A month in the life of a fibrous plasterer
This month we are sharing the story of a UK plasterer and artist called Melloney Harvey. Melloney works with fibrous plaster and makes both traditional and creative pieces. She has an Instagram page under Melloney Harvey where you can see her work and projects.
Melloney trained in heritage fibrous plastering and earned her qualification while learning from experts. Since then she has worked on many projects, big and small, with specialist companies. She has built a name for being careful, patient and very detailed.
Now she works for herself under the name Saffron Mouldings. She does decorative plasterwork, restores old buildings, and makes custom plaster features by hand. Melloney also makes art using old plaster techniques to explore shapes and building decoration in new ways.
Her month shows what it is really like to work in construction — the good parts and the hard parts.
🧱 PLASTER OFF
Things that were frustrating this month
* Plumbers asking why a plasterer does not have a girls job
* Architectural drawings with no measurements
* Removing sand and cement that was plastered onto wood laths
* Signing in and out of site using a QR code
* Site managers who do not know how to use a tape measure
🏛️ PLASTER ON
Things that made it worthwhile
* Restoring old buildings for future generations
* Being given chocolate bars by kind Ukrainian workers
* Clay modelling projects finally going ahead
* Meeting new fibrous plaster firms
* Being offered hot Ribena by co workers in cold weather
MOMENT THAT MATTERS
Seeing historic plaster details brought back to life makes all the hard work worth it.
ABOUT MELLONEY
Trade: Fibrous plasterer
Special skills: Heritage restoration, custom mouldings, clay modelling
Business: Saffron Mouldings
Instagram @saffronmouldings
You can find examples of her plaster moulds, clay modelling and work on old buildings there.
This is a a disclaimer saying that the photos shown are not associated with the plaster ons/plaster offs (they’re photos from past projects for various companies)
Lath and Plaster 