Concrete Leaves

I should have brought Gabrielle with me when I made this leaf. That way one of us could have documented the process with photos. Next time we make leaves, I will. What you see here is a rhubarb leaf cast in concrete, the leaf removed, and paint applied. We did the painting at Kathleen Cavenders studio, which made us feel special. Check out her website and you will see why. The last photo is Kathleen's hand applying moss to her leaf. We gathered moss, mixed it with plain yogurt and water in a blender, then brushed it on and dabbed it with a wet rag. How to make the concrete leaves, several tutorials are posted here. Details of our painting process - 1st the magenta in acrylic (this had to go on first because it will not go over the spray paints we used over the top), then we sprayed the bottom of the leaves with a dark brown, darker in some spots than others. Third coat was copper spray paint on the bottom to finish. After the bottom was dry, we did the dark brown on the top - leaving some of the magenta untouched. Then copper, then a dark green, last was a light green. We also sprayed a sealer on top. I am not a painter, so Gabrielle and I just tried to copy Kathleen. I think we did really well. It is like our concrete leaf came back to life. I am amazed at what we did with spray paint! I will post again when our moss has grown.