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Why Concrete?Even though it might be a new medium to some, concrete is ancient. The Romans used it to build roads, viaducts, temples, even the Colosseum. But it is being put to dramatic new use. That’s why I chose to work with it. Concrete is practical and artistic at the same time. It is function and art, literally mixed together. From a wet and gritty mass of slurry, we can make concrete into almost anything – any size, shape, color or style. I’ve lived around and worked with concrete much of my life, and never thought about it much. I surely never though of it as creative. One day I was in a bookstore and I came across a copy of Fu tung Cheng’s “Concrete Countertops.” I’d never seen anything like that before, and I was shocked that you could make something that beautiful out of this material. A lawyer friend had approached me about redoing his kitchen, and I practically begged him and his wife to consider installing a concrete countertop. To my surprise, they agreed, and we ended up building a deep red counter about eight feet long on one end and five feet on the other. I told them they could inlay anything they wanted to, and they gave me a big bag of personal things including glass beads, shells, sand dollars, broken parts of a vase. I chose two sand dollars, a broken plate, and the piece of vase, along with some glass beads. Carefully, and a bit fearfully (it was the first time), I built the form, inlaid the things they loved into the counter that I had designed, and poured the concrete. Neither of us really knew what to expect. They loved their new counter, and I loved making it. The gamble changed my work life. I have always seen myself as a hands-on workman, most comfortable handling materials and tools that are familiar to me. Now, I see myself as a functional artist. You can’t make things out of concrete without tools, the artistry makes each piece unique and captivating. Why concrete? Because it is what I call a transitional experience and material – it crosses the bridge between what you want and I can make, brings ideas and dreams to reality. So I got on a plane and went to school at the Concrete Exchange in Berkeley and was taught how to make countertops by Fu tung Cheng himself, and then I came home and set up shop, going from the restoration and repairs business into the full-time manufacture of concrete surfaces. That was several years ago, and still today I find there is something beautiful, even powerful, about working with people on projects that involve the imagination and the hands-on experience of the craftsman and his tools. It is the fanciful place between art and function, between the design and the experience. There is also something powerful behind this product. It frees you and your imagination in ways most materials can’t. I want my business to be successful, but I also hope that concrete can help inspire people to design the homes they want, not just the ones the mall superstores offer them. “I didn’t realize that we could have so much choice in having the kitchen we wanted,” my lawyer pal told me. “I didn’t know I could have that color, or choose that shape. It ended up being very beautiful and personal, a piece of art that I could wash my dishes on, let alone look at the sea shells our children walked on when they were toddlers. We spent hours going to home improvement stores, and we never imagined that we could have this in our kitchen. We never saw these choices, never knew we had them.” When he told me that, I thought, that’s why. That’s why concrete – why I invite you to join me and open your imagination to it. |
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