Is your new concrete fireplace the talk of the town this winter?

09/14/2005

Winter is around the corner, and a part of your sitting room doesn't quite live up to the standard that you set with your new décor. The fireplace is basically a hole in the wall, and the surround is out of date and completely spoils the whole effect.

Those two marble statues on either side of the mantelpiece, as it is now, just don't look right. And the mantelpiece itself is just a shelf and looks a bit out of place with the mix of antique and modern in the rest of the room.

Of course some exotic rare stone would look nice but it's probably not practical - however concrete? Surely not, it's so gray and drab!

"How wrong can you get?" Decorative concrete is one of the most versatile materials you can find and can be made to bring to life anything you can imagine. It allows you to create 'outside the box' so-to-speak. Whereas the materials that may be available for a given time often limit your creativity, concrete has no such limitation and can be made to represent anything your heart desires in color, shape or texture.

There is an art to decorative concrete that is a unique technical and creative process. It is not simply plastering an area with a material that is better known for floor slabs or foundations. In the hands of an artist, decorative concrete comes alive in glowing colors and finishes that most people haven't even dreamed of.

Blayde Penza is one of these rare artists, who from his Sun Valley showroom and workshop in Southern California, produces fireplace surrounds in textures and colors that turn a skeptic into a believer. Unique sinks, countertops, floor finishes and barbeque areas, emerge from his studio to create novelty effects that are the envy of all who come to gape and admire.

"To watch a clients face when they see the finished product," said Blayde "is always a
gratifying experience because one for one, they are often astonished at the reality of the finished product that decorative concrete can create at a fraction of the cost of some rare exotic, but less practical material."