AVI residents can now primp in natural beautiful style! We recently finished the walls & ceiling in the AVI bathroom with a natural plaster.
Our recipe:
1x Clay
1x Wheat paste
3x Aggregate (marble dust, mica, sand)
Water & colored mineral pigment to taste
...Plus 1/4 cup powdered milk per gallon of paint
Steveo, Lloyd and natural building intern, John, got a download on how to make and apply the plaster by our in-house expert, Janell. The plaster turned out beautifully - light yellow with sparkly mica flecks. It looks great with the dark slate tile.
But here's the thing, exposed earthen walls where wet towels might rest on them wouldn't hold up very well in the long run. Our solution: watered down Elmer's Glue...seriously! Janell had seen this successfully used as protection on an earthen floor and exterior wall at Pun Pun in Thailand. Last year, we experimented with this recipe as the final coat on AVI's exterior, over earthen plaster, and it's held up amazingly well -- even through torrential downpours.
So, that's what we finished our clay-painted bathroom walls with. The recipe? 4 parts water x 1 part Elmer's. We added extra pigment, taking our walls from a soft yellow to gorgeous Mediterranean ochre. If you want to learn more about this, we have a 2-Day Natural Finishes Workshop November 13 & 14. Check out our Calendar of Events over there on the right. Right over there --> Go ahead, click it. You know you want to. :)
For information and registration: www.ashevillage.org, info@ashevillage.org, 828.225.8820
