9 Things About Concrete Cat

  1. Established in 2007, Concrete Cat is the collaborative studio of Shawna and Matt Heide. It's just the two of us making everything by hand.

  2. Over the years we've worked with include many talented designers and artisans on various scales of projects; these experiences and relationships shaped us into the studio we are today.

  3. Human touch drives us, we make all the work with our 4 hands, we also do all the packaging, sales, fulfillment etc. in Montréal QC, Canada.

  4. We developed the Oracleⓒ pattern, and we’re the only artists in the world that produce it.

  5. 21 years married XO

  6. By developing our own concrete mix with unique properties we push our work further, harnessing the power of science.

  7. The concrete we source is made of real stuff; rock, sand, mineral pigment etc. 99% of it sourced in Canada.

  8. Mochi is our grey cat.

  9. Steeped in the ancient roman science of concrete, we leverage one of the oldest man made materials to create something new.

Past clients & collaborators include: Ace Hotel, Coming Soon NY, Facebook (Curated), Georgis & Mirgorodsky Architects, Hammer & Spear, Houseplant, PCL Construction, Peter Marino Architects, Seth Rogan, Tend Dental, Urban Outfitters, Kelly Wearstler

What to Expect

Everything that Concrete Cat puts out is made by hand.  Here’s a list of things you should expect to see in handmade concrete work.

Every piece is unique
We’re not machines, even the copies we make contain artifacts of the process that happened on the day it was brought into creation.

Shape and texture
We design and fabricate our own molds. Molds change over time, they get better as they age.  As a mold ages it allows us to produce more complicated colour and pattern work on an object. For this reason we cherish our molds and treat them with respect, we repair them, every mold is precious.  We refine our molds with subtle changes over time.  This is the first reason every object is a little bit different from its family.

Voids
Concrete has air entrained withins its matrix, this is part of its nature. Sometimes this air manifests as surface voids.  Most voids add character, a fingerprint unique to each piece. We fill surface voids that we deem might limit a piece’s intended functionality. We fill voids if we don’t agree with their character.  Sometimes we fill voids in accenting colours to accentuate their beauty.  We embrace voids.

Quantum voids
Some voids impart their spirit on a reciprocal sibling.  This is a rare occurrence, auspicious and celebrated. A quantum void cannot be forced or requested by a customer.  

Blue ghosts
We love blue. Blue is irreplaceable. Blue gets blue on everything.  We remove as much blue as possible but we are not exaggerating by saying it gets literally everywhere.  Chances are if you look hard enough you will find a faint hint of blue somewhere, 99% chance, you may need a magnifying glass but it's there. 

Process artifacts
Concrete Cat’s process to call forth the Oracle pattern is a violent ceremony of chaos.  We work blindly in trust.  The destructive nature of trying to put a harness on chaos leaves a unique mark on every single thing we make.

Environmental changes
Changes in both temperature and humidity have an affect on colouration, we work with nature.

Dye lots
We mix and catalog all our colour formulas from primary colour mineral pigments.  We strive for consistency in our work’s colouration but we can only guarantee exact matches on objects that are made within the same quarterly dye lot.

Time marches
Our concrete objects are subject to the rigors of time.  Like all material goods they will age and change as they age.

Repairability
One of the many marvels of concrete is its ability to be repaired an infinite amount of times.  If you’d like your Concrete Cat goods to be repaired, refurbished or polished please reach out to us.