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Last Hypertufa Studio of the Summer

The Hypertufa Studio offers a collaborative experience where you learn to make Steve’s “green” version of HYPERTUFA, a mixture of cement, sand and recycled paper.  It is a fascinating medium with great creative potential.  You will mix, mold and sculpt concrete and hypertufa into unique and functional garden art including planters, platters, bird baths, stepping stones…if you can imagine it, we’ll try to make it!  Most participants happily take home 4-5 finished items from the two-day session.  Each is made up of a Saturday and Sunday morning from 9:00-12:00. Total cost for this studio is $80, comprised of a $50 non-refundable registration fee and $30 paid the first day of the studio.  This studio is for both beginners and advanced tufa-makers!

Only one more studio left for this season.  Sign up today!

September  15/16

 Register by emailing your selection to  summersgarden@everestkc.net and secure your spot in the Creative Workshops and Studios by mailing a check for the registration fee to:

Steve Hess

8601 Barkley Street

Overland Park, KS   66212

HYPERTUFA STUDIO

 Everything in our Hypertufa Studio is made by hand.  This is a nicely designed and sculpted garden gnome.

 Here are two examples of how cast leaves can be used to decorate a planter and a leaf platter.  What is especailly nice about these two is the multi-level placement of the leaves.

 Nathan is casting sculptures using our "concrete lite" recipe which is made with recycled paper fiber.  This helps to lighten the overall weight of the finished sculpture.

 Lori and Janet had a special touch when it comes to casting concrete leaves.  These are some of the nicest cast leaves I have  seen in this Tufa  studio.

JULY HYPERTUFA

This group was a lively energetic bunch.  We went through three large batches of tufa in no time flat. They did some usual stuff but pushed the limit on  other things as well.  Vetran Tufa-maker, Judy Lindsay, returned with her two daughters and two granddaughters.  The whole family had a great time making cool things for thier gardens.

 Suzanne had this great idea to make a hyperutfa rainbarrel.  She used two large plastic flower pots to mold the bottom and the top. This is the first rain barrel I've seen made of hypertufa. Suzzane will send some pics whren it is finished. She plans to mosaic a band around the middle. Awesome! Here we are drilling a hole for a real spout which fits onto her garden hose or spills into a watering can.

 Happy to be in the sweet shade!

Taditional hypertufa mixing ceremony

 Julie adds the features to her 3-D sculpted garden gnome.

 Amy and Chris clean up their stepping stones to be photographed in the group shot below.

COOL IDEA USING HYPERTUFA!

A Tisket, a Tasket… Make a Hypertufa Basket

I was rummaging around in the attic and found a pile of old baskets, which I decided to pitch to make more room.  Then I remembered a magazine article suggesting the use of a basket as a mold or armature for hypertufa planters.  Bypassing the garbage can, I mixed up a batch of hypertufa and set to work.

First, line the entire inside of the basket with the material, pressing it firmly into the weave of the basket and smoothing the inner surface.  It squishes nicely through the weave on the bottom providing an interesting surface.  (PHOTO: TUFA BASKET 1)

Roll and smooth the edge of the tufa to meet the edge of the basket.  Then cover the handle be sandwiching it between handfuls of tufa. Gently smooth to even it out.

(PHOTO: TUFA BASKET 2)

The basket is strong enough to serve as an armature for a usable planting container, permanently becoming part of it.   If and when the basket rots or falls apart, who cares? The hypertufa container will remain intact.  This is a simple, practical way to re-purpose an old basket.

Want to learn more about making your own hypertufa?  Consider taking one of the Summer Hypertufa Studios at From the Summer’s Garden. 
 CHECK OUT THE INFO TO THE RIGHT.

IT'S SUMMER-...IT'S HYPERTUFA TIME!

We had ideal weather for the first Hypertufa Studio of the season and had the doors wide open. Don't miss your chance to join the fun. Sign up for a Hypertufa Studio today!

Connor is  making an owl head sculpture, one of our new projects. These owls are fun to position in different spots of your garden and like the Grots or garden gnome sculptures, make perfect plant stands.

 Robin is packing her mold to make a box planter.

 Nathan demonstrates how to cast hydrangea leaves as ornaments for leaf platters and planters.

 Here he is experimenting with sculpting letters of his name on the surface of leaves.  

This is a really cool idea!

There are many ways to make a stepping stone.  In this studio, we use a free-form sculpting technique that works well for everyone.  What's nice is that no two are alike.

2012 HYPERTUFA STUDIOS

Hypertufa Studios 

The Hypertufa Studio offers a collaborative experience where you learn to make Steve’s “green” version of HYPERTUFA, a mixture of cement, sand and recycled paper.  It is a fascinating medium with great creative potential.  You will mix, mold and sculpt concrete and hypertufa into unique and functional garden art including planters, platters, bird baths, stepping stones…if you can imagine it, we’ll try to make it!  Most participants happily take home 4-5 finished items from the two-day session.  Each is made up of a Saturday and Sunday morning from 9:00-12:00. Total cost for this studio is $80, comprised of a $50 non-refundable registration fee and $30 paid the first day of the studio.  This studio is for both beginners and advanced tufa-makers!

 Choose one of these sessions:

Only one more studio left for this season.  Sign up today!

September  15/16

 Register by emailing your selection to  summersgarden@everestkc.net and secure your spot in the Creative Workshops and Studios by mailing a check for the registration fee to:

Steve Hess

8601 Barkley Street

Overland Park, KS   66212