Mud Mural part 5

The latest phase of the BAC mud mural is the addition of three dimensional relief designs. This was the plan from the beginning. Above is an early conceptual sketch from project leader Kat Heitman, featuring our organization's initials.

The process of preparing for the lettering goes back to June 25th, when we had some of our volunteers working on creating a different kind of mud, not exactly like the cob mix that went into the construction of the wall. It started with the tearing of paper and soaking it in water, as in papier mache.

Clay was added to the paper mixture in the pool. We got some special help (shown above) to mix it up. However, we had to let the wall dry before going any further.

A few days later Kat returned to sketch out the BAC letters on the wall. First she used a wet brush to mark them out on the dried cob wall, then scratched the letters into the wall.

The next day she returned to make the letters. Clean sand was added to the smooth mud/paper mixture that had been started the week before, and mixed until the results looked like wet cement. Working a little at a time, the mud was applied to the wall over the scratched in letters.

At the end of the day on Sunday, the mural reached the point shown below, with the three-dimensional BAC initials completed.

The mural isn't quite complete yet. In the next week there are plans to add some additional three dimensional designs on either side of the letters, and to add some color to those 3-D shapes. The results will be posted here on the blog, or stop by the Boatworks and see it for yourself.