Slovakia – The Workshop

Our workshop compound in Bucany, Slovakia as sketched by architect Radoslaw Barek of Poland.

Traveling south from Denmark, where half of our workshop had been very wet and a tad bit cold, we looked forward to warmer and drier weather in Slovakia. To the contrary, our workshop there was wetter than anyplace we visited or taught in Europe. It started raining shortly after we arrived and continued throughout the week. Don’t let any of the photos below with blue sunny skies fool you, there were moments of clear skies, but not many. There was a positive side to it all, we will never again fear having to teach clay work in the rain. To be quite honest, once my initial fear had subsided, I actually began to enjoy it. Whether steady downpour or a driving burst, the relentless Slovakian rain, once accepted, seemed to have a intoxicating quality that made this workshop very memorable.

Throughout our trip I did a search on Google to get some background information on any new destination. Bucany, Slovakia, the little town where our workshop was being held, yielded almost nothing with the exception of some mention about remnants of Celtic culture being found there. I still remember one site that invited me to be the first person to write something about Bucany. Come to think of it, I’m not sure I have any visual memories of the place. My memories go immediately to our workshop, avoiding the rain and working under tarps.

Our workshop location was a compound owned by Viliam Simek, an antique dealer in everyday life and an aspiring permaculturalist in the making. He would easily fall into the category of “one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet.” The main building where we stayed, ate and held evening talks was a rather large old house that served to house the overflow of antiques from his retail outlet. To the rear of the building was a large walled in area where we held the workshop.

Viliam Simek and daughter with workshop group.

Dinner at Viliam's permaculture-antique warehouse.

The participants of the Slovakian workshop were the same mix of nationalities that we had found in Estonia and Denmark, however, this group seemed to have more from the eastern European countries such as our old friend Paulina Wojclechowska of Poland who had worked with us years back in Mexico, Radoslaw Barek - architect and professor from Poland, the scientist Meszaros Attila from Hungary and others with equally complicated Eastern European type names. There were also five Germans in the workshop, all of them skilled with backgrounds in straw bale and earth plasters. We had just seen some very impressive straw bale buildings they had done in Germany at the eco-village Sieben Linden and it was fun to meet them in person.

The areas that we had available for hands-on training included a small old house - almost a ruin, a chicken coop built with a token of natural building techniques and a straw bale wall that was under construction when we arrived. The straw bale wall gave us an opportunity to apply the thick straw/clay plaster we typically use for our base coats on straw bale walls. Actually, we use it many other applications, but that is its most common use. We love the mix because we can fill out the walls to a depth of an inch or more all in one coat. Mixed well, it doesn't crack, is very strong and flexible and will wear slowly when exposed to rain. Depending upon the clay, the mixture is typically somewhere around 1 part clay, 1 chopped straw and 1/2 sand. If the clay soil we are using has naturally occurring sand or aggregate, we may not add any additional sand. It can be mixed by hand, by foot if there is a large enough container and with a mixer if extra water is added.

Viliam's natural building chicken coop.

Straw/clay plaster mix.

Applying the mix on one of those great Slovakian rainy mornings.

One coat of plaster applied.

The combination of weather conditions and limited workspaces presented us with a challenging set of circumstances. All things considered, our hostess Zuzana Kierulfova, had done a commendable job of coming up with a suitable location for a workshop where people could also be housed and fed especially considering that Slovakia doesn’t really have a tradition of straw bale or alternative building. After removing many layers of old and failing plaster from the old building, building enough of the straw bale wall to receive plaster and making preparations for wet weather, we created an environment suitable for teaching. Considering the condition of the old house when we arrived we were able to leave some very beautiful plaster work on the inside.

The basic clay we had to work with in Slovakia was beautiful, it was provided by a fellow who supplies local potters, very similar to what we found in Denmark. Michal Navratil, owner of “Picas,” a company that offers clay plasters and other raw materials, provided us with colored clays and the chopped straw we needed andwww.rigi.cz

Workshop group beginning a clay wall carving.

Detailing by Athena.

Finished carving.

One of the great things about our trip was discovering new tools that we don’t have back home in the States. The workshop in Slovakia added a couple to our list. When plastering existing buildings one inevitably encounters walls that need to be scraped or textured before another coat is applied. This particular tool was invaluable for preparing the walls in one of the rooms we used for the workshop to remove the cracked, dusty and failed plaster.

Wall scraper.

Another simple tool that was essentially a rough version of a stovetop sauce pan was this pan used to scoop and move plaster from buckets and tubs. The Slovakians traditionally used them to apply plaster but I have to admit that I wasn’t really impressed with the technique.

Slovakian plaster pots.

Another thing we noticed was that the price of tools in Slovakia seemed to be much less expensive. On a field trip to the old town of Trnava, instead of sightseeing, many from the group spent most of their time in the local hardware store buying tools.

Plasterer Barbara Foth loading up on tools.

Steffen Knofler with his new plaster screed keeping to the tradition of straight German walls.

Slovakia gave us the opportunity to work a little more with basic hawk and trowel skills than we had in Estonia and Denmark. There was enough time prior to the workshop to make Japanese style hawks for the entire group. This style of hawk is nothing short of extraordinarily functional, comfortable and easy to use. The western style hawk with its single pole pales in comparison. We have used nothing else since we were introduced to them some years back. These are available from our son Arjuna (Oso) through The Canelo Project for $25 plus shipping: www.caneloproject.com

Angela Granzotto and Sasha Ralcevich of Italy learning to use the trowel and hawk.

The mixes we used with these tools was very much the same as everywhere else we had been. For the most part it was by volume 1 part clay, 1 1/2 to 2 parts sand, 1/2 straw. This was what we typically use as the middle coat, however, with some extra detailing, it can serve as a finish coat. The sand and clay were screened to 1/8 inch or 3 mm.

When it comes to putting plaster on the wall, the same can be said for Japanese trowels. Admittedly, there are many different ways to apply plaster to a wall. In Mexico, as is the case in much of Europe, you can simply throw it on the wall with a mason's trowel, screed it to level, float it and be done. Much of the world uses their hands. However, if you are going to use a trowel, then Japanese trowels are far superior to anything we've ever used whether it be ergonomics or the type of finish they give. In addition, there are a broad range of sizes and types depending upon the need. The only place they can be easily acquired in the States is from Tom and Satomi Lander at: http://landerland.com/Tools/trowel.html Plus they will go way out of their way to talk and consult with you over trowel selection. It is possible to buy the thin flexible Japanese trowels elsewhere, but for all practical purposes they are only useful for very delicate and thin finish coats. I should also add that when it comes to buying tools and materials, I have to go to great lengths before ordering from afar.

Burkard Reuger of Germany inspecting the medium coat plaster mix. You have to love Burkard, or "the professor" as I called him. He watched everything we did like a hawk and had a measurement for everything. If we needed the calculate the amount of mix we needed for a wall I would simply call upon him. In response he would tell me: for every square meter of wall surface, plaster a centimeter thick, 10 liters of mix is needed. He's kind of like a natural building version of Google and a calculator rolled in to one, onsite and ready to provide info at the drop of a hat.

Another great tool found in Europe is the German lightweight poly float. They're perfect for leveling out walls and removing imperfections prior to final smoothing. German plasterer Barbara Foth of Germany is using it here on a lime plaster prior to finishing. We didn't get so far as developing a contact for these floats while we were there, but here is a link to one that we found on line: http://www.toolspot.co.uk/product/22-x-42cm-german-poly-float

Burnished lime/clay finish. The mix for this wall varies from the basic clay and sand mix described above. As I remember we used almost an equal part of very finely chopped straw to the clay and about 1/2 as much sand as the clay.

In addition to plaster work we did both earthen and tataki floors in the chicken coop.

Athena closing herself into the middle of the earth floor.

Finished floor

Constructing the "tataki" floor sample with improvised tamping tools.

Finished "tataki" floor. This type of floor is one we learned from the Japanese. It uses a sandy clay soil that has a percentage of gravel combined with a little lime and "nigari" which is used to make tofu. The common version is magnesium chloride which can be gotten almost anywhere and does not need to be sealed with linseed oil like the earth floor.

Another side project we did apart from plastering walls was refinishing an old masonry oven. This created an opportunity for participants to do some sculpting with the mixes. Seemed that the Germans in particular liked this project in that they are already masters of the "straight wall."

Oven in its original state.

Refinishing in progress.

Finished oven with fresco color being applied to the lime/clay plaster.

And I think that is all I need to say about Slovakia. All in all it was a marvelous experience, we would not have traded for anything. Next on this blog will come our visit to Germany and now that our work schedule has slowed down a little, I should be able to manage more frequent posts. And if you didn't notice, there is now an option on this blog to subscribe to it so that whenever there is a new post you should be notified by email rather than having to check.

Touristing Slovakia - Pre June Workshop

This posting goes back to the month of June when we were in Slovakia for one of our European workshops. This will tell you a little bit about what we experienced there, a later post will cover the workshop. I've still got Germany to go as well as some other odds and ends, obviously those will come later. In that we've got a workshop starting today it will be a while before I post again, but for now, here's Slovakia through our eyes.

Arriving Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, we found ourselves in a place that was clearly unlike anyplace we had been in Europe. It certainly bore no resemblance to the cosmopolitan surroundings we had encountered in Berlin. We didn’t quite now what to expect, others had told us that it was somewhat of a backward country where we could expect a diet of bread, potatoes, fried cheese and beer. To be quite truthful, it looked a bit like Mexico.

Bratislava Train Station

Greeting us at the train station was Bjorn Kerulfova, a Norwegian by birth, who was raised in Switzerland, painted us a very different picture of the country. For Bjorn, Slovakia was a place not limited by cumbersome tradition and a place of opportunity where many interesting things were happening. An industrial designer by trade, his company Createrra, www.createrra.sk, designs and builds houses according to the European passive house standards that require little or no heating or cooling.

He works closely with his wife Zuzana, our hostess who is an architect and the director of a non profit organization called Artur, www.ozartur.sk

Their home, located in the village of Hruby Sur, is an old restored mill that has belonged to Zuzana’s family. Their house was nicely done, a very comfortable place to rest after the Denmark workshop.

Typical of most European breakfasts we ate, but not in France - of course.

In their backyard was a newly built dome of clay bricks built several weeks earlier in a workshop with one of the gurus of German clay building, Professor Gernot Minke, who is mostly known for his book Earth Construction handbook.

Like we have done in most places we’ve worked we visited the old town of the nearest city, in this case that was Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. Bratislava — historically Pozsony and Pressburg is the capital of the Slovak Republic with a population of about 429,000. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on the banks of the Danube River. It borders both Austria and Hungary and was once the capital of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1536 to 1783.

Before settling into work we took a day long sightseeing trip with Zuzana. In Slovakia, “day long” means every bit that and more. The landscape was gorgeous, mountains, rivers and castle ruins that seemed to be everywhere. It was nothing short of magical. Zuzana’s laughter punctuated the drive over her constant confusion with her GPS. We were never lost, but hovered on the edge.

Our first stop was in the town of Zilina to see that which would be the most unusual straw bale project we have every seen. A group of young kids, at leas that is what I’d call them, got together and had built a rather tall straw bale structure under one of the ramps of a large highway/motorway using it as the roof. They were using it as a theatre and a place to hold various events. They had gotten permission from the mayor to build it who thought it was going to be something rather tiny, but was apparently greatly surprised when he arrived for the dedication. All the straw bales are covered with clay, the exterior has what I would call a Slovakian ventilated rainscreen assembly, plastic beer crates, donated by the beer company who sponsored the project.

We stopped at a Slovakian pub for lunch where the food was nothing like that described by some of our other European friends. The flavors were surprisingly complex. There was creamed garlic soup served in a bowl of baked bread – “Cesnakova Polieka Bochniu.” There was also a cabbage soup with sausage, flavored with paprika much like the Mexicans would use chile powder – “Kapustnica Klobasou,” The flat potato bread, which was very much like a wheat flour tortilla, was served with delicately goose liver and called “Lokse S Husacou Pecienkou.” We did finally see fried cheese which suited Kalin just fine.

Our main destination was Vlkolínec, a small village that dates back to the 14th century and has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1993, and is one of ten Slovak villages that have been given the status of a village preserve. This status was granted because the village is an untouched and complex example of folk countryside architecture of the region of the Northern Carpathians. We knew about it because we had included photos of the village houses in our book “Built by Hand.” Our friend Yoshio Komatsu and his wife Eiko, the photographer for the book, had visited there many years before. Most houses in the village are log structures and consist of two to three rooms. The name is probably derived from the Slovak work for wolf.

Having finished our work through the village, it had gotten late, about 8 PM and we had driven a long way to get there. Most people would have called it a day, but no Zuzana. She had one more place for us to visit, the town of Banska Stiavnica which she said we couldn’t miss. She didn’t give us any choice so off we went. And it turned out she was right.

It was originally a mining town for gold and silver and consequently the buildings in the town are beautiful. Like most of Europe it’s old, walking the streets you immediately sense the antiquity. Kalin remarked that finally he was getting to see the kind of Europe that he liked. Some interesting facts are that King Béla IV of Hungary made it a township in 1238 and the world’s first technical university devoted to Chemistry, Physics and Mineralogy was founded here in 1762. Like Vlkolinic it was also declared a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1993.

While driving the Slovakian countryside, it was interesting to note that many of the older traditional buildings were made of clay bricks, otherwise known as adobes. Many of them appear to have remained un-plastered for some time.

During our workshop we had a very special field trip to visit one of these older houses, what made it special was the old woman who had spent her life in it. I can’t find her name at the moment, as I remember she was in her late 80s.

Contrasting the adobes the countryside was also dotted with remnants of the Soviet occupation of Slovakia. Once, nothing but a dull lifeless grey, the Slovakian people have given many of them a bright splash of color.

We also made a trip to a beautifully restored castle – The Red Stone Castle. I never fully understood the historical details of that magnificent place, but here are a couple of photos that more than convey a sense of its grandeur.

And even though the photos took place at the closing dinner of our workshop I thought it appropriate to include them here in that they really convey a sense of Slovakian culture. The restaurant we went to was in a beautiful old stone building complete with vaulted ceilings. We managed to capture the musicians and dancers who had been employed earlier by another group. I don’t want to overdue the Mexican analogy I mentioned earlier in this post, but the music and dance had very strong ties to that of Mexico, especially what I had just seen in San Jose, CA at the Mariachi Festival.

Straw Bales and Mariachis

What have I been doing for the last month in that I’ve made no posts to this blog? Without going into detail, here’s a quick summary:

- S We spent a little over two weeks in northern New Mexico at Santa Clara Pueblo for the annual feast day and doing the finish plasters on Athena’s mother’s tiny new adobe house.

- RWe returned home, took a deep breath and built a small movable straw bale structure during our week long Straw Bale Comprehensive.

- AliAlmost without a breath, packed our bags and took off to San Jose, CA for their annual Mariachi Festival. We spent a week there preparing for and teaching a short straw bale workshop. Also spent time listening to some very good music and having a lot of fun.

- A,Once again, with almost no time for a breath, we returned home for our next workshop, Artistry with Clay and Lime.

These are things I’d like to tell you about and will do in the near future. I haven’t done so in that our 12 hour work days don’t seem to be very conducive to sitting down at the end of the day with leisure to make posts nor editing finished photos. I’m not ready to resort to posting hastily taken cell phone photos. I should be able to catch up the above activities and finish up our trip to Europe in that we have nothing much scheduled after this upcoming workshop until early November when we spend a week in Phoenix, AZ at one of the art museums working on an installation called “Native Confluence.”

Today, I’ll catch you up on San Jose because it is the most recent place we visited/worked. We had a similar venue at last year’s Mariachi Festival and I have to admit the place continues to grow on me. Less complicated than San Francisco, certainly warmer and seems to resonate with things that are familiar with me. Adobes have always been part of my life, when in San Jose, we work on the site of a historic old adobe, the Peralta, that was built in the late 1780s. The site is overseen by History San Jose.

The Peralta Adobe

It’s also home to Adobe Software that is clearly a part of my everyday life. There in the midst of the digital world of Adobe and Hewlett Packard, there is a large Mexican American community, it was the home of Caesar Chavez to whom this year’s Festival was dedicated and one finds that fabulous “Low and Slow” (Bajito y Suavecito) low rider culture that makes bold statement of color and art not commonly found in most people’s worlds.

Low Rider exhibit at Sunday's Feria by Los Viejitos Car Club.

Newspaper interview San Jose style.

At the same time there are more than enough great places for food and coffee.

Mosaic Cafe at the Montgomery Hotel.

We are billed as the “Green Workshop” for the Festival, the idea being that we would do something green while tapping the historic roots of Mexican culture. Since our work involves as much clay as it does straw, I always think of our straw bale work as an “insulated adobe” – a straw bale core covered on both sides with what you might call two thin adobe walls of clay plaster with lots of straw. In that sense, we are simultaneously modern and old, using materials that have long been a part of traditional building around the world to make something sustainable and totally green.

Our week in San Jose was one of long work-days, quick bites to eat and scurrying to listen to whatever music was happening. We literally hit the ground running with the gracious assistance of old friend Rich Mick who drove us around to acquire clay from the local ceramic outlet Clay Planet and miscellaneous building materials. Without any further description, here are a series of photos that communicate our daily activities.

Our Project

Day 1 – Arrival and Shopping

Day 2 – Leveling the site, building the block foundation. Our group of seven consisted of Athena and I, our three boys - Benito, Arjuna and Kalin and two girlfriends Alicia and Ariela. The entire time we were assisted by our friend Jim Furness of Furness Construction and friend Phil McGoohan. Greg Smestead, a descendent of the Peralta family, his wife Leticia and cousin Ron were there daily to assist with whatever we needed.

Day 3 – With the foundation ready, our workshop with the public began by stacking the straw bale walls and our son Arjuna, aka Oso, began work on the wood structure. Plaster was also mixed this day to be applied the next. Photo of the little girl mixing below is Maya Smestead.

Day 4 – The second day of our workshop we applied the rough coat of plaster which will more than hold until a finish is applied sometime in the future.

As the plastering happened, the front posts and beam along with the roof rafters were installed.

Once in a while we got lucky with a serenade, this time Michael Ronstadt and Ted Ramierez of The Santa Cruz River Band: www.santacruzriverband.com Our friend and Michael's sister, Linda, joined to listen.

Day 5 - As always we end up working extra days, we spent the day after the workshop finishing the plaster, plastering the foundation blocks and coloring with ferrous sulfate and installing the corrugated metal roof.

Athena with Alicia Chapman and our son Kalin.

Truth window on the east wall displaying the straw bale walls through the plaster.

Day 6 – Feria de Mariachi in downtown San Jose's Caesar Chavez Plaza. Sunday of the Festival is composed of two music stages along with food and arts and crafts vendors. We had a booth where we built a small portable clay oven, selling it at the end of the day to a young local couple. A link to a very good slide show by Mercury News photographer Josie Lepe that depicts the events of the day can be found at: http://www.mercurynews.com/search/ci_13433093

Sunday in the park with one of the music stages.

Our booth with Athena and Benito's girlfriend Ariela doing a plaster carving on the side.

Athena came up with a unique/good idea this year to build the oven over a paper mache mold with very small bricks. It worked brilliantly. Photo by Josie Lepe of the Mercury News.

Proud new owner of the oven - Kelly.

While we were involved with our project, the days and nights were filled with music and dance programs. We were able to attend three evening programs, the first being a concert with Joan Baez that was clearly a trip into the past that brought up memories of the days when she accompanied Caesar Chavez in his efforts to help the farm workers. I just noticed that she will be featured on PBS’s American Masters Series this fall.

Saturday night is the main concert and typically results in an almost overwhelming display of color, dance and music. Linda Ronstadt, whose talents extend far beyond her voice, directs this marvelous event. It was so good visually that you almost didn’t need the music. Well not really, but almost. The theme for this year was “Mariachi Goes to the Movies” focusing on the golden age of Mexican cinema that falls approximately between the mid 1930s to the mid 1950s. All the performances were interspersed with film clips of notable Mexican films – very fun. Rather than describe the night, this slide show by Mercury News photographer Josie Lepe conveys the spirit of the evening beautifully:

http://www.mercurynews.com/search/ci_13433160

If the first two nights of concerts weren’t enough, the week ended with one of those concerts to remember. Little known group Little Joe and La Familia opened the evening thoroughly rocking the house. And then came the magnificent Los Lobos and they were more than magnificent. They were nothing short of stupendous, captivating the crowd of the HP Pavillion into constant applause, gritos and whistling. Their set featured mostly Mexican music, but in a way only they can do it. Unquestionably they are one of the greatest rock and roll bands of all time. Hands down, they get the "Old Guys Rule" award for the Festival.

Los Lobos on stage.

For the icing on the cake, Carlos Santana appeared for an all out jam session with the Lobos that had each musician displaying his best and finest guitar skills.

Caesar Rojas of Los Lobos with Carlos Santana.

Both concert photos courtesy of Josie Lepe.

With Los Lobos transporting me back to summer evenings with my aunt Josephina in East L.A., our week in San Jose came to a close.

Clay Ovens in Ireland

While I'm catching up on Germany and the Slovakia blogs, I thought I'd post these photos of ovens built during workshops in Ireland by our German friend, Frank Andresen. A clay builder for many years, I wrote a short piece about him in our accounts of Denmark, where he came to visit us. Anyhow, the ovens he is currently building are kind of fun. For an easy and quick oven base, he is using truck tires filled with whatever is available - I would guess that to be stone, dirt, rubble, what have you. As I remember he is cutting the tires so as just to leave the outer rings in order to make them easier to fill. The oven itself built using small clay, sand and fiber bricks with an outer layer of bricks made from clay and sawdust to provide some insulation. Firebrick is used for the hearth of the oven. In order to have dried bricks for the construction, Frank makes the bricks for the next workshop Frank makes bricks during each workshop when the oven is being built. I you are interested in contacting Frank you can reach him at proclay@hotmail.com

The photos are ones that he forwarded to me and I think are pretty self-explanatory. I can't tell you a whole lot more about them in that I don't know much more than what I have explained above. The shape of the oven is more or less what you find throughout the southwestern U.S. and Mexico and in those parts of the world they are called "hornos." One difference is that the ovens Frank is building have no smoke holes, the reason being that there is not a great difference between the height of the door and the height of the interior of the oven. Therefore the smoke is able to escape freely from the door.

The first two images are ones that I took while in Denmark. It shows the type of form Frank uses, I believe this particular brick was made with expanded clay pellets and clay.

Frank removing the brick from the mold.

Firebrick and tire base for oven.

Beginning a sand mold for the oven shape.

Completed sand mold.

Shrink wrapping the sand so it will not stick to the oven walls when removed.

Shrink wrapping complete. Stones at the bottom of the clay bricks are to set the correct angle.

Clay bricks being placed.

Outer ring of sawdust and clay bricks being laid.

Removing the sand from the oven. I'm guessing the shape is stable at this point and taking the sand out will allow the oven to close in on itself.

Last phase of the oven, closing in the top and that's all the photos I have.

Straw Bales, Clay and Mariachi Music - San Jose, CA

My account of our Europe trip got temporarily shanghaied due to our recent trip to New Mexico. We were there for the annual Santa Clara Pueblo Feast Day where our 18 year old son Benito was part of the dances and ceremonies. For us it meant cleaning and preparing of food for the all day event. Following Feast Day we spent almost two weeks doing the finish plaster on Athena’s mother’s new adobe house along with Benito, his girlfriend Ariela, Athena’s sister Roxanne and her mom. Long days they were that left no time for thinking, much less writing anything for this blog. However, we’re at home and able to catch up on Europe. There is some nice stuff to communicate about what we did/saw in Germany and Slovakia. For now, I thought I would tell you quickly about a small workshop we have at the San Jose, CA Mariachi Festival towards the end of September.

Ours is a two day event, the 24^th and the 25^th of September building a small outdoor straw bale seating structure that will be finished with a clay plaster. Should be fun, we worked there last year doing a traditional style adobe oven and an earth floor. Working along with us will be Jim Furness, a California builder who runs Furness Construction and is an active member of CASBA, the California Straw Bale Association. Time each day is 10 A.M. to 5 P.M.

The site is a historic old adobe building named after the Peralta Family at 175 W. St. John St. It is in the downtown area and easily accessible. The workshop is open to the public with no charge. Here’s the link for the workshop. We are the Festival’s “green” workshop, which for us means that we will doing what we always do – straw bales and clay. If you check out the link below, just replace our dark hair with grey as the photo they used of us is from a couple of centuries ago. On Sunday the 27^th between 10 A.M. and 6 P.M. we will be building a small portable clay baking oven at the downtown Plaza de Cesar Chavez Market Street which is between San Fernando and San Carlos. During the day at the Plaza there will be three stages of Mexican regional and traditional music, folk dancing, family activities, artisans, Mexican food, and much more.

http://sanjosemariachifestival.com/green-workshop.php

Photos from last year’s workshop showing the Peralta Adobe and the completed oven.

I have also included a link to the concert events. Friday night is a concert by Joan Baez, Saturday night is built around the theme – "Mariachi Goes to the Movies" and is choreographed by Linda Ronstadt. The music for the evening features Mexican superstar singer Aida Cuevas who put on a fabulous performance last year and will be performing along with Mariachi Cobre and a cast of Mexican dancers. Sunday night’s concert will be a tribute to Cesar Chavez featuring Santana, Los Lobos and Little Joe and La Familia.

http://sanjosemariachifestival.com/concerts.php

This is a photo from last year’s Saturday night concert, Lila Downs on the left, Aida Cuevas in the center and Linda Ronstadt on the right. The M.C. is Jose Ronstadt, Linda’s cousin and anchor for Telemundo.

Last year we had the great opportunity to do a photo exhibit for the Festival at the Mexican Heritage Center called “Borderlands of the Sky Islands.” Not only did it feature photos from the Sky Islands region of the southwestern U.S. and northwestern Mexico, we were able to include a nice selection of images from our Obregon, Mexico work. The link is on the right hand side of the blog page under image prints if you care to see any of them.

And of course, no Mexican event in San Jose would be complete without the classic low rider vehicles for which San Jose is noted. Last year’s Feria had a great collection on display.

Tadelakt in France

Our workshop in France had an additional workshop within our workshop. Two Moroccan/French masons were there to teach “tadelakt,” a method of burnishing or polishing lime plaster and then sealing it with black olive oil soap. We had brief exposure to it some years ago from a young guy who had studied it in Morocco. Since then, we’ve collected numerous accounts of how it is done and as one would expect, those accounts differed enough to make our French opportunity all that more valuable.

It would be difficult to find two people as delightful and graceful as the two masons who were there to teach. We developed a very good relationship with both Mr Abdelilah Alaoui Nadir and Ben Mesk Mustapha, who reside in France and Morocco, due to their dual citizenship. They did not restrict themselves to their tadelakt work, but eagerly participated in all that we were doing including plasters, earth floors and carving. By the end of the week, Mustapha was putting straw in the tadelakt. When watching me do a Japanese “tataki” floor sample, he smiled and told me that the Moroccans did a very similar floor called “tadaka.” The two of them work together through the company Maroc Design and if you would like to see more of their work visit their website: www.marocdesign.fr In addition to walls, baths and the like, they specialize in the traditional Moroccan “wet sauna” called a “Haman.” They were eager to come and visit and spend time with us so watch our website for any future “tadelakt” workshop announcements.

Alaoui on the left, Mustapha to the right.

Note: What follows here is a moderately detailed account of how tadelakt is done.

What makes tadelakt different from other lime plastering techniques? Specifically, it is Moroccan lime that is sealed with black olive oil soap and burnished with a stone. It’s important to understand that, like most traditional practices, tadelakt is based on materials that are locally available and hold no particular magic in themselves. For example, the Mexicans also apply a waterproofed lime plaster to the exterior roof surface of masonry vaults and domes by using a technique that is virtually the same. The lime is burnished with a stone and instead of olive oil soap, they use a common animal fat based soap in combination with alum (aluminum potassium sulfate) to seal the surface.

Moroccan lime differs greatly from the white powdered substance most people think of as lime. Most likely, the limestone is burnt using the old type of vertical shaft kilns and consequently it is rather poorly burnt and contains many small particles. I passed a sample of the Moroccan lime through several different sized sieves with the following result.

Larger than window screen – 3 1/4 oz 70 grams

Window screen 3 ½ oz 100 grams

40 mesh 4 ½ oz 125 grams

100 mesh 4 ¼ oz 120 grams

Sieved breakdown of Moroccan lime.

This is vastly different from the type S lime available in most developed countries where the requirement is that 95% of the particles are finer than 325 mesh. As you can see only a little over 25% of the Moroccan lime is finer than 100 mesh and I doubt that any of it would be as fine as 325. So for the most part, Moroccan lime is lime that has already been pre-mixed with various sizes of small aggregates. It is important to keep in mind that Moroccan limes will also vary according to the producer.

Another major difference is that the Moroccan lime has some of the characteristics of hydraulic lime and yet I would not classify it as a pure hydraulic lime. One difference is that it sets much faster than regular lime. The Moroccan lime that we used in France was soaked in water for one week, but not mixed. Mixing would cause it to set. Since this was a mix to be used for a floor, they added 30% fine sand. For a normal tadealkt finish coat, no sand is added as the lime itself has sufficient aggregate.

Dry Moroccan lime with 30% sand added.

Moroccan lime that had soaked for one week.

So the question is whether or not one needs Moroccan lime to do tadelakt. In Morocco, it’s the only thing available and there are no other options. Rather than answer myself, I will give you Mustapha’s answer. He told me that he could send me all the Moroccan lime that wanted, but added that I should be able to come up with a suitable substitute at home. Does it need to have the hydraulic characteristics, I would say only if you need it to set more quickly. Then you might add a percentage of hydraulic lime to whatever lime you have available.

The floor in the workshop was done in two coats over an existing concrete floor that was somewhat rough and irregular. The first coat was done mostly done as an adhesion coat to the concrete and to provide a base coat for the finish coat of tadelakt that was to follow. They first added water to the lime and sand mix that had been soaking for a week and then mixed with a drill. They reminded us that in Morocco they mix by hand. They wasted no time in applying it to the floor with a mason’s trowel, not making much effort to smooth it out. To achieve a slightly roughed up surface for the finish coat, they immediately went over it with a small sponge paint roller. This coat was applied in the evening and by the next morning it had set hard enough that it could withstand foot traffic. 250 grams of rabbit skin sizing were added for every 20 kilos of lime as a glue to ensure adhesion to the concrete. They use the same mix when going over drywall and other wall surfaces.

Mustapha applying the floor mix.

Alaoui going over freshly applied floor mix with roller.

Roller used for floor.

Before saying anything more, I should remind the reader that the account I'm presenting here is how tadelakt is practiced by these two masons and that the method can vary according to whoever is doing it. The next step was to apply the tadelakt finish coat. Pigment was added to the lime in the amount of 15% by volume, no sand was added. It was applied with a mason’s trowel, smoothing it out some in the process. The next step was going over it with a wood float to even out the surface.

Color tadelakt finish coat being applied.

Group going over floor with wood floats.

Alaoui demonstrating use of the wood float.

Because the existing floor was somewhat uneven, flexible trowels were used to even it out more. They explained that sometimes they use the trowels and then follow with the stones and at other times no trowels are used. It depends upon the wall surface. A rigid piece of plastic can also be used to further smoothing. The thickness of the plastic would be similar to what you would cut from a plastic quart of oil. Mustapha explained that the plastic is not used to burnish, but rather to even the surface and that it should only pass over the surface of the plaster only once. When the plaster has set sufficiently that a fingerprint is no longer visible, burnishing with a stone begins. If the cream rises to the top, then it is necessary to stop and wait. The stone is used to go over the surface of the lime in small consistent circular motions until one feels friction and the stone begins to drag. The sound the stone makes begins to change at that point. The stones, which are different sizes and shapes, you can see in the photo. They vary depending upon whether one needs to get into corners, hard to reach places, etc. Flip flop sandals they often use on corners.

Group using stones to burnish floor.

Variety of stones used for burnishing.

Once this is completed and the tadelakt has become even more firm, it is time to apply the soap. In France this was the next day. Black olive oil soap is used, however, the masons Alaoqui and Mustapha used a mix of olive oil and ash because it was cheaper. The soap is diluted 1 to 10 parts water, it is beaten with a whisk until it froths and then it is the foam that is applied to the tadelakt surface. Burnishing with the stone is repeated until resistance is felt. Once that happens, any excess soap is wiped off with a sponge. This can be repeated a number of times as long as there is moisture in the wall.

Olive oil soap being applied to floor with burnishing.

Burnishing of the soap.

Removing excess soap.

What happens is that oilve oil soap contains fatty acids that react with the lime and make a water insoluble soap that makes the wall waterproof and a nice polish possible. It’s very similar to the same chemical reaction that causes a ring in the bathtub when there is hard water. Oil from the skin in combination with the lime form a calcium soap that we commonly refer to as a bathtub ring. Olive oil soap is preferred in Morocco because olive trees are common and other soaps are largely unavailable. Will other soaps work? A visiting chemist told me that Dr. Bronners and similar soaps would produce the same result. We’ve watched the Mexicans for years use the cheap yellow bars of soap that you find in all Mexican markets to waterproof roofs and walls. What I’m trying to say is that there are probably a lot of different soaps that would work sufficiently well. While walking down a street market in France I noticed a soap vendor who had small tubs of the black soap for sale. I was curious about its advertised uses and it turned out that black olive oil soap is commonly used as a household soap for floors, general cleaning, something to do with animals, skin and leather care. I used it to restore my Merrell Jungle Mocs that withstood 2 months of wet clay, lime, rain and general abuse. They get my vote for the ultimate traveling shoe capable of many different types of activities that in my case included going to town, working in wet conditions, taking long walks, basically anything I needed to do.

Finished floor in the process of drying.

On a concluding note, I loved working with both Alaoui and Mustapha. They were priceless in every sense of the word. I liked tadelakt for the simplicity of the method as well as the tools. It reminded me a great deal of the kind of simplicity we find in Mexico. In that the two of them expressed a strong desire to visit and spend time with us, check our website periodically for any announcements of possible workshops.

Travels through France

While in France we had a few days before and after the workshop and I thought I would share some images with you from places that we visited. France seemed to have a certain magic for making light, mood and place come together for an irresistible photograph. However, none of that mattered unless there was an opportunity to stop the car easily and to make a photograph possible. One thing was for certain, none of the following images were taken by waiting for the right light and conditions, I’ve learned to simply shoot whatever is available and try to shape it later on the computer to convey a sense of what I was seeing or feeling at the time. I’ve increasingly given myself greater freedom when working with images after reading part of Ansel Adam’s book on color photography where he said that he thought it was ideally suited to an approach that was more illustrative, such as that one would find in paintings.

Countryside mill with pink flowers.

We entered France the Ubaye valley, beginning with the town of Barcelonnette, and then on to the town of Embrun to visit Richard Lacortiglia and his wife Lilian at the ecological building center Le Gabion – www.legabion.org They teach a variety of workshops and are also involved in restoration work, at the moment they are working at the Abbaye de Boscodon in Embrun. After spending the afternoon with them we visited the Cathedral of Notre Dame du Real which was one of the more beautiful churches we saw on our trip. Many towns seemed to have beautifully preserved sections of their old town, Embrun was no exception. I should also mention “Genepy” which is a beautiful “digestif” that one finds in the region and is made from a rare alpine Artemisia. It is truly a local product in that many residents and restaurant owners in produce their own including the famous Chartreuse monks who are well known for the liqueurs.

Ubaye Valley

Cathedral Notre Dame du Real - Embrun, France

When we arrived at Andre and Coralie’s home there were a couple of days to prepare for the workshop. As always, these were consumed with excursions to look for additional materials, tools, basically any last minute items that we could grab to make our work easier. It just so happened that those two days were somewhat magical. There were just enough clouds to create a beautiful diffused light and all of a sudden the landscape took on a quality that made it easy to understand what the French impressionist painters tried to convey in their works. It reminded me of Canelo in the summer during the rainy season, but softer.

Country road with rock retaining wall.

One of the first things to catch my eye was a group of young boys who were jumping off the bridge into the La Charente river, a priceless moment, the kind of thing you might have imagined seeing small town middle America, what you might call mid 20^th century vintage. Can’t remember how high the bridge enough, high enough to make one flinch at the thought of jumping. The river itself was something very different for me, it was much more tame, manicured and much calmer than the rivers I have come to know in the States.

Afternoon jumping into La Charente river.

La Charente River

Moments like those seemed to appear unexpectedly, but frequently. The sunflower fields were nothing short of captivating when backlit in the afternoon light, sometimes it was the animals, other times what would draw my attention would be the meticulous detail and care that was put into the simplest things, the kinds of things that in our modern world get relegated to concrete and plastic. I’m going to skip using any more words and let the images speak. It’s just too hard to attempt describing them using language. Too cumbersome. The sunflowers however, do remind me of one of Kalin’s comments when I asked if he knew where sunflowers got their name. I was surprised when he knew the answer and asked him where he learned that.He responded, “in a workshop, workshop people know everything.”

Sunflower field near Brantome.

No idea what breed, but beautiful.

I will however, tell you about a beautiful couple that we met. Jean Philippe and Pascal Boulay, who from the family vineyard/farm they restored, sell bread baked from the wheat they grow, pienau and grape juice produced from their grapes, cognac, sunflower and hemp oils. Their place, their products and the two of them were nothing short of beautiful. They would be worth a post just dedicated to their work, but I’ve got to finish this Europe trip.

Jean Philippe and Pascal's Home.

Flour mill for their bread.

After the workshop we took a trip to the region of the Dordogne river that is just east of Bordeaux. There we caught up with Thierry Soubrier and Noe Solsona, who had been with us in the Denmark workshop. Together they operate their straw bale and natural building company MV Habitation - www.mvhabitation.com Recently they began work on their biggest project to date, which will be the largest and first public straw bale building in France – 10,000 sf or 1,000 sm. Here’s the link for photos of the project http://picasaweb.google.fr/julien.mussier Their part in the project is to do all the straw bale work and plaster the building inside and out with a lime/clay plaster using a plaster sprayer developed by Noe. The sprayer incorporates a pair of vertical shaft mixers. We didn’t see it work, but Noe claims that unlike other sprayers, it will handle clay mixes that are fiber rich.

Dordogne river.

Noe Solsona with his plaster sprayer.

Along with several partners, Noe is also involved in a separate project working on a book about masonry stoves. One of those partners is named Vital, his last name escapes me at the moment, but he too was a great translator for us during our workshop. He added an extra French flair to the workshop looking like he had just stepped out of a Parisian coffee house. He was every bit his name, vibrant and determined to make sure I was organized and on track for the workshop. And as long as I'm talking about those who helped us, there was Cecilia from Tuscany, Italy who we met when we arrived in England at the beginning of our trip and found again at the French workshop. She traveled with us after the workshop, did some wild translation work using what French she knew, Italian, Spanish and a touch of English. She safely delivered us through the Paris metro to the train to London.

Vital (prn: Vee - tall) Cecilia

The Dordogne region is noted for its beautiful landscape and towns, caves, chateauxs, restaurants and “foie gras,” which is a pate made from the liver of goose or duck. For Kalin, who was shuffled from the top of Europe to the bottom, we made a visit to a beautifully restored castle in the town of Beynac that was once the residence of Richard the Lionheart as well as the castle used in the film Joan of Arc.

Dordogne river bridge.

Beynac Castle

And with that we will leave France. Once again, thanks to Coralie, Andre and their kids for the care and kindness that they extended to us both at their home and during the long hours we spent together on the road. Next posts to this blog will cover our trips to Germany, Italy and Slovakia.