People often ask how the concrete is made, and especially how we get our leaves into the concrete. While we can’t reveal too many proprietary secrets, we’ll give you a little description: it’s tough and dirty. Pamela has a small greenhouse set up, as you can see below, where she casts, grinds, and finishes the pieces. You may also witness her fancy attire that she dons to protect herself from the grueling aspects of the craft. Many a piece of clothing has been irreparably tarnished by concrete. The cold months are especially difficult to make furniture in, as the dexterity required does not allow for warm gloves and the concrete is so very frigid.
The front half of Pamela’s humble workshop where she grinds and finishes the work. In the darker recesses of the shop she casts the concrete.
That’s not to say it’s all bad: the monotonous labor affords many hours of contemplation for Pamela’s artistic and intellectual endeavors; she gets to choose her hours (to some extent); she gets to live out in the beautiful Redwoods of Cazadero and frolic on the beaches and trails when not working; and of course, most of all, she creates beautiful pieces of furniture as a result of this labor. She would much rather be paid to make artistic cubes than to do office work in a cube — that’s her motto.
Looking classy! Pamela wields her grinder with a respirator, waterproof gloves, rainboots, and her ‘wetsuit.’