As any artist knows, it’s tough to make a living as an artist. But, when Rick Lobdell discovered decorative concrete, he realized that it would allow him to follow his passion as an artist.
That was eight years ago. Since that revelation, Lobdell, who holds a MFA in painting from the Savannah College of Art & Design, has revolutionized the decorative concrete industry with his artistic talent and unique designs.
As a result, clients who work with Lobdell are assured that their decorative concrete design will be unique to their wants and needs.
“All of my designs are associated to each client individually,” Lobdell says. “I really make sure that I learn what each client’s interests are, and I come up with designs that are according to each one of them.”
Lobdell believes that, to ensure a successful project outcome, collaboration with the client is essential.
“I really focus on collaboration. I think it’s very important that the client experiences every detail of what I’m going through,” Lobdell says, “to know how hard it was to make it. I really bring them along for the ride the whole way through it.”
Concrete Mystique specializes in concrete designs and such decorative concrete products as acid staining and concrete engraving.
An attractive selling point of decorative concrete is its longevity. If it is properly maintained, decorative concrete can literally last for decades. Still, Concrete Mystique offers a one year warranty on all of their interior and exterior decorative concrete products.
In their eight year history, Concrete Mystique has worked with countless clients, but one project stands out as Lobdell’s best: He was contracted by an owner of the Nashville Predators to create a back patio.
“They have a beautiful coy pond landscape and a really nice backyard,” Lobdell says. “I talked them into creating a coy pond in their patio, so you see a 15 foot coy swimming underneath and a lotus going underneath the patio. There are four coy swimming through the patio plus leaves, a dragonfly, and a turtle sitting on the edge of the rocks. It’s all cut into the concrete. That was an awful lot of fun.”
Lobdell generally secures his clientele through advertising with many of his clients finding him on the internet. Much of his advertising focus is online, although he does advertise in several magazines and sends out direct mail postcards from time-to-time.
In addition to reaching new clients, Lobdell is also focused on educating his clients on the vast possibilities of concrete.
“I think it’s important for this industry to understand how far concrete is going to go because there are so many people out there who are still assuming you are mimicking tile or brick because that’s the only thing you know how to do,” Lobdell says. “People have to realize that concrete is very durable, and it’s an incredible opportunity right now to expand the design environment. I believe the future of concrete is going to be amazing.”
“What I say to my clients is if you can draw it, you can cut it,” he continues. “It’s how good you are at drawing, and it’s math. You’ve got to expand your mind.”
Concrete Mystique is located in Nashville, Tennessee, and primarily serves residential and commercial clients in the Nashville area, and Lobdell plans to expand to serving clients in other areas.