In every SkimStone class I teach we do a Modello/SkimStone Concrete Carpet design together. We should all be so lucky to have this many sets of hands working on one project! Imagine how much design could get done. This class worked especially well together!

This photo dramatically shows the effect of the final toning layer, troweled on VERY tight and thin,  to create a beautiful unifying and aging effect in the Ibiza Carpet design.

The toning layer enhances the look of really old Encaustic tiles, which is something that I have been searching all over the web about and drooling over all the possible color and design combinations. We have so many patterns that work well for that look, I can’t wait to get into the new building and get to troweling!

I am trying to catch up a bit here after teaching back to back classes. They were both full of great and fun students. We had 6 that stayed the week and came to both sessions. I wanted to share some sample from the SkimStone class because they are just so darn cool. SkimStone is concrete and countertop resurfacing product that I have been using quite a bit for the last few year. You can see more examples of it in the Floor Gallery and some of the posts I’ve done on my patio projects. It is super easy to use and to create great decorative effects as sit trowels much like a Venetian plaster and you can layer the colors, make them more opaque, more translucent, more textured, etc.

I shot photos of 4 samples done by different students of the Italian allover tile design (OrnAll 107) sample that we did. These are 2′ x 2′ boards. Each one shows a little different use of color. The one on the lower left started as a “mistake” because she removed the wrong part of the pattern on one step, but it actually turned out the prettiest. In art, and life I suppose, mistakes can be huge opportunities to take you in a much better direction!

Here is a collection of photos to show the steps involved for the gazebo project. It actually only took 2.5 days. As much as I hate to cover any of it up, I’m off this weekend to shop for patio furniture!

This past weekend I tackled another patch of concrete with SkimStone and Modellos and I am simply THRILLED with the results. It was two long days of hard work up and down off the ground, but one of the most satisfying things I think I have done. About a year ago I purchased this really unique gazebo from Lane Venture.

  

THIS will be the summer we engage in some romatic alfresco dining. Now that the “floor” is done all that is left is to pick the colors for the cushions and drapes! Oh-and I really want to paint something on the panels now. Might as well just take it over the top! Here is a detail. I LOVE the colors in the flowers.

Welll OK, slightly more than a day. I did the first two skim coats on Saturday, but the remainder of the project was done on a beautful, sunny Sunday. With the radio and suncreen on, I was able to use my trusty color guide to complete this round pad on my back patio, using a Modello design, OrnCen155 in three pieces. I am really enjoying the new, expanded color collection that they have come out with, particularly the Sante Fe Pottery color that wend down first. This photo collection roughly shows the steps.

After a long day spent troweling on one’s hands and knees I highly recommend enjoying a refreshing beverage as you pick out the last pieces of the masking pattern.

Tonight, I’ll be applying a toning layer, using our Modello Dye Stains in Fawn to calm it all down and bring all the colors together. I’ll post the final “beauty shot” later!

It’s going to be a beautiful weekend here in San Diego. That is NOT highly unusual. Just ask any San Diegan what the number 1 reason they choose to live here is. What IS unusual is that I will be tearing myself away from the keyboards and getting down to some serious troweling on my back patio. There is a project awaiting: An eight foot diameter circle of plain concrete inside stamped flagstone. I can’t wait to improve the view from my living room with this-

This is a rough color setup I did in Illustrator to give myself a guide for the application which will be done with SkimStone and one of our Modello masking patterns.. I’m sure I’ll end up winging it anyway! We’ll find out how well it turned out next week. BTW if you never hear of this again, you can come to your own conclusions.

Well I am just getting back and getting over the World of Concrete and whatever stomach flu/disease I got in Las Vegas. We had a nice little artsy booth amongst the MEGA booths and earth moving machinery. Actually, I saw a great upsurge in the interest and display of decorative concrete and there were lots of great artisans exhibiting and demoing outside in the Artistry in Concrete area. I WILL post pictures soon!

In the meantime, here is some work of one of our decorative concrete customers, John Carney of Art Over Concrete. John did this beautiful Shanghai Concrete Carpet design using our Modello Dye Stains to both layer on a textural background for this carpet as well as stenciling the design elements in metallic gold. You can see more of John’s work in our concrete Gallery. John is a lovely sounding man from Tennessee who got into decorative concrete about 4 years ago after “retiring” from his career as an optometrist and is now expanding into decorative wall finishes as well.

I love designing patterns and finished for floors. Ceilings too! Floors and ceiling are generally an area where you can make a much bigger design statement than walls, with GRAND designs and more combinations of pattern and color. Walls get curtains and photos and pictures and tall furniture, etc. placed in front of them and sometimes need to take a back seat.

Floors and ceilings are definitely more physically challenging to paint and decorate, which is why I said I love DESIGNING for them! LOL. Our current office/studio has a lot of decorative floor treatments that I will miss looking at when we move. I think my favorite though is the Kimono floor that was created a couple of years ago. (I’ve had this Kimono obsession going for awhile, I guess)

The application was a combination of acid and Modello Dye Stains on a Colormaker overlayment. I first graphed out the area and then penciled in the swirls and shapes. This was then translated into a vector file in Adobe Illustrator so the colors could be played with and blocked in and the various patterns moved in and out and around to see what looked good. I love computers-most days! To do the saw cuts that separate the different sections, I had the Illustrator line drawing paper plotted on large sheets of paper that were taped together on the floor and then cut through with a 4″ diamond blade affixed to a grinder. It was a little intimidating at first, but not really that hard. Then the different areas were treated to different color and pattern applications. I think it’s a great look for a commercial space! There are more photos of floors and floor designs in the Floor Show gallery. I should have a lot of fun designing the floor spaces for the new building: Elaborate carpets, large graphics, etc. I am even thinking about the possibilities of painted cork!