Off the Wall in Europe

Vertical decorative plastering and sculpting has been around for many years. Before these products were available natural stone had to be sculptured by hand, which required skilled craftsmen with years of training. This story is about a company that chose to combine traditional sculpture techniques with modern day vertical systems.

Around 4 years ago two stone sculpture students and their teacher decided that the natural stone sculpting business had become too competitive because of all the imported materials from other countries such as China and India.

A new company was formed, Art Projects. The founders, Arturas Savickas, Eladijus Matizenok and Saulius Rudzikas are from the small country of Lithuania in the Baltic States, which borders Europe. This historical country has experienced increasing growth in the past few years and the people have high expectations from new products and finishes not natural to the local region.

The three founders looked at the vertical texturing side of the decorative concrete business. Not having a local supplier for decorative concrete products they had to search high and low to find products and test them.

Eventually Art Projects found a material they were happy with from Ideal Work. The material they chose was Ideal TIX. This specially formulated vertical plaster for artificial rock applications requires water and imagination. The material is Tixotropic and unlike other decorative plasters Ideal TIX has high impact and abrasion similar to concrete, yet allows carving and texturing for up to 12 hours.

Within a few weeks of finding the chosen materials, Art Projects were asked to supply drawings and samples for a new indoor water park. The project was being built less than 45 miles from their new offices and would springboard their company into the architectural limelight.

Not wanting to miss this opportunity they provided the architect with samples and pricing and won the project. This was over 200,000 sq. ft. of vertical texturing of the highest standard that could rival work in some of the world's leading theme parks.

Due to the success of this first project, Art Projects quickly became the contractor of choice for many other projects. Through popular demand Art Project started to work throughout the whole of Europe at a very fast pace.

Art Project feels that the success of the company is because they are combining traditional stone masonry techniques with new products. Mixing new and old techniques with creative inspiration has enabled Art Projects to produce some unique finishes never seen before.

Working in the decorative concrete business is very different from the natural stone industry, however, Art Projects has more freedom to be creative with a wide variety of products. Another unique aspect of Art Projects method of business is the fact they draw and sketch each part of the project to help the client understand what they are offering and how the finished work will look.

Art Projects is now using the same creative talents to apply other decorative concrete products horizontally as well as vertically. I am sure that this will lead to more outstanding works of art in the coming future.

Written By: John Anderson
International Sales Manager for Ideal Work Srl
www.idealwork.com

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