Dana Boyer, ConcretiZen, Apache Junction, Arizona
Before Dana Boyer discovered concrete, paint was her artistic medium. Her parents painted for a living, and she followed, specializing in faux techniques, murals and custom airbrushing.
by Christina Camara
She was perfectly happy painting cars and Harley Davidsons, but a home improvement project changed everything.
 Just after moving to Arizona, Boyer decided to replace the white carpet in her home with a concrete floor that would better handle the dirt and rocks tracked in by her motorcycle-racing husband and her dogs.
She wanted just a quick lesson so she could custom paint her floor, but it turned out to be an introduction to the diversity of concrete. Boyer was hooked. “It just took over my life. It totally swallowed up my life and consumed me. I just loved it.”
Paint was out and concrete was in. Now, Boyer is the owner of ConcretiZen, based in Apache Junction, Ariz. She does it all — art pieces, driveways, pool decks, countertops, floors. She takes residential and commercial jobs, coloring, texturing, stamping, polishing, sandblasting or engraving concrete.
 The wide variety of effects Boyer produces began with Mike Miller, the founding father of the Concretist group. Miller, a leader in developing innovative staining techniques, asked Boyer to work with him. She started at the bottom, doing cleaning and scrubbing and other low-level jobs, but kept her eyes open and learned quickly. Miller, whom she describes variously as “an incredible mad genius guy,” “a spinning vortex,” “a real blessing,” “a kick in the pants,” and “the Tazmanian devil on quadruple espresso,” taught her everything. “He doesn’t take that kind of time with everyone,” she says. “I was very fortunate.”
Miller asked Boyer to join the Concretist group, a loose organization of artists and craftsmen who pool their ideas and talents to create amazing decorative concrete work. Each artisan also works separately, and each of them is always experimenting with techniques and products to produce new decorative effects. The Concretist group’s motto is “Concrete & Architecture + Art = The Concretist.”
 Boyer considers concrete beautiful, and views it as a huge blank canvas. Over the years, she has learned to work with the dozens of factors that affect how a project comes out, and appreciates the unique, changeable properties of concrete.
She has worked with designers and architects all over the country on projects large and small. Whether it’s a home patio or a mall, they’re all fascinating to her because each one is an opportunity for innovation. “Everything that I do is custom,” she says. “I just don’t throw a color down and say that’s it. If you’re looking for that kind of contractor, that’s not me. I don’t have it in me.”
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