With show season in full swing, I’ve been working hard to create more products for my home décor line. It’s been a challenge to design, test, and then manufacture so many new pieces, but it feels good to stretch my craftsmanship into new directions.

Experimenting with hypertufa recycle cast pots was one of my favorite projects of the spring. Collecting dozens of recycled containers, I cast pots and bases of all shapes and sizes. Hypertufa is an amazing material, it has the look and feel of concrete, but is much more lightweight. The possibilities it possesses are endless…if you’re willing to get your hands dirty.

My family indulged me and came over for a beautiful spring day of casting.

With as many hands as I had helping me that day, I was able to quickly refine my techniques.

After the pots cure for 24 hours in a dark, cool place, it was time to unmold them. This is where the hard work comes in. After each one is taken out of its mold, it needs to be sanded and carved carefully. The hypertufa dries with sharp jagged edges, and once those have been sanded and chipped away, I was left with beautiful, ancient looking pots.

The first casting went so well that I continued experimenting with different shapes, some hand molded, some cast. I created some air plant displays and vases for upcoming shows.