Benchmark Works Gallery #2
A medium sized planter with a branching tree-like design A large sized planter with a branching tree-like design
Tree Pot #2

15 July 1998
13.75in d × 13in h		 Tree Pot #5

7 July 1999
15.5in d × 17.5in h

Of all the planters I've made the Tree Pots present a design that most people seem to like. They are very demanding to make but they are pieces I like to offer.
A medium sized planter with a branching tree-like design and a small sun shape between the branches A medium sized planter with a branching tree-like design and a small moon shape between the branches
Tree Pot #3 Sun

13 May 1999		 Tree Pot #4 Moon

18 May 1999
A small, legged, long rectangular planter that is partly made with potting soil Hypertufa

Planters		 A small oval shaped, legged planter that is partly made with potting soil
Rectangular Leg Pot

20 August 2001
16in l × 7in w × 6in h		 Oval Three Leg Pot

6 September 2001
15in l × 11in w × 5in h

Primarily in the year 2000 I started making hypertufa planters. I had wanted to explore the technique for some time but the expense of the materials held me back. A friend told me about a greenhouse where I could get used potting soil for free. After sifting out debris from a pick-up truck load through quarter inch hardware cloth I had plenty for experimentation. I made about fifty things and it was fun but I returned to the sand mix work because it was more versatile, challenging and durable.

My formula was three potting soil, one cement and some sand. To make carving the legs on the above pieces easier I put wet sand in the bottom of the form and left voids where the legs would be. The mix was added carefully and tamped into place. When it was time to carve the wet sand was easily removed and the legs were finished. Although I put fiber mesh into my mix over time I found some of the pieces degraded far to quickley. My recipe is in the book Creating With Concrete by Sherri Warner Hunter and my advice is to use some other recipe. It is really handy to have a morter mixer if something large is going to be made.
Two short, medium sized, potting soil planters with vertical grooves leaning in opposite directions for each planter
Weaver Tufa Planter Set

4 August 2002
22in l × 22in w × 10in h
A large bowl shaped potting soil planter
Tufa Ringed Bowl

14 July 2000
22in d × 9in h

In late 2000 I was looking to grow with the work and increase production. Pushing to develop stronger pieces I began to do numerous small sketches. I was striving for as much variety as I could realize with surface decoration. All of these pieces are generated from one half cubic foot of mix, or a five gallon bucket full. In the morning I would flip through the drawings and pick one out. Then mix, set and carve one piece. Each of these pieces below took four to five and a half hours to carve.
A medium sized planter whose designed surface has geometric shapes A medium sized planter whose designed surface has simple worm-like forms over it A medium sized planter whose designed surface has vertical green grass-like forms
Gray Glyph Planter

11 Dec 2000
11.5in × 10.5in h		 Medium Worm Pot

15 Dec 2000
11.75in d × 10.75in h		 Green Phyto–type Planter

15 Jan 2001
12in d × 11in h – 38 lbs.
A buff, medium sized planter whose designed surface has vertical zig-zags znd z lip A pink, medium sized planter whose designed surface has an overlapping bulls-eye forms A brown, medium sized planter whose designed surface has spirals and hash marks
Buff Zig–zag Planter

19 Jan 2001
10.5in d × 14in h		 Pink Bullseye Planter

27 Jan 2001
11.5in d × 11.5in h		 Brown Intricate Planter

12 Feb 2001
12in d × 11.5in h
A medium sized planter whose designed surface has a branch-like pattern A medium sized planter whose designed surface has different bands of geometric shapes A medium sized planter whose designed surface has various simplified plant-like forms
Tree Pot #6

23 Feb 2001
11in d × 13.5in h – 40 lbs.		 Chevron Dots Planter

7 March 2001
11.5in d × 12.75in h		 Gray Jungle Planter

21 March 2001
11.5in d × 12.5in h
A medium-large sized planter whose designed surface has vertical zig-zags that make a pointed edge around the top
HGTV Planter

14.25in d × 11.25in h

In 2001 House and Garden Television was in the Nashville area filming crafts people. I was located through The Tennessee Association of Craft Artist. This is the piece I made for an "Our Place" episode.
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All images property of Elder G. Jones ©. Any commercial use of images beyond this site is by permission only. Copyright on the design and particular styles of all work herein is established at the stated time of creation. Individuals are free to recreate any of these pieces for personal use.