author
Reta A. Lemos
An early 20th-century coauthor whose work helped turn cement into an art material, this writer is best known for a practical, highly illustrated guide to decorative concrete projects. Her surviving public record is slim, but the book itself shows a clear interest in making craft techniques useful for teachers, students, and home makers.
1 Audiobook
Color Cement Handicraft
by Pedro J. (Pedro Joseph) Lemos, Reta A. Lemos
About the author
Reta A. Lemos is credited as the coauthor of Color Cement Handicraft, a practical guide to decorative cement work written with Pedro J. Lemos. Publicly available sources about her life are very limited, but library and Project Gutenberg records consistently link her name to that book and to early editions published by The Davis Press in the 1920s.
The book focuses on creative uses of colored cement for tiles, pottery, garden pieces, and other handmade objects. In its introduction, the authors present the work as the result of years of experiment and as something meant to help teachers, craftsmen, and students, which gives a good sense of the book’s hands-on, encouraging spirit.
Because so little biographical material appears to survive online, Reta A. Lemos is remembered mainly through this collaborative work. Even so, that single title has had a long afterlife through reprints, library collections, and digital editions, keeping her name connected to the Arts and Crafts-era enthusiasm for useful beauty and accessible making.