[Illustration: COLOR CEMENT TILES AND POTTERY]
[Illustration:
COLOR
CEMENT
HANDICRAFT
PEDRO·J·LEMOS
RETA·A·LEMOS
THE DAVIS PRESS
WORCESTER
MASSACHUSETTS]
Copyright, 1922
by The Davis Press, Inc.
Worcester, Mass.
Printed in the
United States of America
Dedicated to
ROBERT B. HARSHE
Director of the
Chicago Art Institute
for his early recognition
and encouragement
of Color Cement
Handicraft
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Foreword 9
Chapter 1. Materials and Equipment 11
Chapter 2. The Making of Plaster Molds 21
Chapter 3. Plain and Incised Cement Tiles 33
Chapter 4. Making Vases and Bowls 47
Chapter 5. The Use of Color in Cement Tiles 57
Chapter 6. Color Cement Relief Tiles 67
Chapter 7. The Majolica Tile 75
Chapter 8. Sgraffito Color Cement Work 87
Chapter 9. Modeled and Carved Color Cement 95
Chapter 10. Color Cement for Bowls and Vases 103
Chapter 11. Glass Mosaic Tiles 111
Chapter 12. Flower Boxes and Other Straight Forms 119
Chapter 13. Color Cement for the Garden 129
Chapter 14. The Making of Candlesticks and Book Supports 141
Chapter 15. Color Cement for Interior Decoration 147
Chapter 16. Surface Finishes 159
Chapter 17. Decorations in the Open 165
Chapter 18. Tile and Pottery with Color Magnesite Cement Work 173
Chapter 19. Color Cement Projects for the Schoolroom 179
Chapter 20. Designing for Tiles and Pottery 191
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Page
Color Cement Tiles and Vases. Frontispiece in color
Tools for Color Cement Handicraft 18
The Mixing of Plaster-of-Paris 19
Helpful Material for Color Cement Handicraft 20
The Making of Plaster Molds 30
The Making of Molds 31
How to Make Color Cement Tiles 44
Cement Tile Textures 45
The Incised Tile 46
Vase Molds 55
The Finishing of Cement Pottery 56
Use of Color in Cement Tiles 64
Color Tile Methods 65
Plaster and Clay Modeled Cement Tiles 73
Color Cement Tiles and Pottery by Art School Students 74
The Majolica Tile 83
Slip Painted Tiles 84
Slip Painted Tile Methods 85
Sgraffito Tile and Sgraffito in Architecture 93
Modeled and Carved Cement Tile Methods 102
Color Cement Vases 108
Color Cement Vases 109
Mosaic Tile Method 116
Mosaic Tiles 117
Mosaic Stone Tiles 118
Three Cement Box Methods 126
The Making of a Cement Box 127
Helps in Cement Garden Pottery 137
Application of Cement Tiles to Architectural Use 138
Color Cement Flagstones used for a Bridge, Garden
Pathway and Entrance 139
Color Cement Used for Chimney Stones and Flagstones 140
Book Support and Candlestick Molds 145
Color Cement Tiles for Interior Decoration 154
Color Cement Tiles for the Fireplace 155
Tile Patterns for Wall or Floor 156
The Unit Tile and Application 157
Cement Tiles and Woodwork 158
A Surface Finish for Cement Handicraft 164
Decorations Painted with Color Cement 171
Cement Color Painted Decorations Applied 172
The Making of Magnesite Cement 177
Magnesite Objects Cast from Molds 178
Schoolroom Projects in Cement 185
A Tile in Cement made in the Grammar Grades 186
A Tile made in the Intermediate Grades 187
Color Cement Tiles and Pottery made by the Students of a High School 188
Problems in Cement by Students of an Art School 189
Helpful Design Principles for Color Cement Work 198
Outline Patterns for Color Cement Handicraft 199
Tone Patterns for Color Cement Handicraft 200
Egyptian, Roman, and Aztec Relief Decorations 201
FOREWORD
It is evident to the most casual observer that the use of cement
and concrete has developed into a most important building
material--undoubtedly the most important of the age. Industrial and
vocational educators have recognized this importance and thousands of
school children have received instruction in its use and application to
objects of utility. Its use has been the subject of many books, and the
reason for the issuing of this book is to present in printed form the
use of color cement for the decoration or surface enrichment of cement
and concrete objects. We heretofore have thought of cement in terms of
rough surfaces and crude retaining walls, little thinking that beautiful
patterns and textures are possible with proper combinations of color
with cement, presenting possibilities for producing art tiles, pottery,
and decorations of a high art quality.
After a study some years ago of the various forms of producing clay
pottery and its possible relation to school arts and industrial
education, the handicap of necessary firing to give permanency loomed
large against its general adaptation by schools. This resulted in
considerable research and experimenting by the authors with cement and
the use of color in the endeavor to parallel in some measure each of the
methods employed in the making of fired tiles and pottery. Particular
attention was given to simplifying the process of securing permanent
form to many of the plastic forms of schoolroom art, which have been
presented in clay and other perishable mediums. With the projects
presented in the following chapters permanent useful objects can be
secured by students in their school art subjects. Attention was also
given to the enriching or refining by decoration the many objects
heretofore made in cement and concrete by vocational classes. The
problems and methods explained in the following description solve this
need.
Craftsmen or amateur home-workers who delight in creating and building
objects of beauty around them can find in color cement a medium which
will appeal to their needs, in that the necessary working equipment is
simple and the work can be done within small space.
The following chapters by no means complete the story of color cement.
They record the results of the work of the authors and it is hoped that
it will stimulate interested readers to carry this delightful handicraft
to even greater achievements.
The results achieved have been accomplished through several years’
patient experimenting by the authors, but the realization that many
other teachers, craftsmen and students will be aided in continuing this
delightful, durable handicraft, is in itself an enjoyable reward to the
authors for their efforts.
Reta A. Lemos
Pedro J. Lemos
[Illustration]
CHAPTER 1
Materials and Equipment
[Illustration]
IN THE MAKING OF COLOR CEMENT HANDICRAFT the chief material used is
Portland cement. While this material has assumed a most important part
in the building history of our present time, there are not many who know
its history and source, and as every craftsman is a better craftsman if
he knows something of the story of the material with which he works,
here is the brief story of Portland cement.
PORTLAND CEMENT DERIVES ITS NAME because of resemblance in color to a
stone quarried near Portland, England, and it was named by its inventor,
Joseph Aspdin in 1824. It is a manufactured product produced by a
scientific process. At the beginning of the Christian era the Romans
used a natural cement very extensively, and many fragments of color
frescoes and friezes remain from the work of the ancients, showing that
they used color with their work.
THE PRINCIPAL INGREDIENTS OF PORTLAND CEMENT are lime, silica, iron, and
alumina. These materials are mixed in definite proportions and then
subjected to a degree of heat that almost causes them to melt, forming a
clinker or slag. This clinker is ground until it is reduced to a powder,
and this is the Portland cement. Portland cement is generally mixed with
an aggregate to produce strength and this aggregate is usually stone,
gravel or sand. The third material needed to complete the combination is
water.
SUCCESS IN THE USE OF CEMENT depends largely upon cement that is fresh.
Cement is very sensitive to moisture and if kept where fogs, dew or
moisture of any nature is absorbed into it, the first set or “hydration”
takes place and destroys its use for fine handicraft.
TO TEST FRESH CEMENT when the cement sack is open, thrust the hand into
it and see that no hard lumps are in it. Fresh cement will feel
slippery and soapy when rubbed between the finger tips. If it feels
gritty and sandy it may do for the rough parts or body of vases and
tiles, but only fresh cement should be used to mix with color and for
surfacing purposes.
THE PROPER CARE OF CEMENT requires that it be kept in a covered
receptacle and kept in a dry place, preferably up from the floor if the
floor is near the ground. It should be kept in a dry, tight work-shop
and the doors should be kept closed at night to avoid any moisture from
the night air reaching it. Nothing can restore spoiled cement and it
should not be used as the results will be discouraging.
GOOD GRADES OF AGGREGATES SHOULD BE USED in cement work. Clean sand
should be used and a sand that is not too fine is preferable. Gravel and
crushed rock used in large work such as garden seats, large bowls and
outdoor problems should be of a good grade to form a good mixture.
THE WATER USED IN CEMENT WORK should be free from all impurities.
Moderately warmed water will hasten the setting or hardening of cement
while very cold water retards the hardening.
THERE ARE TWO COLORS OF CEMENT, gray and white. Portland cement is gray
in color and a white cement is also made that is a refined form of
cement. White cement is not as hard or durable as gray cement, but gives
a smooth surface and sets as satisfactorily as the gray cement. It is
more expensive than the gray cement and should not be used later than
six months after the sack is opened.
WHEN CEMENT IS USED ALONE IT IS TERMED “NEAT.” When it is mixed with
rock, gravel or sand it is termed “concrete.” Concrete produces strength
and the neat cement produces a smooth texture and surface. When concrete
is used the cement and water will rise to the top and if the surface is
worked and pressed with a trowel the cement is “flowed” to the top,
producing a smooth surface.
MOLDS ARE USED FOR FORMING CEMENT AND CONCRETE, and are made from wood,
metal or plaster-of-Paris. The forms in all instances should be tied or
braced together to prevent the moisture of the mixture from running out,
as the water is essential to the successful hardening of the cement. In
the making of cement pottery and tiles, plaster-of-Paris molds or forms
are generally used and plaster-of-Paris therefore forms an important
material in the making of color cement handicraft.
Plaster-of-Paris is made in different degrees of setting periods. These
are quick-setting, medium-setting, and slow-setting. Casting plaster or
sculptor’s plaster should be asked for and a medium-or slow-setting
plaster is preferable for the beginner.
CEMENT, AGGREGATES, WATER AND PLASTER FORM THE MAIN PARTS of our working
materials excepting the color, which is especially described in the
chapter on Color.
THE EQUIPMENT for concrete pottery is simple, and much of it may be
pressed into service from material to be found about the house or
workshop. Inventive ingenuity on the part of the worker will find clever
uses for many discarded kitchen utensils and unused tools.
Following is a list of convenient things needed to produce pottery.
These may be added to or elaborated through personal requirements.
WORKING EQUIPMENT.
galvanized iron pans about 2 x 3 feet
2 large spoons
4 or 5 pans
2 ladles
1 large file or rasp
2 table knives
3 pieces of ordinary glass about 12 x 18 inches
1 palette knife
1 lb. modeling wax
1 bristle brush ½ inch wide
2 small sable oil brushes, No. 1 or 2
1 small clay-modeling tool
2 pieces of thin wood for mixing paddles
½ doz. small saucers or butter dishes
strips of thin metal
thin soft wire
1 sifter
2 pails
muller and pestle
several pieces of surfaced wood about 12 inches square.
With a flat table to work on, running water or a pail of water handy, a
box to receive waste plaster-of-Paris and cement, the proper environment
for color cement is set.
GALVANIZED IRON WATER TRAYS can be made by taking a three-inch by
seven-inch sheet and cutting a two-inch strip off of one end, reserve
for making scrapers and other useful tools. Cut the remaining metal into
three rectangular sections for trays.
To make the trays, lay one of these pieces over a strong box with an
even edge and hammer into tray shape as shown in the accompanying plate.
The corners should be bent so as to make the trays waterproof without
soldering. A wooden mallet should be used for hammering the metal as a
metal hammer may cut the metal.
MOLDING CASE. Several pieces of board hinged together with one series of
edges coming so that they will rest evenly on a flat surface, will
produce an adjustable case to use in making molds. A strong cord will
keep it in place. A strip of metal (tin, brass or iron) may be used as
a cylinder, the circumference being pressed in and tied to conform to
the dimensions of the object to be molded.
MIXING PADDLES. Paddles for mixing plaster or cement can be made out of
firm wood strips and handles shaped to fit the hand.
INCISING TOOLS. A nail hammered into a piece of firm wood and the head
snipped off with nippers then sharpened with a file or emery stone until
it is a tapering wedge point. Nut picks may be filed down slightly for
this purpose. Two or three points of varying widths will be handy to
have, particularly when some of them disappear occasionally as all small
tools will.
SCRAPER. A piece of barrel stave or heavy wire bent like a croquet
wicket with a wire fastened from end to end is particularly convenient
where a number of clay or plasticene tiles are to be produced. For class
use two strips of wood are fastened to the bench, the desired width
separating the strips. Between these strips a piece of strong paper
should be laid and the clay or plasticene pressed firmly onto it between
the strips. The scraper will shave the surplus clay if it is moved along
so that the wire rests on the wooden strips. Measure off the six-inch or
eight-inch squares, cut across with a knife from strip to strip and
remove the squares by sliding the paper out. This will give a smooth,
even surface on which to model or incise designs.
THE OTHER ITEMS OF EQUIPMENT all have their part to play as follows:
2 large spoons--For handling plaster and cement.
1 large file or rasp--For occasional use on the tile edge.
3 pieces of glass--On which to cast tiles.
2 table knives--For paring molds, etc.
1 palette knife--For working color into cement.
1 bristle brush--With which to oil molds.
Small modeling tool--To use on clay and plasticene.
Nut picks--For incising.
½ doz. small saucers--In which to mix colors.
Thin soft wire--For cutting molds.
Sifter--To sift cement and color for glazes.
2 pails--In which to mix cement and plaster.
Muller and pestle--Grinding mineral colors with cement.
It may be unnecessary to add that the old axiom “A place for everything
and everything in its place,” will do wonders toward keeping the temper
sweet, and a good temper is a most necessary ingredient for producing
good cement handicraft.
[Illustration: Tools for Color Cement Handicraft]
[Illustration: The Mixing of Plaster-of-Paris]
[Illustration: Helpful Material for Color Cement Handicraft]
[Illustration]