Plastered

In thought, the possibilities are endless.

In practical terms there are limits.

When I first laid eyes on the stunning wall drenched with a warm, milky Lake Tahoe Blue, I yearned to bathe my senses in its richness. Stroking, ever-gently the Dakota Red with my quivering fingers, I longed to step into the palate before me and never look back.

The June 2009 Dwell LA Conference http://www.dwellondesign.com/ was where I was first introduced to American Clay http://www.americanclay.com/photos/index.html; where natural is beautiful. Under a spell, I was drawn to unique finishes of what otherwise is just painting a wall with color.

Less than a month later I was enrolled in a nine hour workshop in San Diego on "The Nitty Gritty of Painting with American Clay". I will admit my excitement of being trained by HGTV design star Jen Guerin www.jgcolor.com was getting the best of me, but I would soon learn as I looked down the barrel of the large paint bucket and the variable speed mixing drill with the mud and resin drill mixing shaft --- I was in for a ride. Pouring the 50 pound bag of Loma plaster as the dust residue rises to ceiling I begin to question my motives here. As I poured water to make the plaster mixture along with the pigment coloring I paused and then grabbed hold of the drill that, like a cup of morning coffee, jolted me back to reality.

However, being surrounded by color in this artsy environment, I had to forge on. Japanese trowels, hawks, slapping on plaster, spreading techniques at low angles the thickness of a credit card. All this is great on a confined surface but I was smart enough to grasp that soon this would have to translate to at least one wall or imagine, a ROOM!

Yeah, yeah, yeah the product has bennies: there is zero waste, it's mold resistant, non-fading, easy to repair, durable, 100 percent natural, it doesn't fade, odorless, quick drying and has the benefits of negative ions.

But after the prep (same with painting), after the primer is applied, the real work begins. You can paint a wall one or two coats with a roller OR you can spread plaster with a trowel over the wall. Then spread the second coat of plaster with the hand held trowel. And then you can begin compressing the surface by hand with a trowel again or simply use a sponge. But trowel you must. Honestly, I lost interest and strength by the second pass.

And if I am going to paint a wall I will need to purchase that drill that really wasn't planning to be my Better Best Friend! After that I will drop $50 plus on the special sand primer, one bag of plaster around $75, then the pigment maybe another $50 unless you want to consider add-ins like mud glue or Israeli soap or a higher level product at twice the cost.

Still, after all is said and done and done and done... it is unspeakably a beautiful end product.

Maybe today I am still in awe or overwhelmed. Or maybe it's just a little too much too late.