Friday night, 9:45 p.m., at the start of a long Fourth of July weekend … The Incident.

I don’t remember a sound. Rather, I remember a sense of being swallowed. The fireball flashed and briefly expanded. Temperature: 1,800 degrees.

Humbled, I take my place beside other Nashville Hall-of-Famers:  Hank Sr., Hank Jr., Johnny, Kris, Waylon and, my look-a-like, Willie!!!  Actually, in this shot, I look a bit unrecognizable…  A bit strange!  Neen insisted that, last night, I shave, so, here, I look less like Willie and more, well, STRANGE!  More like seeeing Kris (Kristofferson, that is) without the beard…  A bit queeby!!!

Anyway, it was a great night!  Entertainment by American Idol winner, Reuben Studdard…  Mainly Mo-Town and standards, backed by a really hot jazz combo…  Nice!  I went backstage and he even autographed my award!

Cheers to my friend and fellow-inductee, Tom Ralston!!!  We join previous inductees like Buddy Rhodes, Fu-Tung Cheng and Bob Harris…  It feels great to be a small part of such a wonderful community!

Here’s an excerpt from John Strieder’s intro…

“Michael Miller
Michael Miller, “the concretist.” The names are synonymous.

The son of a cement salesman, Miller was exposed to the industry before he could speak. He has spent his entire career exploring the possibilities of what can be done with concrete-based materials, which has led him to collaborate with other artists so he could develop his own art through his work. He credits his success in the industry to his ability to look at concrete closer, longer and harder than most in the business.

Before founding his own company — The Concretist Inc. — in Benicia, Calif., in 1990, he worked for several others in the business, including L.M. Scofield Co. and Symons Corp. In subsequent ventures, he founded Sensory Concrete in 2003 in Clayton, Calif., along with his co-principal, Kelley Burnham. In this capacity, he developed the philosophy and genre of decorative concrete work known by that name.

Miller and his team of artisans have influenced the design community about the exciting possibilities afforded by decorative concrete. Through numerous high-profile projects around the world, they have demonstrated their unique design approach and brought their creative impulses to fruition, often creating their own tools to push the envelope on where people could go with new or existing concrete.

While he could be called a contractor or installer, the terms catalyst, provocateur and visionary would also sum him up. He has a way of aligning a company’s philosophy with its uniqueness of products and underscoring those attributes with concrete. He excels as a colorist.

Over the years, Miller has become increasingly interested in sharing his knowledge with others. He knows unexplored territory awaits concrete artisans everywhere and that sharing will help them conquer the unknown.”

I especially like being referred to a provocateur!  This is a badge that I’m most proud to wear!!!

My own comments, upon acceptance began (like Steve Martin in The Jerk)…

“I was born the son of a poor black share-cropper…  Strike that!  I was born the son of a poor white cement salesman.”

HA!  It was a lot of fun!  And Neen really does deserve the major award!!!

And, btw…

Nashville is one bitchin’ town!  I’d recommend it!!!  Amongst many other things, it even has it’s own concrete “Parthenon”!  Although, it does make me feel a bit insignificant…  HA!!!

Three coats of integrally-colored Sgraffino over cement backer board over wood. Sgraffino is in foreground. Slate is in back. Colors and textures were to have been related, with the scale of details in the Sgraffino larger than those in the slate. They work together but are certainly not the same… Slate is slate, and Sgraffino is Sgraffino! Note the herring-bone pattern in the slate repeated in larger format in the cementitious floor. Backer board was installed with 1/8” joint separations. These were filled through the Sgraffino troweling process, and encouraged to “ghost image” through.

Brenda and I installed a really cool floor, along with, and for, a really cool chick…

Monica Binsfeld, is a really talented, U.C. Davis educated, designer, with significant “hard-surfaces” experience.

I first met Monica when she interned with Gary Jones and I during an Pentimento overlay (skim-coat) installation, in the meditation room, in the San Francisco Asian Art Museum.
She already had a background in troweling similar materials vertically… Both lime-based and natural clay plasters. She had trained for these internationally, and was interested in exploring and adding Gary’s Colormaker line of products to her repertoire.

As the years went by, she focused primarily on the plasters… Increasing her skills, and gathering experiences… But, she never forgot Gary and I, the Colormaker products, and, of course, the unique and original sensory concrete style of the concretist.

December 2010: We are reacquainted. And Brenda and I help Monica install her floor at Ecco Mi, along The Petaluma River.

Ecco Mi’s design studio and “hard-surfaces” showroom is located at 224 Weller Street, Suite BB, Petaluma, California, in the historic waterfront district, along The Petaluma River.

Check-out West Petaluma Living,
http://westpetalumaliving.com/?p=325
and Monica’s site,
www.eccomidesign.com
for more details.

A NATURAL PAIRING: Charcoal Sgraffino floor, by concretists, Mike and Brenda. Terra cotta-colored clay plaster wall by Ecco Mi, Monica Binsfeld.

Ecco Mi also features Sgraffino art by concretist artist/associate, Martin Webb, such as…

Martin’s art is available for purchase AND is dual-purpose, serving as wonderful color references for concretist floors, too!

Check-out Martin at,
http://www.theconcretist.com/author/martin/
and his newly completed public art installation, CONVERGE, through his own art site,
www.martinwebbart.com

That’s all folks! Ecco Mi is Italian for “Here I Am!” and Ciao is Italian for “Good Bye!”

I was once a much younger concretist, really impetuous and passionate. I was working for L.M. Scofield Co., and as my wife told me, I worked way too much. So she left me. To be more accurate, she left me in charge of the kids for 10 days while she and her best girlfriend toured a bit of England and Scotland.

HUMAN POWER… No internal combustion engine here (other than one that had huevos y chorizo for breakfast)! No engine yet, but, thank God someone had invented the wheel!

Our massive cast-in-place pavers, Note the soon-to-be inlaid brass wave forms, temporarily protected with lacquer and blue tape.

Integrally-colored ¾” grout mix (approximately 60% sand/40% rock)… Our warmish “mud” in context.

Metal waves are reflected and visually deconstructed in amber glass. Place it, then, pound it in… Work those floats, boyz!!!

OK, back to the future, or, maybe, back to the present. In anycase, Kelley and I have spent the day staining our concrete. Darkness falls and now it’s time for Mike’s favorite part: the rinising.

No guy can resist a hose in his hands!

VEGAS: BRASS & GLASS

Next day… The dying. The sealing.

Just added a hint of black dye, over the neutral brown stain, over the warm, slightly reddish brown, integrally-colored concrete.

Washed sand-finished concrete contrasts nicely with smooth and shiny metal waves.

And fractured glass waves are a graphic counter-point to the brass.

Mike hosin’ (again)…

And Mike posin’ (again)!

All done!

And all done up close and personal. Mike’s got his hiking shoes on for scale and…

A few additional shots, of outdoor adventure and play-time, before headin’ home…

Late afternoon, Red Rock, with Spring Mountains as back-drop.

Vegas is always a surprise. The desert is too. Here, we’ve hiked up to “the tanks”. Plenty of water. And ice. See the whitish stuff on the right?
I’m at the top waving my arms… These are some BIG rocks!

Kel and another tank.

Really wild! Really peaceful!

Really thirsty!

Early evening. Headed back to Ed and Betty’s. That’s Vegas, lit-up, in the background.

Next morning. Kyle Canyon, at the base of Charleston.

Love the desert!!

Slot canyons… BITCHIN’!

Better get her to the airport, and I need to hit the road…

Back by job, to pick-up last of stuff. Noticed these signature sensory concrete walls… Just like God’s concrete walls in the slot canyons.

BITCHIN’!!!

See ya again soon!

Mike
the concretist

Most places that I’ve traveled to, the concrete has taken me there. And when I’ve returned, sometimes it’s been because of the concrete. And sometimes, it’s been because of the people.

Kell’s flight delivered her safely into my hands. Back to Ed and Betty’s place. Time to sleep, and to rest up for mud at 9:00 AM, tomorrow morning. What, no six o’ clock concrete? Now, this is the kind of pour I like!

Success! Yesterday’s mortar bed got hard, and has securely anchored our brass wave details.

Ed’s a typical “old school” concrete finisher… Up at 4:00 AM, even if it is Saturday, and he’s not pouring. I find him with coffee, on the couch, watching radar on The Weather Channel, trying to divine the not so distant future, looking for rain, even if he’s not pouring, and our pour is “under cover”… Hehe, old habits die hard! I was sure to triple-set my alarm, to also be up early (although, for five, not four), to let him know I’m no pussy! Of course, the women are smarter… Betty and Kell sleep ‘til seven or eight. Alrighty then, off to Starbucks drive-thru, and then the pour…

Hey! All appears set, and ready-to-go. The truck’s just a few minutes late. The boys smoke, coke, joke, mentally prepare and/or adjust their jocks. You can tell that Miller, the concretist, is on site, as is evidenced by the 6 shot grande cappuccino in the foreground.

Although the final product will be patina-stained and dye-washed, Kelley has opted for an integrally colored concrete. Another thing to fret over… Can this possibly be the right color? Looks awfully red to me! Of course, this is to be expected (business as usual)… Typical dialogue from just another day in paradise (worth another hehe)!

Wheel it. Dump it. Shove in the donkey dick. Vibrate it. Strike it off. While the concretists nod approvingly and get lots of pictures.

Betty and Ed arrive, and review our progress.

THE MASTER SPEAKS: “Well, I wouldn’t done it that way, but, I guess it’ll work (???). And, by the way, it’s looks awfully red!”

Remember our design concept… That there be some thematic/visual continuity from ripples in the pool/spa/water feature, at the back of the house, that would continue through, and to the front.

Wave theme begins here, at mosaic-tiled “infinity pool”, spa, and water feature.

Is maintained with the vibe of the limestone paving, at the back patio, through the house, and out the front door.

Is reinforced (with an exclamation point), inside, by the dramatic sculptural plaster wall.

And is to culminate at our porte cochere art piece (remember this paper, brass and glass mock-up, back home, at Kelley’s?).

The mud’s been laid, it’s really cold, and we’ve got hours to kill before the concrete “tightens-up”, so we can continue. Time to head back to Mount Charleston…

Kelley, on the way up. Must’ve been a warm rain last night (if you can call it that), as a whole lot of the snow has melted. But, no complaints… It’s extra fresh!

This is about as high as we got… Start of some really deep, narrow canyons… Pretty, and, pretty dramatic!

Kelley, on the way down (walkin’ up/runnin’ down). Time to go back to work!

Time to float in the glass, followed by a two-pass-trowel…

Bob Harris sells his own line of signature stamps. Kelley puts her signature on her own custom steel templates.

Da boyz pound in da glass.

O.K., lady, it’s getting’ dark, right?

And, now, it is dark!

Last step before headin’ home for the night… Application of a top surface retarder… We’ll wash this off in the morning.

Sunday morning. Our last day in Vegas. Just a bit o’ time on the job, then, we’ll leave it to the guys…

Note hairy fibers, in addition to steel reinforcement. We’ll burn these off later. See brown metal waves under blue tape. Kelley’s picking at slab where some whitish retarder remains. The design idea is that the glass is a slightly deconstructed version of the brass, as in a reflection or an after-thought.

Retarder and cement paste is removed with a pressure washer, on low, and a medium bristle brush.

Kelley mostly watches. Guys mostly work. Blue tape is (mostly) still protecting brown patinated brass “waves”.

Hey, it’s time to get home, to the family and… CHRISTMAS!

And then to… HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Again, may we all be thankful for what we have, and, in 2011, to be richly blessed!

ALL GOOD THINGS!!!

Mike Miller
the concretist

It’s Christmas Eve morning, as I’m writing this, and, I’ve recently made a couple of trips to Las Vegas. One long ass road-trip, on my own (drinking a lot of coffee to stay awake), and, one via Southwest Air, with Kelley and pretty stewardesses (drinking a screw-driver to wind down). Trips were to coordinate and then place sensory concrete, where the featured components were waves of patinated brass and crushed amber glass.

Brian Giambastiani brazes brass legs on brass waves, at shop, home in Benicia.

Kinda like my November blog, Vegas is one of those towns that we keep coming back to… Personally, I have a lot of history in Nevada: with Balogh Concrete, in Reno, with Bomanite of Nevada, in Vegas, with Mark, with Ernie, and, with my good friend (and super hot-shot finisher), Eddie Gray. It was great! Both Kelley and I got to stay with Ed and his wife, Betty. We had some fun, great reminisces, and, Ed’s valuable insights into a technically difficult concrete job.

Brian and Kelley review progress.

We were also able to get great advice and help with off-site samples from Mike Price, of Bay Area Concretes, and his finisher, Anthoney… THANX, guys!

A sea of high pressure water jet-cut “brass-o-mundo”!

Here are some shots of Kelley’s design development process…

Wave forms were driven by sculptural plaster wall. These waves run from from pool and water features, at back of home, all the way through, and, to the front, where they meet our porte cochere art piece, and, finally, another water feature.

A bit of her inspiration…

Once more… The wave forms were driven this sculptural plaster wall. These waves run from from pool and water features, at back of home, all the way through, and, to the front, where they meet our porte cochere art piece, and, finally, another water feature. BTW, this wall was installed as pre-cast plaster modules, which were joined and made “seamless” on-site… Pretty nifty trick!

Our porte cochere art piece, where the wave forms are about to culminate.

Paper, brass and glass mock-up, at actual scale, at Kelley’s.

Prototypical wood dowel, brass and baling wire model, for Brian, also at Kelley’s.

It’s a blustery December day in Las Vegas, where Mike, in traditional job-site/pirate garb reviews forms, and brass location.

The concrete truck arrives… Are we ready? Time to get nervous? Nice! That oh-so-familiar pre-pour queasiness… The one I’ve grown to look forward to and embrace!

Last minute prep… The boyz protect the brass with multiple layers of trimmed blue ez-release painter’s tape. Note that the bright yellow brass has now been patinated to a rich brown, similar to the color of the amber glass. Prior to taping, and, after the patina treatment, it was also lacquered.

Double layers of steel (and fibers in the concrete) to control cracking of long narrow pieces. Masked brass hung in place with combination of wood and wire (what… no duct tape?).

Concrete’s in and structural mud bed secures legs of brass elements…

Raul does a great job. No need to have been concerned… HA! I ask him, and, he admits he’s ALWAYS queasy too!!!

So, Friday’s structural pour is through, before Kelley arrives (later tonight), and, before tomorrow’s architectural pour, Mike goes for a bit o’ a run and snow-play, up on Mount Charleston.

This is just under a 12,000 foot limestone mountain (highest peak in The Spring Range), just outside of Vegas… Most people come, eat, drink and gamble and never realize that this treasure is here!

Sometimes it even snows down in town! There wasn’t much up here, this afternoon, but, there was enough to give the place a brrr-isk Christmasy feel.

And, speaking of Charleston, Neen spotted this online, earlier this morning:

Mt. Charleston avalanche advisory sends residents to Red Cross shelter

Las Vegas, NV (KTNV)- **UPDATE** NV Energy crews worked hard all day Wednesday digging through snow, working to fix the power outage that has left many homes without heat or light.
One woman had to come down to a shelter and tells Action News what conditions are like in places our camera’s couldn’t even get to.
“I’ll be 90-years-old next year,” says Eva Wight, a Mt. Charleston resident of 40 years.
“You live in Mt. Charleston to get away from the heat. That’s the idea of having a home on Mt. Charleston is to get away from the heat downtown. Now in the winter time you have to get away from the mountain to get away from the snow,” she says.
Away from the snow and the frigid temperatures after her and close to 300 other residents lost power.
Eva was rescued from her home and brought to Bilbray Elementary.
“No heat, and I was running out of food, because I’m thirty miles from the nearest station to get food,” she says.
http://www.ktnv.com/story/13729590/avalanche-advisory-issued-for-mt-charleston

A jug of wine, a loaf of bread and thou… No such luck, so, Po’ Mike settles for a Manhattan, straight-up, fried calamari with marinara sauce and self-love (platonic self-love, that is!). “Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful!!!”

Well, it’s time to head to the airport and pick-up Kelley… What ever happened to: “Since we’ve no place to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!”? CRAP! Back to work…

Christmas on the mountain, Las Vegas-style… Truly delightful!

Really, this concretist shouldn’t be complaining… I really don’t have much to complain about! So, just an end of the year wish from me and mine to you and yours: Merry Christmas, and, may we ALL be richly blessed over the holidays, and through-out 2011!

Most places that I’ve traveled to, the concrete has taken me there. And when I’ve returned, sometimes, it’s been because of the concrete. And, sometimes, it’s been ‘cause of the people. And, sometimes, it’s been because of the concrete and the people.

Recent client, Teresa Lower, of Casper, WY, can’t resist relaxing on her lower patio, composed of variegated stained and dyed, on-grade cast-in-place and pre-cast circular elements.

Most places that I’ve traveled to, the concrete has taken me there. And when I’ve returned, sometimes, it’s been because of the concrete. And, sometimes, it’s been ‘cause of the people. And, sometimes, it’s been because of the concrete and the people.

Art Boatright, president of ready mix producer, Mobile Concrete, our first patron in Casper.
Here, Art is posing with an art panel of applied dyes and stains over skim, imbedded and embedded with found objects. We first visited Casper, and worked with Art,in the late 90’s. He looked like Drew Carey then, and, he still does… Hasn’t aged one bit!!!

Just east of The Cascades, between Ellensburg, Washington and Yakima, is one of those places. As the concretist, we’ve worked both internationally and nationwide. You might find us working just about anywhere… But, we’ve done more jobs, in a 30 mile radius, between Ellensburg and Yakima, than just about anywhere… And, believe me, this is no major population center… But, the concrete there has been sweet, and the people have been warm, while the weather has often been not so warm. We love this place! The Washington wine country.

An art panel of applied dyes and stains over skim, imbedded and embedded with found objects.

I’ve just been back to another such place, where my fondest sensory concrete and personal memories mingle. We haven’t done quite as many jobs in Casper, Wyoming as in central Washington state, but, we’ve done enough. The weather is just about the same in this part of Wyoming as in that part of Washington, perhaps a bit colder in the winter? The population is similarly sparse, perhaps even a bit sparser? But, the concrete and the people, they can’t be beat! They love their concrete in Casper, and they know how to do it right. And people who love concrete, well, those are my kind of people!!!

Our client, ready mix producer, Mobile Concrete’s offices, Casper, Wyoming Concrete elements include… Cast-in-Place: natural gray walls with brown pigmented reception desk, dyed and patina-stained saw-cut suspended slab. Pre-Cast: dyed and patina-stained, skimmed cement-board, art panels, imbedded and embedded with found objects from the North Platte River (this runs through their property), such as grasses, pebbles, and even a fat brown trout!

Art Boatright is the president of Mobile Concrete (a ready mix producer), in Mills, Wyoming, just outside of Casper. He was born and raised there, but, attended some university in California… This must have tweaked him just enough to allow him to develop certain less usual tastes: proclivities and fantasies involving variegated patina stains and sensory concrete. It’s the late 90’s and Art’s building new offices for Mobile… Some glass, some steel, but, mostly concrete. When we arrived in Casper, our primary scope was to color, through staining, some 10,000 square feet of suspended and basement slabs. It was now the time to indulge Art’s fantasies! Our primary scope was the interior slabs, but, as so often happens with the concretist, we arrive, meet the folks, take a look around, and see what more needs doing… What it is that’s truly appropriate for both the client and the site. In the case of Art and Mobile, he was interested in having a really special reception lobby. He was in the process of completing a totally cool (deep and massive) purple-brown, integrally-colored receptionist desk-top. This was out of pre-cast, and was to be integrated within low walls of cast-in-place natural gray. He also had an equally massive concrete fireplace in the middle of the lobby, as a focal point. This fireplace had decorative square voids. These were kinda cool (and kinda boring)… Hmmm??? They seemed a pretense, begging for something more…

Pre-Cast Elements: dyed and patina-stained, skimmed cement-board, art panels, imbedded and embedded with found objects from the North Platte River (this runs through their property), such as grasses, pebbles, and even a fat brown trout!

The bulk of the floors had minimal jointing, but, this lobby had been jointed with something like a two foot grid. It was obvious that it was an area of special emphasis, and, that Art would want us to spend more attention on color-work and details there. Can do! Leading to this interior lobby was an exterior sidewalk. Nice, but kinda plain. This seemed a more natural place to begin his clients’ introduction to “The Mobile Concrete Experience” AND their sensory concrete journey. The North Platte River is a wonderful resource and a distinctive part of “The Casper Experience”. It also runs smack dab through the middle of the Mobile Concrete property. So, we began our journey at the river (a bit icy, in December), to look for site specific clues, inspiration, and elements we might incorporate in what we were about to do…

On left, Art Boatright, president of Mobile Concrete, our first patron in Casper, and, on right, smilin’ Bob Lower, Structural Engineer, Art’s associate, good friend and neighbor, and, our most recent patron in Casper.
Here, the boys are posing with an on-grade, cast-in-place, natural gray sidewalk, which was subsequently sealed, then sand-blasted through a plasma-cut steel template. Blasted graphic was based on aggregate shapes, ancient alluvial deposits, from Mobile’s quarries, with the very occasional stray leaf and rattlesnake, thrown in for fun and shock-value. Where sealer (acting as a resist) was blasted away, the graphic was subsequently patina stained. This sidewalk is now 12 years old.

And this is what we did… The bulk of the slabs were patina-stained and dye-washed in a variegated “irony” (as is iron-y, not ironic) purple brown, with Ironite spotting. These were similar and color to an old rusted railroad trestle. We filled the ho-hum square voids in the fireplace with art panels, which were also stained and dyed over Sgraffino-skimmed cement board. The Sgraffino was imbedded and embedded with found objects from the North Platte River, such as grasses, pebbles, and even a fat brown trout! The fish were caught in the river and placed in the wet Sgraffino overlay. Slime on the fish acts as its own release agent. Wait ’til the next day, when the skim is hard, and the fish are easily removed. Scales and all details are perfect, like a Japanese fish print! If they were removed earlier (as in a stamp), the details are smudged and not crisp. Hence, this is an hybrid application (typical concretist fare), where the fish are impressed like a stamp, but, left in place until the mud is hard, more like a form-liner. Same is true with the grasses. They were harvested from the river bank, scattered on the wet mud, impressed, and, removed the next day. Pebbles were from the river’s edge, and were inlayed, and left in place permanently. The two-foot grid, on the lobby floor, at the base of the fireplace, was stained and dyed in much brighter and more saturated colors: reds, oranges and yellows. The occasional corner was flashed with a shading lacquer, containing metallic pigments.

Flashback to The Late 90’s: Dana, the concretist, plasma-cutting steel template.

As for the front sidewalk… We sealed the on-grade, cast-in-place, natural gray sidewalk, with a solvent-based acrylic (which would also, later, act as a resist). We then sand-blasted through a plasma-cut steel template. Blasted graphic was based on aggregate shapes, ancient alluvial deposits, from Mobile’s quarries, with the very occasional stray leaf and rattlesnake, thrown in for fun and shock-value. Where sealer (acting as a resist) was blasted away, the graphic was subsequently patina stained.

Another Flashback… The Late 90’s: Eric, Mobile Concretist, sand-blasting graphics, with steel template.

We’ve been back to Wyoming several times since the 90’s. Once to visit Yellowstone and Jackson Hole, with Art and his wife, Lynette. Once to stain floors and walls for a new Boys Club. And once with our youngest daughter, and her boyfriend, who was attending college in Laramie at the time, for a blizzardy Thanksgiving with The Boatrights.

The Lower’s residence is photographed and digitally altered (solarized), with PhotoShop, to develop palette ideas for patios, stairs and sidewalks.

It’s now early November, 2010. the concretist arrives in Casper and is picked-up at the airport by a guy who’s e-mail address begins with “Fat Bob”. And I’m a bit surprised and confused, as structural engineer, smilin’ Bob Lower, isn’t really fat at all. This guy’s no chubby Santa, but, he is warm and jolly! We pass fat antelope, grazing at the airport, too numerous to count, and make our way to The Lower’s downtown residence. I meet his wife, Teresa and their two lovely daughters. Get a tour of the house (where I’m looking for their penchants in colors and other design clues). Eclectic bright colors. Edgy, funky art, and, lots of crosses! This tour also includes the patios and sidewalks I’m about to stain. Wow… Sophisticated construction! Cast-in-place and pre-cast. Old existing and new, on-grade. New suspended deck. Wild structural shapes, including lots of circles. This guy may be a structural engineer, but, he’s no square! What to do??? Circles and crosses? Layers? Layers of circles and crosses? Found objects as templates? Templates of circles? Templates of crosses? Father, forgive me for what I am about to do! I say this before just about every new job. HA! It helps me settle that familiar queasy feeling, the one that I’ve come to terms with, that I now recognize and, even, enjoy. The one that comes with the start of each new sensory concrete journey and working without much of a map. Neighbor, Art Boatright shows up. The cork comes out of the bottle, and we start talking concrete…

Upper patio was first patina-stained. It was then layered with multiple dye-washes, using found objects (crosses, rocks from the garden), recycled form boards, scrap lumber, even used sanding screens, as templates.

Upper patio was first patina-stained. It was then layered with multiple dye-washes, using recycled form boards, scrap lumber, used sanding screens, and even rocks from the garden, as templates.

Found objects as templates? Templates of crosses? Mike uses found object as inspiration, a template and as a simple mechanical guide.

Upper patio was first patina-stained and spotted with Ironite fertilizer granules. It was then layered with multiple dye-washes. Here, concretist fleshes-out this cross graphic, with a straight-edge and carbide-tipped scribe, which is subsequently in-filled with colored pencil.

Client, Teresa Lower, is pretty in pink, on layered and graphic, suspended cast-in-place, upper patio.

Here, Teresa is pretty in pink, on layered and graphic, suspended cast-in-place, upper patio.

And, finally, client, Teresa, can’t resist posing on her variegated stained and dyed, circular lower patio and pre-cast stair elements. I’ll look forward to returning to Casper again! Perhaps in the spring or summer, for a change? To float and fish The North Platte, to check-out the Lowers and the Boatrights, and their concretes, and, what’s fresh from their gardens and what the gals will create with it!

So many things in construction, in concrete, involve straight lines. Or rectangular shapes with right angles. Or, if the architect is really bold, perhaps, a skewed grid at 45 degrees. There are a few nuts that opt for circles, even ellipses, and the very occasional freak asks for a spiral.