Cob: Re: book finds! - plasters, paints, finishes, washes, etc. etc.

[crtaylor]

Hello to all, I took John's advice  and hunted down these out of print
books and bought a bunch!  Applied Artistry is absolutely wonderful...read
below to see his unbiased comments..I have to agree on BOTH books. Can't
wait to begin a wall limeplaster with wash finish, and will gesso a table
too.

Applied Artistry is $25. ( was $29.95 orig)
Classic Paints is $24...both are NEW books,  but no longer in print.
email me if interested..I have only one copy of Classic Paints right now,
am trying to get more copies.



John Schinnerer wrote on 8/26/99
Aloha,
>
>Just stumbled over two books with great info on all manner of
>natural/old-style/historical plasters, paints, finishes, washes, etc. etc.
>etc. - they're "art books" genre-wise but have tons of stuff relevant to
>natural building plasters and finishes.  Great pictures of historical
>buildings, inside and out, as well.   Here we
>go:
>
>"Applied Artistry" by Jocasta Innes, Bulfinch Press
>Subtitle:  'A complete guide to decorative finished for your home'
>
>Includes detailed info on building lime, gypsum, plaster of paris, compo,
>stucco (it ain't what it used to be!), etc.; project details for slaking
>lime, rough plastering, lime rendering, etc.; then a whole section on
>colors, pigments and paints including limewash (and tinting it),
>colorwashing, pigments, historical palettes, etc.
>
>
>"Classic Paints and Faux Finishes," by Annie Sloan and Kate Gwynn, Reader's
>Digest, ISBN 0-89577-523-9
>
>Much more finish-oriented:  earth, mineral and plant pigments; plasters,
>glues and sizes, simple coatings, limewash, size paints, glazes, caesin
>paints, water-based paints).  Also a big section on paint and equipment,
>plus interesting tidbits like how Stockholm tar (a type of wood tar)
>eventually replaced pig fat as a protective layer on houses in Scandinavia,
>Germany and Holland.
>
>
>A lot of what's in these two books could be used to transform a 'modern'
>white-walled box (if that's what one's got at present) into a much richer,
>more colorful and welcoming bunch of spaces just with surface treatments and
>details.
>Both books have lots of info on "natural" materials, for example Finnish
>cooked paint - "This traditional Scandinavian paint is cheap and durable,
>lasting from 30 to 50 years.  It has been used in Sweden and Finland for
>centuries.  It is made from rye and wheat flour boiled in water, iron
>sulfate, and earth pigments."
>Both also include information on "modern" materials (latex paint, concrete,
>etc.).  Both have step-by-step how-to's, with photo sequences and examples,
>for most of the main materials and techniques they cover.
>
>Found these through an artist friend who loves to do the surface treatments
>and decorative natural finishes and so on - she and her husband are planning
>to build a cob/hybrid house and use a variety of these finishes (yeah, sure,
>I said, just wait and see if you've got the energy left after building the
>basic house...! ;-).
>
>John Schinnerer


Charmaine R. Taylor
Taylor Publishing 1-888-441-1632
PO Box 6985,Eureka CA 95502
http://www.northcoast.com/~tms
Cobwood: www.northcoast.com/~tms/cobwood.html