This beautiful example of moss covered grave art comes from a grave at the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, France. If you love grave art then a visit to Père Lachaise Cemetery is something that you should definitely put on your life list of things to see and do. It is the largest cemetery in the city of Paris, France at118.6 acres though there are larger cemeteries in the city’s suburbs.
Père Lachaise Cemetery is one of the most famous cemeteries in the world and it is reputed to be the world’s most-visited cemetery, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors annually to the graves of those who have enhanced French life over the past 200 years. It is also the site of three World War I memorials.
Of course in today’s economy, the cost of traveling to Paris is beyond reach for most of us. But the internet provides an alternative opportunity to view the history of the cemetery, look over the impressive list of people buried in the historic cemetery, and even take a virtual tour. Read more at this Wikipedia Site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%A8re_Lachaise_Cemetery
As I have said before on this Blog, one of the things I love most about old cemeteries is the aging of the stone and the mosses that provide such beautiful color and contrast to the stone. The picture above is just one example of what every home haunter tries to simulate when building tombstones. Looking at this picture made me wonder if it is possible to grow live moss on tombstones made of foam insulation if a rough finish texture was applied. Perhaps applying monster mud with a bit of sand mixed in. I’m going to do some experimentation this summer to test the application of a Moss Milkshake on the surfaces detailed above. Instead of risking the loss of a finished tombstone.I will make a few small test boards.
If you want to do your own experimenting, there are several recipes on the internet for Moss Milk Shakes; this is the one I’m going to use:
Moss Milkshake Recipe
Place 1 part fresh, clean, green moss with 1 part milk-based culture (yogurt, buttermilk, etc) in a blender; blend to the consistency of a milkshake. Paint or pour mixture onto the object you wish to age, wrap it in plastic and place it in a warm place that is sheltered from sunlight. Open the cover and spray your piece with water periodically to keep it moist but not wet.
If you decide to experiment with aging your tombstones with moss, let me know what kind of results you get. Either post a comment or contact me at: mail@houseofshdows.net
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