Wonderful! You have a real gift...keep it up. Welcome to the group and thank you for sharing.

Welcome Figigal,

Very nice projects. I would try the rice husks, nothing ventured nothing gained as they say. If the husks contain carbohydrates they would be a problem. I often use potting soil as a substitute and can't tell any difference in strength. I have quite a few things made with potting soil that have been around for several years and are still going strong. Thanks for sharing.

Amy

Very nice Art. Keep it going.
Paws

Fiji --- Just occurred to me that you may have access to an excellent filler material...coir...coconut "hair", for lack of a better term. It has been used successfully in "Tufa for years. How 'bout it? Any coconuts there in Fiji?

Hey Tango,

Thanks so much for that. I shall definitely investigate that. I can imagine it would be fantastic.

We call it Coconut Husk - the area around the actual nut of the coconut. The only problem I can see is trying to get it all chopped up. It's hair like quality means that it is quite long and stringy.

That's a great idea though. Coconuts are one thing we certainly have a hell of a lot here. Thanks so much!

Great stuff ! Love the Mayan theme.

Fiji --- Here's a link to a Coir/Coconut Husk Hypertufa recipe. Us drysiders can only find it in bags...not on the beach, which, by the way we'd all love to see pics of, as you may well win the prize for being the most remote member of this friendly mudhole.

Best of Luck.

Here is a link that might be useful: Coir in Hypertufa...

awesome mask, keep doing nice art.

god I love this place.

Fabulous work Anna, you are very talented. Welcome to our 'Tufa family. Looking forward to seeing more from you.

Jilly :)