TexArtCrete

Titus Stauffer

14118 East Cypress Forest Drive

Houston, Texas 77070-3012

Web root: www.rocketslinger.com\TexArtCrete\

Web Page Last Updated: 08 December 2015

This Page – This page shows some history (older projects), just to show what can be done. Also, not-available and defective pieces are shown, to further give the reader ideas about what can be done (for custom orders, for example). Limitations as well as capabilities are discussed here.

Pic #1… These are heavy-heavy pots, WAY too heavy to ship. 100 to 200 pounds each, I estimate. These are all kept on our family property. In the future, I plan to devise methods of building them with MUCH thinner walls. They will be expensive, though, for being so labor intensive… Easily $1 K or more, I would think, per each. Note that the flying birds to the tops of the blue pot (upper left) are created by simply cutting a vinyl shape (can be copied from silhouettes obtained from the internet) and then textured-concreted onto the top of another color of concrete which is freshly cast and starting to cure. Complete the cure, remove the vinyl, and do clean-up. That is one of my techniques.

More picture of heavy pots (not for sale) follow. These are just so show the reader what kinds of things can be done.

Pic #2… The face of another pot. Note the vinyl-derived bird and frog. The frog in the lower left is at the very limits of how fine a resolution can be obtained by this method… See the toes of the frogs. Finer than that, I cannot do. The particle sizes of the sand in the cement (concrete) is one factor. The frogs is 1.5 or 2.0 or so inches long. This is as freshly being created.

Pic #2.5… The same frog, after exposed to Houston weather, aged 1 year or so, and not even cleaned. Concrete art is not delicate, it can withstand the weather… A quarter is shown for size comparison.

Pic #3… Some elements of “pictorial” compositions can be free-handed and protruding, like the apple here, and the worm in the twig above it.

Pic #4… This gives a better idea about how 3-D items can be made to “pop out” of the surface (the apple). Notice in the upper left of the photo (another side of a 6-sided pot) that toy plastic bugs (snakes, worms, spiders, what have you) can be used to create impressions in the concrete.

Pic #5… Colored glass (tumbled “sea glass”) can be used to good effect. Pot as it is being made.

Pics #6 and 6.5 … My wife designed these… I helped do the “engineering” part. They are cast one side at a time. None are for sale for now, but at a TBD time in the future, I hope to make some with MUCH thinner walls. The above is unfinished… When finished, the insides are painted (I like an earth-tone tan color for that, with paint rated for concrete garage floors). These are aged 1 year, and slightly cleaned. The clear coat can turn yellow slightly, over time. I have gotten better at applying it more thinly and evenly, so they should age better than the above sample, in the future.

Pic #7… Any plastic “bug” can be used to create indentations… Here is a close-up for you…

Pic #8… These are the first two wall hangings I made… Blue first (I am keeping that one), then the pink… Pink one for my lovely wife Mary (AKA “Snoog Thang” or “Pongie Pomp”) for Valentine’s day 2015. So… Not for sale. They are made with integrated picture-hanging wire on the rear, all around… The buyer can rotate it on the wall, in any manner (orientation, 360) that the buyer likes.

Pic #19… These are the first 6 larger wall-hanging plaques that I have built. Note that they all have a clear, final, water-proof coating. These have all been test-shipped, so are not available.

Pic #20 and on… These are variously cracked and repaired, and/or otherwise defective, or already test-shipped (not available).

The above broke (cracked) and was repaired. Epoxy got smeared to the lower-middle right side… This one has not yet been clear-coated. The epoxy discoloration will go away upon clear-coating, which gives the concrete the same “wet look” as with epoxy.

The above has blue sand underneath the clear-coat “paint”… In about 10 years (if left outdoors and not re-painted), the clear coat will degrade, and the blue sand will fall out. This part also has a partial (but repaired) crack.

The above is “sea glass” and glass beads… Was test-shipped.

The above has repaired partial cracks… See them at 5 o’clock and 11 o’clock. “Repairs” means extra concrete (and “chicken wire” mesh) is tacked on to the rear, to prevent further cracking. This one is not yet clear-coated.

The above were test-shipped.