Process
The Craft
Cement has a long memory. Worked slowly it behaves like stone — it holds an edge, it takes a polish, and it keeps whatever pattern you put into it.
Nothing here is moulded at scale. Every vessel is mixed, coloured, poured, cured, sanded, sealed and filled by hand in one small building, and the six steps below are the whole of it.
01
Mixing
An artisan handmade cement is mixed to a consistency closer to cream than mortar. Too wet and the colour disperses; too dry and it will not move at all.
02
Colouring
Colour is added in two or three separate bodies rather than blended through. This is what makes veining possible.
03
Pouring
The bodies are folded once, twice at most, and poured. From here the pattern is out of anyone's hands.
04
Curing
The vessel cures until it has given up its water. Rushing this step is the one mistake cement never forgives.
05
Finishing
Edges are sanded by hand and the surface is polished and sealed to a clear gloss, with the intent to stop fragrance oil wicking out through the cement.
06
Filling
All-natural soy wax is blended with fragrance and poured warm, then left to set flat before the cedar wick is trimmed.