The next step is the installation. Bruce has done many installations herself, but she prefers to train others to do it. She holds regular trainings in partnership with the American Decorative Concrete Co. (ADC) in Lowell, Ark., which sells color systems for decorative and polished concrete.
"My goal is to train installers so they are confident in doing it," Bruce said. "Some designs may look terribly complicated, but it's not rocket science. I really want to show them how easy it is to do. You don't have to be an artist to do it right."
The stencil is built with three layers of material: The transfer paper (which holds the design together), the precut vinyl design, and the backing paper. The stencil is first placed on the clean, concrete surface and held in place with a strip of blue painter's tape. The backing paper is cut and removed, the stencil firmly applied, and the transfer paper is removed to reveal the stencil that remains. Then the dye or other decorative medium is applied, and when it dries, the stencil is removed. If multiple colors are involved, registration tabs are used with a separate stencil for each color or group of colors.
The process is so easy, Bruce said, even her children have helped her do it. Bruce has three, and the whole family helped install the multicolored Lion Coffee logo on the floor of her office. A four-foot blue and red circle surrounds a majestic yellow lion's face and the words "Lion Coffee," "Hawaiian Islands," and "The cup that roars." Because there are several colors in this image, multiple overlaying stencils were used.
Above and Insets: Demonstration stencil painting produced at World of Concrete is a stunning combination of airbrush and blended, painterly effects. Inset, top: Rachel works on blending in a leaf. The white diamond visible at bottom left is a registration tab for the complex stencil.
Inset, Center: Called a compass rose, a design showing the major points of the compass once appeared on all maps. This design was produced for Concrete Wave, in Walnut, CA. Bottom Right: Puzzle pieces seem to float above the floor in this custom optical illusion stencil.
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