The materials used at Perucchetti Studio are of the finest quality, sourced throughout Europe and beyond. For each project we individually mix the plaster using our unique ‘in house’ recipe portfolio incorporating combinations of hydrated cured lime, marble dust, mature grassello, natural pigments, mica crystals, real gold/silver and other interference metallics to create finishes from opaque solid colours, translucent alabaster, antiqued patinas and stonework in limestone or travertine. The plaster may be built up to create architectural detail with one texture on top of another; for example a travertine base with a raised polished plaster stripe giving the impression of cut stone.Our Venetian polished plaster can be applied to walls and ceilings and most flat or curved surfaces. Our preparation coat is a fine white cement with resin and lime embedded with a flexible fibre glass mesh in the key coat. This allows for a good solid cushion to settle the Venetian polished plaster and control substrate cracking. Due to the many layers and their application method where the lime cooks as it is trowelled (interweaving and knitting together with the motion) our plaster in itself will not crack. The stucco is applied in a number of thin layers in varying degrees of thickness depending on the required finish. Our process of application is between 4 and 8 fine coats of varying mixes incorporating hydrated cured lime and marble, pigments, soaps, linseed oils and other materials to achieve the colour and patina required. Gauging the drying time between the applied coats is an art in itself. Our trained artisans have the skills and knowledge to know when to trowel the plaster or to leave it alone to gain the pattern the finishes require. On average a classical polished plaster has a tendency to show small particles of marble within the lime mix giving the plaster, depending on the troweling and the sheen required, the look of a velvet chenille.