This Stamp is No Cookie Cutter
New-school Methods of Concrete Embossing

I've always appreciated the craft of concrete stamping and the work ethic and skill of a really good stamper. However, I've never quite understood why anyone would choose decorative concrete trying to look like used brick, or trying to look like ashlar slate or tumbled marble, when you could choose brick, slate or marble. Isn't it better to be as honest and genuine as possible, in every way?

Why would anyone spend thousands of dollars on Parisian cobblestone stamps? A flight to Paris and a hotel for the weekend, for both concrete contractor and client to share mutual experiences and gather ideas, would've been cheaper and the real deal! Isn't it better to sample the red wine and French bread and read Colette on the actual Champs-Elysees? And, isn't it better to choose concrete trying to be... well, concrete?

In response to a faux approach (like traditional stamped concrete) or an overly structured approach (architectural concrete), my co-principal, Kelley Burnham, coined the phrase "sensory concrete" to describe a product that embraces the innate qualities of concrete as well as the sweat and skill that helped create it. According to Kelley, sensory concrete focuses on tapping the energy endemic to concrete design and construction, revealing and interpreting its magic.

One of my goals is to always give the material a voice. I do this by utilizing my senses. I touch. I look long and hard, looking for nuances that may not be apparent at first glance, such as the ghost of aggregates near, but just below, the surface. I'm a bit of a concrete Buddhist. I try to see what's genuine. Take a close look at concrete, and acknowledge what it really is, not what you'd like it to be. Concrete is an imperfect yet beautiful material. It sometimes seems that the harder you try to make it consistent, the less that happens. Consider looking at all "the bad things" and emphasizing those more naturally occurring and dynamic aspects.

The new school
Not only does concrete offer its own unique qualities and inconsistencies, its relationships with its environment and other materials offer opportunities as well. Take the example of a sidewalk being finished on a shady lane, on a blustery fall day.

The finishers cuss as again and again leaves are blown onto the wet concrete. Some are removed and some are missed, and those are then finished into the mud. Voila! You have beautiful leaf fossils. At least, you hope that the owner looks at it this way! This was an error on this project, but how might it be used in the future to your advantage?

When I was with L.M. Scofield Co., I was often called out to look at color projects that had gone awry. Every year, there was at least one project where the client claimed that our color was no good, where the concrete had developed a case of "the measles." I'd go. I'd look. Was there a lawn adjacent to the concrete? Had the owner recently fertilized?

Ah, with Ironite granules...Voila! Sporadic rust-colored spots had perm

anently stained the integrally colored concrete. It didn't look so good here, but how about on a variegated stain job? It might add a bit of a wormholey, travertinesque quality, or something a bit like knots in wood. Hmmm?

Mike Miller is vice president in charge of marketing for Colormaker Surfaces, of Richmond, B.C. He is also managing principal of The Concretist, based in Benicia, Calif. He can be reached at concretist@aol.com.

www.colormakersurfaces.com
www.theconcretist.com
www.thevisualconcretegroup.com