Concreation
Poet Leonard Cohen once said... "a saint is like a runaway ski, caressing the hill." Concreation president and concretist associate, Mark Doyle, is my spiritual mentor and can best be described as a runaway ski! He is the inspiration for Steve Crocker and my upcoming book: the concretist - Zen and the Art of Sensory Concrete. He is also the inventor of Reconstructed Stone, a wonderfully rich color hardener composed of exotic aggregates. He makes it his business to motorcycle, climb and comb the mountains of S.W. Tejas, Colorado and Nevada, in search of high adventure and new sources of crushed granites and marbles. When you hear those warm dulcet tones, spoken in Texan, you can know you hear the truth!
Colormaker
Owned by associate and mad genius Gary Jones, Colormaker is our primary source of colors. Gary's Pentimento and Sgraffino lines are the only skims (overlays), we've seen, that actually work. Gary, on what we all do: "Work should be viewed as exploration, rather than accomplishment, and discovery, rather than achievement… Then, anything is possible!”
the concretist
Mike, Kelley + ASSOCIATES. In addition to our sensory concrete work, we also provide consultations and technical support on behalf of Concreation and Colormaker.
::: www.theconcretist.com
Bay Area Concretes
For as long as I can remember, Bay Area Concretes has been producing the most innovative decorative and architectural concrete around. Our relationship began with Gary Price while I was with L.M. Scofield in the 80’s, and now continues with his handsome, creative and ebullient son, Mike. And Mike has two ultra-experienced partners: Shawn “placed half of Disneyland’s decorative site concrete” Devine –AND- Jonathan Vasquez (innovator of the hybrid site concrete / decorative concrete construction model). These guys are also distributors of Aggretex exotic aggregate products and are Concreation’s and Colormaker’s Western U.S. distributor.
As The Visual Concrete Group, Concreation, Colormaker, the concretist and Bay Area Concretes have formed a unique alliance. We co-market, support, consult and often joint-venture with each other on installations.
the visual concrete group limited...
was formed as a positive response to a negative
situation... our shared national economic crisis, a general dour mood
"on-the-street" and, even with a new administration, with Obama at the
helm, a lack of leadership from our politicians in Washington and Sacramento. We are all longtime friends and business
associates. We have a history of supporting each other, informally,
and, often, working together on visual concrete projects. Rather than
wait for an honest positive message and subsequent direction from "on
high" (we may've been waiting for an awfully long time!), we have
chosen to rely on each other, our concrete neighbors, in a more
organized way... And, you know what, we're cracking hints of smiles,
and, now, 2009 isn't looking quite so bad! Next in line. How can we
be of assistance to you?
"Any fool can invent further complications, but it takes a genius to retain, or recapture, simplicity." - E.F. Schumacher*
* Not that this is me... Just something to aspire to. Thanx, Martin, for turning me on to the quote!
MICHAEL MILLER of the concretist
Miichael Miller, President of Mike, Kelley +
ASSOCIATES. In addition to our sensory concrete work, we also provide
consultations and technical support on behalf of Concreation and
Colormaker.
MARK DOYLE of Concreation
Mark Doyle, President of Concreation. Poet Leonard Cohen once said... "a saint is like a runaway ski, caressing the hill." Concreation president and concretist associate, Mark Doyle, is my spiritual mentor and can best be described as a runaway ski! He is the inspiration for Steve Crocker and my upcoming book: the concretist - Zen and the Art of Sensory Concrete. He is also the inventor of Reconstructed Stone, a wonderfully rich color hardener composed of exotic aggregates. He makes it his business to motorcycle, climb and comb the mountains of S.W. Tejas, Colorado and Nevada, in search of high adventure and new sources of crushed granites and marbles. When you hear those warm dulcet tones, spoken in Texan, you can know you hear the truth!
GARY JONES of Colormaker
Gary Jones, President (is he Canadian, Australian, or what?), Colormaker is our primary source of colors. Gary's Pentimento and Sgraffino lines are the only skims (overlays), we've seen, that actually work. Gary, on what we all do: "Work should be viewed as exploration, rather than accomplishment, and discovery, rather than achievement… Then, anything is possible!”
Michael Price of Bay Area Concretes
Michael Price, President of BAC. For as long as I can remember, Bay Area Concretes has been producing the most innovative decorative and architectural concrete around. Our relationship began with Gary Price while I was with L.M. Scofield in the 80’s, and now continues with his handsome, creative and ebullient son, Mike. And Mike has two ultra-experienced partners: Shawn “placed half of Disneyland’s decorative site concrete” Devine –AND- Jonathan Vasquez (innovator of the hybrid site concrete / decorative concrete construction model). These guys are also distributors of Aggretex exotic aggregate products and are Concreation’s and Colormaker’s Western U.S. distributor.
As The Visual Concrete Group, the concretist, Concreation, Colormaker and Bay Area Concretes have formed a unique alliance. We co-market, support, consult and often joint-venture with each other on installations.
indian creek with mount lewis in background
THE PO' MIKE EL RANCHO / RETREAT
Additionally, in the spirit of community, self-determination, sustainability and recapturing simplicity, the visual concrete group is in the process of creating a retreat in Central Nevada... The Po' Mike El Rancho / Retreat. The property is located in the middle of a upside down triangle formed by the towns of Winnemucca, to the Northwest, Elko, to the Northeast, and Austin, to the South. The land supports herds of antelope, mule deer, wild horses and cattle. If you're into bunny rabbits, there are plenty of those! These animals further support bobcats, coyotes and mountain lions. Birds are everywhere! We're fortunate to own some 1/2 mile of trout stream, Indian Creek, on our 150 acres. I've never seen so many brook trout! They're small, but healthy. We intend to improve the riparian conditions, plant a few cottonwoods for shade, and hope they grow! Our land is part of Sage Valley, an off-the-grid, passive solar community, based on the native American peace principals: ALWAYS WORK FOR PEACE, ALWAYS WORK FOR UNITY, ALWAYS CARRY A GOOD MESSAGE. You can't argue with that! We will be growing our compound throughout 2009 & 2010, starting with sinking our well, in late April. This will be followed by the installation of a primary communal living space. All structures will be bermed into the earth and be composed of wood, steel, glass, stone and, of course, primarily, of sensory concrete. If you're interested in participating in an educational workshop, during construction, please contact us. It's our intention that in addition to it's purpose as a retreat for our group, and as an educational venue for our clients, The Po' Mike El Rancho / Retreat will also serve as a base for a juried artist-in-residency program, that will commence this summer, as soon as the cottages are up. So, if you're an artist and you're interested in 1-3 weeks of solitude, in paradise (albeit a rustic paradise), please contact us.
brook trout, not, in fact, a trout, but, rather, a char.
terrain is high desert, bordering on mountains. you'll find willows and cottonwoods along streams,
with juniper and pinon pines on property. head a few miles up mount lewis, on hilltop road
and you're into mountain mahogany, larger pines and quaking aspens.
"brookies" would benefit from the shade of a cottonwood, in the summer, as would Chris & Russ.
our friends, the mule deer. better spooked by po' mike, then some hungry mountain lion!
THESE WILL GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF WHERE WE'RE HEADED WITH THE LOOK
IF YOU LIKE THE LOOK OF THE FEATURED PROTOTYPICAL PROJECTS,
CHECK-OUT: www.millerhull.com
OUR ARCHITECT, CHRIS HEINRITZ, of PHA
HAS COMPLETED "QUICK & DIRTY" INITIAL SKETCHES
CHECK-OUT "HEINRITZ HOUSE SKETCHES" LINK
AT UPPER RIGHT OF THIS PAGE
ALSO, CHECK-OUT: www.pha-arch.com
180 degree view from our site. cortez mts-left / mt lewis-right. a bit o' snow on the ground in march.
HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL SOMETIME SOON
ON A PROJECT
-OR-
IN NEVADA
miller@theconcretist.com
(707) 280-7195
the visual concrete group limited
the cottage at 395 West "J" Street, Benicia, CA 94510
-or-
P.O. Box 211080, Crescent Valley, NV 89821
(East Side of Hilltop Road, Between Chicken Creek & Grouse Creek)
