Lime Plastering on Cob

This post covers the other side of my work, traditional Building crafts, in this case Lime plastering onto an internal cob wall. The gypsum plaster that was covering it (on top of the original lime plaster) came away after a water leak in the roof saturated the wall. The stages of application are a first hit to fill out any deep recesses (using fibre binder mixed in) followed by a harl of the whole surface, then a leveling coat to fill to a rough level, a body coat to level the whole wall flat, and then finally a thin top coat of fine lime plaster. There was an opportunity to turn a deep hole into a nice little niche at the turn of the stair.

Stained Glass Repair

So here are some pics of a repair on a lovely set of glass. This is at the entrance to a large building in Bradninch that has had various roles although now or is partitioned into several domestic dwellings. This client is lucky enough to have the main entrance glass. There were numerous cracks that were repaired in-situ and one panel that was so damaged it had to be removed completely and rebuilt with carefully matched glass at the workshop. To complete it was all given a dry polish best way to clean stained glass) with a medium stiffness natural haired brush. You can see in the full view picture that there has been a previous repair with non matched glass, the two bright red triangles at the centre of the image.

Keeping on with the fun

The weekend glass classes are running well. Lots of lovely projects produced both by the beginners and the returning students. I do enjoy the teaching and the enjoyment that students get from working with glass.

Classes begin again!

So an important weekend as I started to run my glass classes again for the first time since March. I confess that despite much planning and thinking through the various factors of running classes with Covid guidelines I was still nervous on Saturday morning when first students arrived. But it all went super smoothly from start to finish. Students were happy and it always felt relaxed and orderly. The designs produced were as varied as ever and I from the conversations had it seems like it was a very welcome return to some kind of normality for everyone. Students all wore masks and i had my ‘Darth Vadar’ face helmet which actually worked amazingly. So pleased to be teaching again. Just looking forward to the next classes now.

Improving the workshop

So things are moving on and it looks like now is the time to prepare for the restarting of my glass classes at the Devon Applied Arts Workshop! We are fortunate in having such a spacious, airy and sunlit space. Ceramicist Roop Johnston, one of my partners in running the workshop, and I have been busy using the time to make improvements to the space. Busy right now with the fiddley job of putting in an internal screen behind the big roller door to keep out the high winds. Will be great when the days begin to shorten. I'm also reorganising the space and creating a new layout that will be good for Social distancing.

Freestanding oval panel commission

As you can see this commission leans heavily on Renne Macintosh but with a contempory twist. The client’s house is beautiful but very minimal in style. A clean lines architectural new build right in the centre of Exeter. Due to lines of sight restrictions this large window in the stairwell has acid etched glass, giving that milky quality to the light. They wanted some kind of stained glass panel that would bring this part of the house to life. They also wanted to use colours that were in tune with other items and artwork in the house. So we together divised this “freestanding” solution which is around 1.5 metres tall (although looks smaller once against the large window). The panel is supported by a slim copper surround (as they have various copper fittings throughout the house) which is filled with a bulked epoxy resin for rigidity. The legs have steel bar inside the copper again to allow the thinnest visible support but with strength. The base is english oak. Due to the need for stability the base is screwed through to the windowsill with the screws covered by matching oak plugs. A word on glass. There are various interesting glass types in this panel. The pinks are true gold oxide glass (very pricey) and the ones used here come from stock I have some 40 years old. They quite literally dont make it like this anymore, this beautiful vivid rose pink. Some of the textured glass is again a good 40years plus old to get a nice contrasting effect. The light greens are a polish mouthblown glass which comes in various subtle but sparkling shades. All in all a lovely commission to complete

My name is Matt, and my blog posts will all follow this one!