| Imaging
with metallic powders
Jerry Kidd and Hector Arellano with Creative Visions, Pine
Grove, Calif., developed their own materials for their presentation.
The first step was to color the slab with a thin layer of
colored polymer cement, using an HVLP sprayer. They then placed
an adhesive template with a precut graphic design. The same
sprayer was used to build up polymer cement, with powdered
copper in it, on the parts of the slab not covered by the
template. The copper in the overlay behaves as would solid
copper, so Kidd and Arellano were able to treat parts of their
graphic with a patina chemical to achieve the same effect
as on a bronze casting-giving the metal an aged appearance.
Following this, they spent time on hands and knees with steel
wool to polish the copper on other parts of the graphic before
applying acrylic sealer.
Above: There Is currently
high public Interest In concrete countertops. Here people
crowd around Tom Ralston to see how the process works
and to ask questions. Below: Workers use a hand-held
planetary grinder to diamond polish a countertop. |
Overlay
cement techniques
Kelley Burnham, who owns Sensory Concrete, Clayton, Calif.,
likes to build relief into her work using overlay cement,
coloring each layer with chemical- and water-based stains.
Her
work for this demo looked like a topographic
map of an eroded and fissured landscape. After covering her
slab with a colored overlay, she used an adhesive template
as a masking tool, cutting the shapes she wanted. She then
troweled a thin layer of overlay cement into the unmasked
areas, coloring it afterwards. She repeated the process of
masking and applying overlay cement and coloring three or
four times to complete the work. Her final product was also
protected with sealer.
Using several
layers of overlay cement, stained after each application,
Burnham created this panel, which suggests a topographic
map of a watershed landscaps.
|
Concrete
countertops
Tom Ralston, owner of Tom Ralston Concrete, Santa Cruz, Calif.,
demonstrated the possibilities of cast-in-place concrete countertops
--a decorative concrete medium that currently enjoys very
high interest from concrete contractors and homeowners alike.
He cast a small countertop before the demo started, to show
the possibilities of using color and special aggregates. He
then used a handheld planetary polishing tool with diamond
cutting pads to put a high grit
finish on the surface. Ralston also
showed the forming, casting, and finishing of a countertop
onsite.
The
meaning of creativity to the Industry
Twelve manufacturers provided finanoial support for this event,
and approximately 7000 people viewed and photographed the
work in progress and the finished results. In addition, approximately
25 people (thanks to the ASCC-DCC) volunteered their time
to place concrete, clean up, and help with crowd control.
The artists, who also volunteered their
time, are representative of the creative force that continues
to add new dimensions and direction to this industry. Decorative
concrete changes and grows through the efforts of people like
these. We hope that the focus on creativity at this demonstration
will encourage further interest in the decorative market.
•
If you would like contact information
for the artists involved in the demos or for any of the sponsors,
circle I on the reader service card.
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