Clay Skep almost finished

Weaving took many hours to my surprize.

Once the "basket hive" was done one layer of clay was plastered on the willow just to make a better surface for the cob material

The cob material was made of clay, sand, straw, cow dung and water. I applied cob from both in and outside.

The Skep looks like me ;) The skep is almost finished. It must dry first after which it will crack here and there. The cracks are then filled with a thin layer of clay (clay, sand and water). After that I will let the skep dry once again and then paint it from the ouside only with Linseed Oil for protection.

Clay Skep

I decided to take advantage of the clay course with Ulf and build a skep with clay and willow :)
So far it looks like this:

first I connected two planks together making a hole in the middle so to be able to work with clay inside the skep. I also drilled 1cm holes in the shape of the skep where the willow branches will go in. These holes will hold the construction in place untill applying clay which is a mix of clay, straw, cow dung, sand and water. The board will be taken away once the clay is dry.

The main shape is made so tomorrow I can start weaving with willow branches.

NOTE! all willow is fresh from the tree.