Concrete Art Christmas 2013: Little did I know.

Every year I put quite a bit of thought into my new concrete designs for the holiday season.  The toughest art piece to design is my tree.  I design a new one each year.  This one I think is a favorite so far.

It's always interesting to me what drives my ideas each year.  I usually have a concept in mind which helps me get my mold set for the constructing and pouring.  There also is usually at least one person through talking with them (and not necessarily about my art) that gives me that last bit of inspiration to "tweak" the design.  For this years tree I was chatting with a very creative friend and owner of Wealthy at Charles, Michael.  I'm not sure what the conversation was but we were looking at these beautiful stones in there store.  I forget what they were called but were similar to Amethyst Geodes.  He then thought how cool it would be to add that look into some of my concrete pieces.  I agreed!  Well, later that week back in my studio, working with my trees, I was busy smoothing the cement over my tree molds. By mistake I added a bit too much concrete, creating an irregular shape along an edge.  As I was just about to correct it and smooth it, I remembered the conversation I had with Michael and thought "wow, that's it!"  This is why this year's tree has these wonderful glass crystals.  Add a little light to them and get a wonderful warm glow.  They come in many colors, shapes and sizes.  No two are a like so have fun choosing a few to go together for your display.

 

I also have done the ever popular snowman before.  Snowmen are great because they are great for not only the holidays but for the whole winter season.  This year I stumbled on the perfect mold for this design.  Unfortunately as of right now this will be a limited design as I only have a few molds available.  Of course I usually like my art to be functional as well so light up the tea light candle that's included for a bit of holiday glow. You can't go wrong giving these happy guys as a holiday gift!

My third concrete holiday creation are these stars.  I've posted these before, but I think are worth posting again.  When I decided to make this chunky star shape my only intention was to make a simple star that was affordable, that would be cute to use by itself or pair a few together as a group.  I had no ideas when making these they would have such a impact on others.  They quickly became the "Star of Hope," after giving one of these to a friend that I thought needed a bit of cheer following news of a recurrence of cancer.  (You can read about that story in my previous blog post.) 

It's been interesting and humbling hearing the stories since making these this fall and of how they have touched many people.  And not only for illness, but also for personal family crisis, as a thank you gift, a condolence gift, and more. 

 

Yes, I take my art seriously. It's is more than just a hobby.  I want it to be profitable.  But I most of all I want it to touch others.  When I hear stories of how that has happened, it's both humbling and warms my heart.  Thank you to those who have shared those stories.

 

You can find my concrete art pieces at Wealthy at Charles in Grand Rapids, MI and Flying Colorz Studio in Holland MI.