Substainable sidewalk murals for garden paths.

Greetings! I wanna learn how to create a substainable sidewalk mural as a path for my garden in the near future. I also wanna learn how to paint substainably as well. I'm doing this project for a future grant from my hometown. If you all have anything to add, please hit here. Till then take care!

I love murals and mosaics.

What do you plan to make the paths out of?  Different colored rocks or pottery?  Or maybe different patterned ceramics?

Are you going to lay the pieces in a sand base?  And maybe later a sustainable mortar?

I would love to hear your ideas.

I'm gonna make a picture of fish and other aquatic animals from the lakes and rivers of the Calumet region of Chicago and Indiana for my community by drawing it out, then use substainable or enviromentally safe paint on eco safe mortar or stone to create a path or sidewalk between all four of my gardens. I'm gonna also create a couple of native wetland herbal gardens on one side and edible on the other. I'll also add tobacco, sage, sweetgrass and cedar to finish it off. It will be edifying for all who reap the fruits of my works.

The biggest challenge will be to find a paint that is both long-lasting and ecologically friendly.

Acrylic-based products are generally considered to have a low toxicity, but they are polymer based and tend to flake over time, especially outdoors with abrasion and environmental elements. Latex-based paint should be fairly similar.

For durability, paint designed for asphalt and concrete (the kind that is used for marking street lines) will give you the best results, but I don't know how non-toxic they would be. But perhaps, a more toxic paint that stays put and lasts a really long time is better than something more eco-friendly that only lasts a few years and leaches in your garden. You'll have to read the safety notices and ingredients list very carefully and do some research.

I'd suggest experimenting with different techniques with a variety of pigments, make a bunch of samples, and leave them outdoors for several months (preferably a whole year) to test for colorfastness.

Otherwise, Anne's idea of making  mosaics is probably a sound one: ask around for damaged pottery or glass, break that into bits, and compose your scene in concrete. I'd probably do it in small sections and then lay them out side by side, so you can work at the project gradually. Mosaics like that can last a really long time in all weathers. But concrete is a fairly non-sustainable material, unfortunately (there are better options starting to be developed, but nothing that is sold in small batches to individual customers as far as I know)

Ooo~
I look forward to pictures of this project!  Having paths that look like you're walking on top of a river with big fish swimming under your feet... that sounds so cool!

I'm gonna have my garden shape like a turtle, one that represent Turtle Island, all hilly with an artistic path below and between. To create my hilly gardens, I'm gonna have them in hugelkultur as high as eight feet and twelve feet wide for my plants to fit in. I want my project to be as historic as it can be for my community and hometown for all to treasure for ages to come,

This sounds like a really fun project.

I wonder if flour paint made with linseed oil would last long enough?

There is also chalk paint that kids use to paint on sidewalks, would that last?

Don't know. I haven't research the substainable types of art material needed to make that project ecologically safe. Somebody please give me some more ideas and stuff to make my next project safe for plants, animals and humans?

I don't know of any of that of one person who mention them. Could somebody please give me some more ideas to help make my project more substainable?

Blake, your project sound interesting.

In my experience with acrylics I've had to go back and touch-up or completely repaint areas every year or so.   The surfaces were concrete, sandstone and rubber tires.  I'm not sure exactly how it's held up over the years as I had to give up maintaining it when I was pregnant and am not in the area very often.

I'm planning a patio with old bricks and concrete pavers and would love to add a few stone mosaics as well.  I've found several ideas on Pinterest that I'll likely refer to when I start on mine.

Could you be able to create designs from mosaics? I draw first or what to create a successful design? I ain't never done that before.

Here's a few examples I found.   I would start with a rough sketch first and then choose the materials that best suit your expectations.   You could even use mixed media such as stones, glass, tiles, etc...  It would be quite a bit of work but quite breathtaking in the end.  

Colorful stones! Where I get those from? Could I also do the same with tiles?