The Diamond D crew builds forms for our curvaceous hardscape. (photo: D Pettigrew)
Ene and I recently made two site visits to Santa Cruz to inspect form-work for the hardscape beneath our Fluke sculpture at the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Exploration Center. Our bronze whale tail sculpture will sit at the edge of a courtyard at the building’s entry, and we designed a curvaceous pattern mimicking the motion of waves to be cast in colored, glass-embedded concrete with integral pigment. When the concrete is adequately cured after two weeks, Artworks Foundry will deliver and install the giant bronze sculpture.
The first forms are poured (photo: C Birns)
We’ve especially loved working with Crystal Birns, City Arts Program Manager, who introduced us to Dave Pettigrew, whose Diamond D Company we’ve contracted to do all the concrete work on site pertaining to the sculpture. Dave and his crew have made lovely curves in bent wood and are doing a beautiful job pouring concrete, stamping patterns and dusting in the glass. Once cured, the concrete/glass mixture will be sandblasted and ground to a terrazzo-like finish.
Entryway to the new Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Exploration Center in Santa Cruz (photo: C Birns)
The Diamond D crew trowel fine colored glass into the wet concrete (photo by C Birns)
To learn about the development of our Fluke Project, please click here and scroll down.
It’s always refreshing to stop along route 1 to check out the tidepools on the long journey down the coast.