Not quite so fast! You see, although thoroughly enjoying working with concrete, I had never applied concrete vertically. Gravity has an adverse and destabilizing effect on wet concrete. Consulting with the local concrete guru, Richard Penick, (fondly known in Bisbee as Concrete Dick), valuable tips were offered. He has poured concrete and produced free-standing gargoyles in Bisbee for decades. First, the concrete formula of cement, sand, lime and water was critical. Then there is the glue. By all means, the glue! Never knew glue was an essential factor when joining old and new concrete. Thank the Lord for Concrete Dick.
The Bisbee Vine at St. Patrick Church
The concrete is mixed . . .
Roxan, my close friend, faithful volunteer, and willing apprentice, was meticulous in keeping the formula consistent in each of the hundreds of buckets of concrete she mixed. She had no idea when she volunteered to help that each leaf would be almost 12 sq. ft. of reinforced concrete. Funny story….. One day while designing the leaves in cardboard, she asked, “So how do we keep them from blowing away?” It's obvious….I was a rather poor teacher as I had failed to mention the cardboard was only a pattern and we would be working in concrete. But yet, she stuck with me, year in year out, bucket after bucket.
In addition to mixing the concrete, according to Concrete Dick’s formula, Roxan packed hod into the chicken wire leaves and “stuffed” it behind the grape clusters, being ever mindful to use ample amounts of glue. Note: the red capped bottle in the foreground is a half gallon glue spray bottle. The margin trowel in her right hand is what she used to smooth and mold the concrete leaves. She always got an A+ and a big “attaboy” for her meticulous work in the clean-up department.
