The Home And Art Of Maria Eggleston In Mulege, B.C.S., Part 4

In this last post on the home and art of the mosaic artist,

Maria Eggleston of Mulege, Baja California Sur,

let's look at her wonderful cactus gardens.

The Home And Art Of Maria Eggleston In Mulege, B.C.S., Part 3

In this third post on the home and art of Maria Eggleston 

let's start with how she lays out her work.

The piece above is a bit smaller and has a frame of seashells.

The Home And Art of Maria Eggleston In Mulege, B.C.S., Part 2

Let's continue with our look at the art of Maria Eggleston 

using cut glass, seashells, and other found objects set in a cement base.

The detail above is from a piece that is shown near the bottom below.

The Home And Art Of Maria Eggleston In Mulege, B.C.S., Part 1

One of the highlights to our trip to Mulege, Baja California Sur 

was to meet the artist Maria Eggleston at her home.

There is much to cover here and in the next few posts,

so let us start at the front gate

 where we immediately became aware that we were at the home of an artist.

Exterior Cement Trim For Doorways And Windows In Mexico

I am constantly amazed at the mastery 

of the finished cement and concrete work in Mexico 

and it is no wonder as the prevalence of termites

 makes the use of wood almost impossible.

These first four photos are from San Carlos, Sonora.

Concrete Chimneys, Skylights, And Cooling Vents In Mexico

All over Mexico one sees beautiful examples of preformed concrete work, 

and in this post I will concentrate on chimneys, skylights, and cooling vents.

I have never watched how they make these but

 I am assuming they are indeed preformed. 

A Concrete Hip Roof In San Carlos, Sonora

The last post showed how the walls were made,

 this time I want to show how the roof is formed up and poured with concrete.

This house ( different from the one in the last post ) is next to the church in 

San Carlos, Sonora.

(Please Note: This post is a reworking of 

The Formed Roof from 2/23/10.)

Tying Rebar

Since metal reinforcement is so important to structural concrete

I wanted to inspire all of those who may have to tie rebar 

for their next project.

More On Formed Cement

Readers may notice my fascination 

with formed and decorative cement work,

 particularly in Mexico where it has advanced to an art form.

Building Mexico, More Update

I want to include a nice detail to the last post: 

Building Mexico Update.

and to the post from last year on this house:

Building Mexico.

In the photo above you can see the curved column 

that will hold up an arch.

Building Mexico Update

Almost a year ago I did a post on the typical building style here
which is a concrete post and beam with brick infill.

Please refer to Building Mexico from February 23th, 2010

 to see the beginnings of the above house.

In this post we will concentrate on the bond beam.

Cement Trim And Brick Floor Detail

You may remember this photo above, 

from a post I did on Ernesto and Elena's remodel 

on a very old house in Alamos, Sonora.

I want to get back to technique;

 and when I took the photo Ernesto had said he wanted to trim out

 the base columns for the archway into the kitchen.

More Formed Cement And Plaster

I want to continue with Ernesto's and Elena's house

 that they are remodeling in Alamos, Sonora.

Formed Cement And Plaster

Over the past few years we have been visiting Alamos, Sonora, Mexico,

 as readers of this blog may have noticed.

 Alamos has beautifully restored homes dating back over 300 years 

and I am constantly looking at the building techniques that are used here.

One that I have been wondering about is how to make the above scallop design. 

Update On A Large Concrete Bridge

When we were in San Carlos last winter there was a big project

 to replace a bridge that was washed out by a hurricane the previous fall.

I did 2 posts on the project:

Concrete Piers For A Concrete Bridge on April 3rd

Concrete Walls For A Concrete Bridge also on April 3rd

Concrete Walls For A Concrete Bridge

As soon as the piers in this row ( please refer to the previous blog )

 were finished a crew started right to work

 on what I suppose would be called the footer.

 You can see the rebar from the piers sticking up from the water.

Concrete Piers For A Concrete Bridge

Now here is something a bit different. 

Ever need some concrete piers for that backyard project? 

Well when we were in San Carlos, Sonora this winter a new bridge

 was being built to replace one that was washed out by a hurricane last fall

 providing much entertainment to the people wintering there including

 myself. Above the crew is just starting to drill a hole with the auger bit

 you see on the pile driver.

Finished Cement and Tile

We are still on the road in Arizona and finding limited
 access to the internet, more guns than internet here,
 but I wanted to continue on the use of cement 

or concrete as a finish material, this time in cabinetry
in Mexico.

Finished Cement, Doorways & Windows

As we prepare to leave Mexico I wanted to show more of

 their mastery at cement ( or concrete ) as a finish material.

 I may have to take a short brake from blogging as we will be on the road.

 Above and below were taken in San Carlos, Sonora.

(Please Note: to see a reworking of this post go to

Exterior Cement Trim For Doorways And Windows In Mexico.)

Formed and Finished Concrete

All over Mexico one sees beautiful examples of preformed concrete work. 

In this post I will concentrate on chimneys, skylights, and cooling vents. 

I have never watched how they make these but
 I am assuming they are indeed preformed and out of concrete.

 I will continue to study this in the future.

(Please Note: To see an updated version of this post go to
Concrete Chimneys, Skylights And Cooling Vents In Mexico.)