Wild Tiles and FerroCement

Bring out your cracked ornaments, lonely bits of toys, crockery, and tiles. You can buy second-hand crockery and tiles if you are short of junk (who can be short of junk?). Together we will turn them Cherie's-Flamingo-Plaqueinto your personality masterpiece. You can make a sign for your home, shed or outhouse, a stepping stone, garden sculpture or sun-dial. We will supply a teacher, ideas, experience and cement. You bring the tiles and bits and make it happen. This one-off workshop is part of our permaculture goals: up-cycling land-fill, reducing consumption, skill building, empowering and enjoying a little friendship whilst being productive.

WORKSHOP GOALS:

  1. Remember the permaculture principle of starting small and being successful. Achieve a small-project and modular thinking – have a small goal and we finish the job.
  2. discuss productive and fun design options (discuss risks of trip hazards and need for leveling of tiles and ornaments if we are building stepping stones.)
  3. aim to recycle broken pottery/ornaments and give them new purpose.
  4. learn how to mix cement that is water-proof
  5. use home-made, natural resources and up-cycled tools as much as possible
  6. work safely, resourcefully and efficiently
  7. discuss the importance of not walking on productive garden beds.Sam-wild-tiling
  8. discuss the importance of water ponds to provide water for birds and reptiles and small mammals.
  9. discuss how to ensure the ponds and pools are child-safe and mosquito-deadly.
  10. go home energised and inspired.

Together we will plan and create a quick project in ferrocement: A stepping stone or sign/plaque.

Instructors: Permaculture Wollongong Institute lead teachers: April Sampson-Kelly and Shane Moon (key organiser of the fabulous PWI Clothes-Swap and other workshops).

finished-wild-tiles  POST WORKSHOP REVIEW:

The great thing about the wild tiling was we were able to angle some of the pieces (if it wasn’t to be a stepping stone, but a plaque). Some participants made sculptured tiles, overlapping them.

We used reclaimed bucket lids as the form-work and steel mesh as the re-enforcement inside the ferrocement.

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