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Clay Plaster

Dec 31
Love0

Kentucky Kura Comes To Life

By Natural Building Workshops, Clay Plaster, Lime Plaster

Life is full. The bucket that was 2025 proved to be weightier than most, which I wasn’t sure was physically possible. But here we are now at the end. We set a high bar for ourselves this year, and for the most part things went according to plan in terms of workshops and projects. The end of the year always feels like a landmark, but I’m also well aware that the gears never truly stop turning. As I expected, I once again utterly failed to provide substantive project updates throughout the summer or fall, so I’ll attempt to catch you up now.

Our goal for 2025 was this: let’s get as close to the top of that bucket without spilling over. We scheduled six workshops, the most we’ve ever offered in a single season. Three or four distinct building projects, and a smattering of contract work. Pizza Nights continued. An art parade and giant backpack puppet were born.

Right now, I’ll focus on one of our main projects. Back in December 2024, we decided to design our newly-raised timber frame into a usable space for humans (instead of serving as much-needed storage space — I’m still looking for that big empty building, folks). That set the stage for much of our spring and summer work. And this was the first year we did three Japanese Carpentry Workshops back to back, as well. I’ve never run a marathon, but I think this is about as close as I’ll ever get to that feeling.

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Dec 15
Love0

Lath and Plaster Walls: Pavilion Progress

By Clay Plaster, Lime Plaster, Japan

clay plaster wall in pavilion

We had an especially mild fall this year. We didn’t get a hard frost until at least late October, or even early November. It was bone dry for weeks on end and the daytime temps were delightfully mild. Normally, when late fall lands this place turns into a cool, muddy swamp — not usually the most inspiring conditions for outdoor work, you know?  Instead, the building season was graciously extended by a few precious weeks. 

I decided to take advantage of this dry, mild window to make some progress on the pavilion plaster work. This felt like a big treat at the end of a busy year. I’ve been doing so much carpentry work the last two years that this recent opportunity to throw up some lath and plaster walls brought me some real joy. 

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Sep 17
Love1

Natural Plastering Craftsmanship in Japan: 50 min. Documentary

By Clay Plaster, Lime Plaster, Resources, Video

 

Whenever you have a quiet evening, I highly recommend you check out this 50 minute documentary about plastering craftsmanship in Japan. I’m not sure when this was produced, but not anytime too recently. The production has that smooth, slow, gentle vibe that will whisk you away. You don’t need to understand Japanese to glean a lot of valuable information about the process and workflow of creating beautiful clay and lime walls. Much respect to the sakan. This is heavenly.

Mar 09
Love1

Japanese Plasterwork: History of Plaster Craft in Japan

By Video, Clay Plaster, Japan

I’m a big sucker for the series Begin Japanology / Japanology Plus. It’s a long-running TV series that dives into specific aspects of Japanese culture, hosted by the mild-mannered Peter Barakan. The premise and delivery are very simple, and there’s an episode for seemingly everything Japanese.

Recently, an episode devoted to Japanese plastering was released. It’s an informative, inspiring look at the history of plastering craft, and some of the newer work being done today.

One word: storehouses. Check it out!  

Feb 26
Love12
sugita kogyo jigane trowel

Making a Forged Plaster Trowel with Sugita-san

By Japan, Clay Plaster, Lime Plaster

Now that the episode of “Who Wants to Come to Japan?” (世界ニッポン行きたい人応援団) has aired, I can talk about my experience during the filming week. The first thing I want to share about is my visit to the Sugita family, a very generous family who run a top quality trowel business. Started by Sugita-san senior, the business (Sugita Kogyo) is a small operation and is now mostly handled by the son. During my two day visit, I had the privilege of observing Sugita-san’s process for making a hand-forged jigane trowel.

Plaster, trowel, and tool geeks — read on.

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Jan 11
Love9
kurashiki canal street

Beautiful Japanese Storehouses in Kurashiki

By Japan, Clay Plaster, Carpentry, Lime Plaster

kurashiki canal street

I’m back home from Japan. I can think of no better word to describe the trip than ‘whirlwind’. It was very full and varied, and it’s taken me over a week to feel settled back into home life and routine. (The jet lag on the way there was almost nonexistent, but it hit me like a sack o’ potatoes on the return trip.)

It’s hard to summarize such a long trip, so I won’t really try. I’ll say this, though — I definitely want to return, and plan on it at some point. My goal right now is to document some of my trip highlights in a series of blog posts. I can’t share much about the first week (yet), so things will have to be out of chronological order. Not that it matters.

Enough jabbering, let’s get on to the good stuff. Here are some pretty pictures of clay walls and kura (storehouses) in the lovely city of Kurashiki, a small historic city I loved exploring.

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Nov 14
Love6
clay manure plaster finish: straw bale house

Essential Natural Plasters: My New Favorite Book for Plastering

By Resources, Clay Plaster, Lime Plaster

essential natural plasters book reviewThe world of natural plasters runs deep. Despite the seeming simplicity of plaster, there’s a lot of depth to explore. Materials, recipes, tools, and application can vary widely from project to project, person to person, and place to place. Although there are some good resources on the subject, there haven’t been a lot of in-depth publications focused on plastering in North America specifically.

Luckily, that’s changed with the release of Essential Natural Plasters. This is easily my new favorite resource for natural plaster recipes and techniques. The authors Michael Henry and Tina Therrien (and a host of contributors) shine a bright light on the sometimes mysterious subject of clay and lime finishes.

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May 08
Love3

Finished Home with Earthen Floor and Clay Plaster

By Clay Plaster, Earthen Floor, Lime Plaster, Lime Plaster
clay plaster faswall block home

A white clay plaster finish meets the earthen floor made with site soil

This winter, I had the chance to revisit a home that I worked on last spring. The homeowners have moved in and it was very sweet to see the house in a finished state. It’s a great feeling to contribute work and then see everything tied together in the end. The finished look is great — the earthen floor looks smooth and feels soft on the feet and the clay plastered walls add brightness and texture. Look ahead to see more pictures.

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Apr 11
Love13
benito: polished clay plaster

Polished Clay Plaster How-To Video

By Resources, Video, Clay Plaster

Did you know that you can polish clay plaster so that it has a reflective mirror finish? It looks spectacular, and Benito Steen (son of Athena and Bill Steen, straw bale experts of the southwest) has a new video describing his process for achieving the effect. Benito has done a great job describing the process in clear, simple term. The video is beautiful to watch, too.

Check it out above and learn for yourself how to make a polished clay plaster finish with very simple ingredients. Hope to see more videos like this soon!