The Unmolding of Hypertufa

The eagerly anticipated unmolding of the hypertufa has arrived!  Ann and volunteers gathered to unmold and trim the hypertufa planters, which had been curing overnight.  Still a little soft, they need a week or so to fully cure before they can be planted and given as gifts or sold in the LAC Gallery.  They turned out great, and once planted will be lightweight and functional.  Fun!
 

A Hypertufa Afternoon

In preparation for the upcoming LAC Garden Tour, the very creative Ann Quinn came up with the idea of making hypertufa planters to give as thank you gifts to the host gardeners, as well as to sell at the gallery.  What is hypertufa you ask?  It is a combination of Portland cement, perlite or vermiculite and peat moss.  This moist mixture gets molded into forms, decorated and dyed if desired, then after being cured for a couple of days, unmolded and readied for planting.  The resulting planters are lightweight and somewhat porous, making an ideal vessel for outdoor plants. 

A few of us gathered at Ann's house on Saturday and played in the mud! 
 
What a mess, but we donned our rubber gloves, some a little fancier than others, and mixed the ingredients then stuffed our molds and set them aside in garbage bags to cure. 

In the meantime, Ann took us on a little tour of her own garden, which was featured in the LAC Garden Tour a couple of years ago.

 I was so impressed that she had already harvested enough greens from her "hoop" vegetable garden to enjoy a salad.
 
 Crabapple petals rained down on us as we walked through her yard, laughing at her squirrel visitors and her sense of humor on her hand-painted garden post.

Even her front yard is in bloom with tulips and other flowers (I still have snow in mine!)  But the highlight is her homemade Little Library at the edge of the sidewalk, which attracts the neighborhood kids and adults alike.  Take one, leave one and enjoy.  And even the library itself is planted with sedums on the roof.

The hypertufa pots will be ready to unmold soon, so look for them at the gallery during the Garden show and Garden Tour. 

Sunday Sights at the Gallery

Sitting the gallery today, I marveled at the art of the LAC's newer members, along with the creations of members who've been with the Co-op for a while.  I listened to the patrons laughing and enjoying their libations at the Westfax brewery next door, and watched little kids run around the Casa Bonita courtyard.  It was a fairly quiet day, but here's some photos from my day.
If you haven't been into the gallery for a while, stop in and see what's new!

No Foolin' -- First Friday was Fantastic!

April 1st, and being a First Friday Art Walk, brought out the masses for an enjoyable evening of socializing, listening to music and of course, viewing the art!  
 
The Lakewood Arts Council Gallery was packed with visitors sampling the wide assortment of munchies, sipping wine and moving to the sweet sounds of The Sugar Factory. 


 
Lynnette Kupferer was demo'ing the fine art of mosaic-making and many of the Co-op artists were in attendance to talk about their art.
 

And nearby, the 40West Gallery was hosting a show which included the artwork of LAC's own Kathy Ross. 
 
 
Belmar's Block 7 was busy as well, with Valkarie Gallery and others staying open till 9 for a block-long art walk.  

If you missed this one, come on out next month on the First Friday, when Lauree Bartee will demo ceramic tile making and the Musical entertainment will be provided by Les Baca and Brian Sapp.