You can’t get there from here….

Sometimes efforts are simply failures.
 With this slab I started wrong and could not make it right.
There is something to learn about that.
Michelangelo once said “Much does he gain, he who when loses learns”. 
I read that on a box of Red Zinger tea many years ago .
That makes sense and it makes a positive of things that flop….This is in my opinion a flop.

It is true that sometimes the best results come from “mistakes”.
Damage control is definitely a part of any process.
I feel this one never came to be something intriguing, it just seems kind of ugly and snotty.
The good news…My stone wet grinder polisher arrives tomorrow via UPS.
I can practice forever on these little slabs..

Nutty but informative concrete slab colors

I decided to get a bit zany… thankfully on a very small scale.
I used 3 colored concrete mixes. 1 resurfacing mix (good for thin coat durability) powder colored an largely obnoxious green. 2 sand mix concrete bags, 1 charcoal gray, 1 regular concrete color (mostly).
I had a wet mix of resurfacing. A dryish 2 batches of sand mix (looking to make voids with).I did a multi-color random hand laid casting… And this is what it looks like.


The slab is kind of 60’s molded bath tub ugly.
I believe I can pull the drama back with an color coat over the slab (charcoal likely).
I like the subtle relation between the two colored sand mixes.
The the case of the green blotchy veiny areas, I will choose a more organic (muted/sublime color palate) in the future.
I do like the idea though.
Another interesting element at least to me…the accent green, being wetter, was smooth is the cast. The less wet sand mixes were porous and pin holed. A nice texture difference to keep in mind for the future.
I’ll keep you posted… All though I am really only talking to myself….

Art piece in action….

Here’s my “Mobile Still Life” doing what it does…It was fun balancing the eclectic elements. I’ll have a few better photos of the piece up soon.   

When all was said and done… some success!

Here is a picture of my first concrete counter top… finished.
It is what it is….I learned many things from my mistakes.
The slab has a certain character about it, best described as “rustic”.
That is ok…I have cast a new slab in the mean time.

It has a much better surface texture, for my uses.
There is a certain relationship of surface to void I am looking for.
I feel I have been very fortunate to have come to acceptable results so quickly in the process. 
I do have some other nagging issues to deal with as yet.
It seems the weight of the castings are bending my casting table, and warping my casts…There is always something.
I also “grouted” the voids in my first casting, tile style. Meaning I made a thin-ish paste, skimmed the voids with this colored paste, then cleaned up with a sponge and water. 
I understand now that this is not the way to go.
The best method for color and fill is to grind or polish the skim off. Leaving no color haze on the original colored slab.
This makes good sense and is a lot easier than trying to sponge clean porous concrete. Next time…. 

Above is the “more successful” slab skimmed with a hunter green slurry mix, wet sanded and sealed.
It has the look and feel of a bronze with patina.
I am liking the exciting color possibilities of concrete!

A new experiment… A cast countertop.

I made a mold and cast a countertop today.It is a small prototype.
I welded up a bar type table, 14″x 48″ x 38″ high.
It is a production piece I hope to be a bread and butter type of thing. Sort of a custom small steel table with a attractive concrete top to it, in almost any size to order.
 I was nervous about the casting process.
All information said that too much water was a cast concrete’s folly.
I may have erred on the side of too dry.
I am anxious to de-mold the piece tomorrow to see the outcome, and learn from mistakes etc.
I have found a production source of countertop concrete mix (Quikrete) it is special order only at Lowe’s so I had to fake this batch. My order of Quikrete comes next week, I will try to define the anatomy of a concrete countertop mix when I see it.So the concrete mix itself was prototype also.
I faked it. I have a feeling I blew it with this mix but, I will see the pro’s and cons tomorrow.
My sense… too dry and too large aggregate. A sand mix would have been better. I decided to get tricky with combination mixes.
Though no one is really following this, I am having fun documenting the process.

A new piece… show and tell….

  

 Hey all of you out there in virtual land!
I just brewed up this latest piece I call “Mobile Still Life”.
It is a found metal mobile, dangling all sorts of  eclectic bits, many pounds, balanced on a nail point.
It weights about 100 lbs. It is 48″ tall. 
 One exciting aspect of found object art is, one’s reaction to the various found object elements, then dictates the progression of the piece.  In a sense you are a director of a drama, with the characters being your quiver of  found stuff. The final outcome is always somewhat of a surprise, even to the artist. Which is part of the attraction to the style.
Each found object has it’s own “voice” or “character” which needs to be understood, then placed appropriately in the overall context of the piece.
Think about a choir director, ascertaining available voices of strangers, then utilizing them judiciously/creatively for the sound objective. That is one aspect of found object art.
Found object art production in my opinion is very sub-conscious mind based.
 I am trying to impart a dynamic to my latest pieces… a mechanism or mobility. ”Contraptions” I am calling them.
I have an interest in mechanical/design engineering, albeit from a artists perspective. I like the idea of  ”non static”, because the art piece becomes less of an object, and more of a participant in the art experience. If it is simple as the art becomes more of a challenge to make and more mysterious to take in, then I feel I am growing with it. I hope people see that in the work… this is one aspect I can only elude to…. In this sense I am only the Pied Piper.

Is this piece successful? 
Of course your comments are welcome…
Obviously a mediocre photo doesn’t really allow a full “feel” of the piece… I will have a “pro” photo done soon.  

Unsure of proper concrete mix for counter tops. Searching….

I’ve perused a few sites on the web.

Seems likely that no one will give up their mix.

That is the magic potion for success here.

I will tweeze some concrete manufacturing companies to see if they have something to suggest.

I of course could experiment, but that would be time consuming, not to mention possibly a waste of time with bad results. I may end up going this route anyway…

There must be some pertinent/time saving info out there regarding mixes that doesn’t involve paying $40 a bag for..

A couple of critical things seem to be…. sand content, ad mix contents for strength, aggregate or no aggregate. Also a percentage of white material, marble or white portland cement to arrive at a proper pre-colorant base color to work with.

I guess it depends on what color you’d like to end up with….

I know I’m just telling myself what I don’t know, and that is a lot.

The web is a great reference so I’ll just keep looking. Some secret formula just has to be out there.

This is why people get paid for their experience…. 

Looking into building concrete counter tops….

My wife Marie and I are liking the idea of concrete counter tops. We are remodeling our dream house (probably a year out).We looked into granite for the kitchen… it’s beautiful, but expensive.I have a lot of  hands on experience with building/fabrication etc.I’m thinking about forming some sample concrete for color, texture, casting, finishing, etc.I can always make some small welded steel tables with concrete tops just as a side to my other furniture interests.A good excuse to learn a new craft anyway.Marie and I have not excluded natural stone as a option. It really has alot to do saving a lot of money and the gratification of doing it yourself.I realize I have a learning curve.There is a bunch of great information out there on the web.I just purchased a great book called “Making Concrete Countertops with Buddy Rhodes”. It is detailed, visual, and informative. I will attempt to build something with this books help, then let you know how it goes.One immediate observation about “black arts/secret crafts” books…. they give you enough information to get you excited, but not enough to solve all your project problems. They want you to buy more books, products, or classes.Buddy’s book seems a bit different this way.Most of the information is there, except proprietary concrete mix formulas, which Buddy sells.I will have to do my mix homework, otherwise spring $40 a bag for Buddy mix.You can check out Buddy’s website at www.buddyrhodes.com.He makes a very good looking product.I am most interested in the precast veined variety of counter top. I love the “natural” look and multi color possibilities.Anybody have any experience that would tell me to steer clear of concrete counters let me know.