Hi Jamie,
Well, this pedestal was inspired by those Inca constructions typical of Machu Pichu.I have not gone there yet, but in my travel list,if a had one, that`d be # 1. There`s a train going up .... marvelous! I posted this in regards to Peter`s curiosity about a cement pedestal. Simply wanted to say is very simple, and anybody can do it. At times, it may be a good idea to make one`s own pedestal for certain sculptures: simple and cheap, in my opinion. Did you know there`s even jewlery made out of cement? And the last craze now for some years: acids colored concrete tops, floors, and more ! Nelson.

Hi Nelson,

Yes I've seen the acid colored Concrete floors. I visited an artists gallery, and that's mainly what he did, but he also had some sculptures made and also colored them with the acids. It's very cool!

Thanks for sharing,

Cheers,

Jamie Santellano

......and how does the acid colouring work??? I've not heard of that before. I have used dilute acrylic paint, but with mixed results.

Peter

Hi Peter,
This concrete staining topic is fascinating if you like working with cement. It`s chemistry art. Basically the staining solution is made up of an acid (no more concentrated than 10% or it`ll eat up the lime component in the concrete and you end up with sand, pebbles, and all sort of agregates, a dissaster!)+ a wetting agent, soap or any other surfactant + a metalic salt. Read on concrete staining, there`s a lot of info, but got to filter `cause it`s mostly contractors advertising. Google: Homemade concrete stain recipes, excellent info for make-it-yourself like us... Remember this: Water first then ad the acid, otherwise the mix will literaly boil off right on your face and burn you. Many of these acids are dangerous, so if you experiment do use mask and ventilation! In regards to plain coloring cement using oxides incorporated to the cement as I used on the pedestals, that`s the trickiest part. A work is either enhanced or ruined by that final step. What I do Peter is just trying things out. You may paste some color cement, texture it before it dries hard, and next day you could paste with another tone, and before it dries hard use a bit sand paper and water to rub off the excess, so you end up with depresions with the last color applied and protruding parts with the initial color.I`ve noticed that the effect is nice if you use different tones of the same color (color degrading), when you use different colors the work may look funky like painted. Usually the color oxide powder to cement ratio should be about 1/3 to 1/2 at the most, otherwise you end up with a crumbly surface due to soft cement resulting from the smaller particles of oxides covering cement particles. Surface area concept. If you fine sand irregular surfaces, the sanded part will show different when dry, sponging will knock sand particles and get a different texture. You can also have different color mixes and apply them with spatula alternatively on portions of same layer, and sort of work`em together with moist sponge like if you were painting on a canvas. There are so many variables Peter on this cement topic, that when I do any work with cement, I make sure I do finish adyacent portions the same day, never leave a wall half way, because next day, slightly different strokes when texturing due to animic states... all show as different on the cement! My best advice is that you try anything coming to mind and write steps on multiple stage work because it may get confusing. Acid staining is something I haven`t done yet, but I will! Don`t know what happen but I don`t see DINO yet? nelson.

Sorry Peter, and sorry Rich, I posted without having logged in. Simple, absent mind! Nelson