News
Concrete Bathtub
July 8, 2010
Heer is a custom concrete bathtub I recently made for a little Edmontonian. As you can see it fits perfectly to the curve one has in a lounging position and once it gets up to temperature it hold heat extremely well. This tub is also used for a few other purposes but I think it looks best as a tub and so does the little gentleman in it.
Joking aside, I can make concrete tubs. I have the knowhow and the equipment to do so but have not had a client here in Edmonton or Alberta want a concrete tub and a concrete bathtub is a pricey undertaking if there is not a client for it. So if your out there thinking “Man I wish I could lounge like that cool guy in my own concrete bathtub you need to contact me so I can make that dream come true for you.
Fort Beaumont 2.0
December 1, 2009
Another winter season is upon us and thus the resurrection for For Beaumont. For the uninitiated Fort Beaumont is my space inside of the space, the inner sanctum of Concrete Cat. Well…. Actually my shop is not heated and in the winter I need to create a heated space out of insulated tarps to regulate the temperature inside of the shop during a pour, it also help maintain good humidity inside the enclosed space which aids in the strength and finish of the concrete.
This year we really thought out our fort before putting it up. I decided on going with a much lower roof so we would have less space to heat, and I actually laid out all my tarps to check their lengths before I wired them all together. So this year (unlike last year) the tarps hit the ground at an equal length all the way around.
Some of the other upgrades are a well thought out door placement and the ability to complete roll up the sides of the tent to move pieces in or out.
The construction of the fort is made up of two framed in end pieces, a type 3 construction ladder that the tarps hang from, 4 insulated tarps, and some wire. Inside the fort we have our pour tables and some tools as well as some heaters. We use propane heat to get the inside of the fort heated up quickly and then switch over to electrical heat to maintain a constant thermostat controlled heat at around 5–6 degrees Celsius (which in my opinion is the perfect temperature for concrete to cure in, because you lose the least amount of water from evaporation at this temperature.
I know what your thinking, “This looks cozy, where can I get one?” Well we do make custom tarp fort for very reasonable prices to fit any space you might have, just send me a quick e-mail and I can let you know when we will have your tarpy tent fort up.
Living in a Sculpture
September 7, 2009
This summer my wife and stayed in Canada for our holidays. We drove to Vancouver from Edmonton, then to Prince George from Vancouver and back home from there. We saw a lot of cool things on our travels and I want to try and share a few of them with you.
During our travels we stopped in at Trochu Alberta to see my parents. I usually get pretty bored in Trochu and we either end up golfing or playing cards. On this visit though my parents took us to Dry Island Provincial Park. I was blown away by the landscape we saw there and I will get into that
on a later post but for this particular entry I want to talk about a great rock I saw.
I am by no means I geologist so these comments are based solely on the observation of a layman. The rock itself looks to be sandstone and I am guess that the voids in it are from water erosion. This rock is one of the best mixed media pieces I have seen in nature and I really love it. First the colour is quite striking and I find that the natural contrast of what looks to be iron oxide against the sandstone is perfect. I am constantly amazed at how nature can balance colour so much better than humans can.
Secondly I love the composition of this piece. The voids are really what generate interest in it. I have discussed many times that with concrete the voiding is really the key to a great piece. Somehow the viewer always seems to fill in substance and meaning when confronted with a void.
One of the voids in this rock held the key to why I called this a “mixed media” piece.
Upon closer inspection of the rock I was delighted to see that a colony of paper wasps had taken residence in the voids of the rock. I am very interested in colony insects, especially bees and wasps (I worked for a few summers as a teenager at a bee farm). Seeing these ingenious insects using something I viewed as art as their home was the ultimate conflation of form and function. Nature has always been at the heart of my design aesthetic and examples like this are why.
Contra Trade - How to Trade Goods and Services in a Modern World
August 27, 2009
have always been drawn to the idea of the medieval old timey marketplace. The kind where the farmer hauls his wagon of goods and trades for things like tools, clothing or other farmed goods with his own products. There is something very quaint and grass roots about goods being used as currency.
The biggest issue with doing this in a modern setting is valuation and how to trade good that are not equal value. I have found that this can be overcome in a few different ways. The first and most important thing is to have open and clear communication between the two parties regarding value and timelines. Most problems involved with a trade for goods can be solved by communicating clearly the expectations of both parties.
The goods or services of both parties involved in the trade need to be evaluated like they normally would for a sale. In some cases it is best to even go to the trouble of writing up invoices for what you intend to trade, even if you do not intended to technically “invoice” each other. When your dealing with unequal trades you need to make sure that the remained of the trade is logged properly and paid out either in the further trade or a dollar value payout.
Despite really liking the idea of trading for goods and being very open to it we at Concrete Cat have not traded goods very often. We have found that the biggest issue with trading goods is not really knowing where to start. It is a good practice when trading goods to think outside the box. First start by thinking of what profession you and your partner are in, next think of any collections you might have that would be interesting to the other party, art, furniture, antiques are all good starts for something you might like to trade with. Again with the trade of second hand goods it is a good idea to have some sort of supporting documentation as to what you feel a fair valuation of your goods might be, I find that even a search of “completed listings” in eBay can really help value a second hand item and give you an idea of what it is sell for.
I know this is not much but I hope that these few tips can help encourage you to try trading goods and services. As it currently stands here at Concrete Cat we are open to trading for art, vintage dive watches, store credits and who knows what else, try us we just might get lucky! We would love to trade more concrete counter tops and concrete here in Edmonton or even Calgary or Vancouver.
eBay Alchemy - The Law of Equivalent Trade
August 17, 2009
Ebay rocks! What I mean to say is Ebay is crazy addictive! Once you get hooked on Ebay it is pretty hard to break the habit of buying things you don’t need but found for such a great price. All is not lost, there is a way to avoid spending your life savings on eBay. I have to start from another direction before we get to this super sweet secret strategy, so bear with me.
I not only love eBay but I love anime. The story lines from Japanese cartoons are usually quite in depth and the animation is bar none some of the best in the world. One anime that started it all for me is Full Metal Alchemist. It had a short run of 51 episodes and had a finish to it, it is an incredible series which you need to check out, even if you have never watched anime it is a good place to start.
The premise to Full Metal Alchemist is based on a world where alchemy has replaced science. Alchemy is used to create objects, fix things, and for warfare. One of the most basic laws of alchemy is equivalent trade. This law boiled down states that when creating an object, the ingredients used in the composition must equal the total whole of the other. Basically you can’t make something from nothing.
In my eBay Alchemical equations before I can make purchases I must first sell off some items. Or in some rare cases if I make the purchase first I must then sell items equal to that of the purchase. This ends up being a win win situations. First I clean clutter out of my house, and second it helps to budget purchases on eBay. So if like me you have an issue with your eBay purchases it might be worth adopting the “Law of Equivalent Trade”, try it!
Fort Beaumont
March 13, 2009
Concrete Cat loves summer and can hardly wait till it is here. It has been a long tough winter for the cats and our large shop gets quite cold, especially in the stretches of winter where there are below –20 temperatures. To combat the onslaught of winter this year the cats built an insulated tarp tent with the help of some local friends. This fortress of solitude has been affectionately named Fort Beaumont and if winter decides to cooperate hopefully the fort can soon be taken down. In the meantime I’m sure a few people might be interested in where Concrete Cat hid from the winter cold.
This is what it looks like inside the fort.
Here is our sun during the dark months of winter.
Jason is doing some clean-up, keeping the fort clean is problematic.
Sometimes there are dust storms in the fort, they usually signal coffee breaks.
We hope the fort will be coming down soon!
