I am halfway through my California-based residency with terrazzo experts Concrete Collaborative. This collaborative project, supported by Creative Scotland, is for me to expand my material knowledge and process, and inspire future work and new ways of thinking. An introduction to this project can be found here. After working hard for months to organise and fund this project - it is a dream come true for me and I feel very grateful to be here. The residency has exceeded my expectations so far - filled with watching, listening, learning, journalling and exploring - trying to absorb as much information and inspiration as possible! I decided to create a series of blog posts as a space to reflect on and share my experience.
I spent the first week in the main factory where the bulk of the work is manufactured including impressive, large-scale pours. It is a fast-paced environment as they work against the fast curing in the Californian heat. The artisans are highly skilled, extremely hard working and luckily for me very generous with their time and skills. In this first week, I worked primarily with the pouring team - the first step in the material process. I shadowed them whilst they mixed, poured, maintained the moulds and de-moulded cured surfaces. I soaked up a lot of information which can be incorporated into my practice to simplify my process, making it more efficient and sustainable. I found it fascinating and especially loved seeing it on a large scale!
I have been regularly sharing images and videos on my Instagram - it's the best place to follow along with this project.
Rene and I pouring tiles. 
Factory scenes.
The tiles after de-moulding.