Sisters have a special touch with concrete yard art

ARLINGTON – The tabletops mimic colors found in nature: the greens of foliage and mosses, the browns and reds of rocks and bark, the yellows and oranges of autumn leaves.

The surfaces are concrete and the colors are achieved through chemical processes, but the tables created by a pair of siblings slip quietly, elegantly into almost any garden setting.

Sisters Tessa Crow, 37, and Venessa Brown, 41, stumbled into the design and production business about 10 years ago. Ms. Crow had just bought a house with especially ugly carpet.

"She couldn't afford to replace it, so she and I [removed it and] used a paintlike concrete stain on the floors," Ms. Brown says.

Next, the two tackled the floors at Ms. Brown's house and then at their mother's home.

Eventually, they graduated to acid stains, a technique that opens the pores of concrete and allows mineral salts to sink in and add color.

The crystallized mineral coloring is embedded in the concrete so it doesn't wear off.

Sublime Surface Designs is a homegrown business based in Ms. Brown's garage. They marketed their endeavor by renting booths at home shows and showing color samples on squares of concrete.

They intended the samples to show potential customers how finished floors would look, but consumers began asking for concrete tables and other products.

Ms. Brown discovered that bright blue Miracle-Gro fertilizer crystals impart a verdigris patina to concrete. And she read somewhere that Fruit Loops cereal forms an interesting pattern of circles with a staining process that imprints shapes onto concrete.

The pair use string or castoff metal pieces to embed texture. And they've learned to incise floral designs on concrete.

The tough but pretty tabletops are suitable for use indoors or out.

Outdoor tables can be resealed every four or five years to keep the surface polished, or they can be allowed to weather.

"They'll last forever without sealing if you don't mind the surfaces looking like rock," Ms. Brown says.

The tabletops, usually welded to iron frames, are popular with people who want to replace broken glass-topped tables. They're also popular replacements for clients who don't like the care that a glass or fiberglass tabletop requires.

As a sideline, Ms. Crow uses salvaged metal parts to make clocks for indoor use.

Jessie Milligan is a Fort Worth writer.

Where to buy

Tables start at $150 for a small side piece. A 48-inch-diameter patio table without intricate designs costs about $700. If the customer provides the table base, the sisters can create a 48-inch custom tabletop for $350 to $400. To reach Sublime Surface Design, call 817-557-5132 or go to www.sublimesurface design.com.The sisters' ready-made tables, concrete accents and clocks are sold at:

Home to Garden, 3986 W. Vickery Blvd., Fort Worth

HarleQueen's, 5121-A Thompson Terrace, Colleyville

Hue Gallery, 130 N. Main St., Mansfield


Source: dallasnews.com