Plaster specialists Ffion and Steven Blench were recently restoring the decorative plasterwork of General Register House’s 250-year-old Adam Dome, in Edinburgh, when they devised an unusual method to tell a new story. Work on the ceiling involved clearing layers of dust and soot that had collected over generations of coal-burning fires. They wondered if this assumed waste could be used as pigment and began mixing the soot with lime plaster.
“It made a beautiful black and creamy white,” Ffion says, “and there were iron filings within it that provided flecks of orange.” These iron filings were likely to have come from the scaffolding, put up during their restoration work. “Tiny bits created this beautiful effect,” adds Simon.
Trialling of such innovative techniques, and adapting traditional methods for contemporary designs, is a process the husband-and-wife team describe as “a magical thing”. It’s the cornerstone of their creativity. Creating lime putty from Forth oyster shells washed up on the beaches, and gypsum from plasterboard demolition waste, are just two of their more talked-about experiments. Steven, a plaster historian, also enthuses over research that has led to the discovery of historic techniques — Mrs Marshall’s intonaco, for example, a plaster recipe originating in 1840s Glasgow.
The couple are based in Fife, Scotland, where they have been running their business, Chalk Plaster, since 2016. Ffion is the plasterer, while Steven is the labourer, in charge of “mixing the batches of sand and lime”, he says, before adding water.
Chalk Plaster works on a wide scope of buildings from Georgian New Town houses to modern projects — and their bespoke designs reflect this, from ornate 18th-century-inspired cornicing to mid-century-style geometric ceiling roses. Recently, they worked with architecture practice Konishi Gaffney on an extension to Greyfriars Charteris Centre in Edinburgh; beside the doorway, the geometric designs offer a modern take on the rusticated bases of the city’s Georgian buildings. Ffion insists she is “happy just plastering a wall”, yet they seem to thrive on variety and challenges in spectacular settings.
A number of their techniques also stretch beyond walls and ceilings into furniture. The couple adapted their concept of pigmented plaster when making their scagliola furniture and homewares. Scagliola, a technique dating to the 1590s, manipulates plaster to look like marble. It’s strong but more brittle than marble, and “its big thing is that it’s much lighter”, Steven says.
Innovating with the ancient technique has led the pair to make scagliola bowls and furniture, available from Scottish craft and design shop Bard. Their “cat throne” stool is a striking, contemporary design in glossy black, made with pigment from burnt grape vines.
The pair are in the midst of taking over an original plaster workshop in Peebles that operated from 1886 to 2018. There are hundreds of moulds and historical artefacts to sort through, including a large portion of Blair Castle’s collapsed ceiling made by plasterer Thomas Clayton in 1752. It’s a daunting challenge, but one Ffion and Steven are perfectly placed to take on.
Six to eight weeks’ lead time for scagliola or bespoke plasterwork; bespoke commissions from £800; plaster-design.com
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