Soft Concrete

I've been learning how to cast concrete. I'm surprised at how forgiving it is, I got good results on my first attempt which is oh so satisfying (though a few mistakes since then of course). It's a lot of fun. I got some pigments too and I've been experimenting with those. I kind of expected them to behave like food colouring where a pinprick of the stuff creates lurid shades, but no, not this stuff. You need a good dollop of the stuff to get a strong shade. The hemispheres in the top picture both use blue pigment with the stronger shade using four times as much pigment as the almost-grey ones. So yeah.

The big steel bowl for the water feature thing arrived. It's not perfectly level which is a shame. It's really for fire pits so wasn't sold for what I'm using it for, and I think I can even it out with a bit of gentle pressure. That means I'll stand on it a bit.

It all feels like it's coming together now at last. I've been so occupied with the what-and-how-to-make-it stuff I haven't really stepped back to appreciate I'm looking forward to having it all made. By the time it's done I'll also have learned quite a few new things.

I've been trying to keep up the momentum of doing things as I've not felt so full of ideas or motivation for a very, very long time. The horrors of the year so far have been a proper kick up the arse. Life is short.