Ranchos Concina, at 3910 30th street in North Park, San Diego, is a lively, colorful restaurant that serves delicious, healthy Mexican and vegetarian food. Ivonne, the owner, has an artist’s eye and has filled the space with interesting and beautiful objects.
The landlord recently redid their foyer area and we were delighted to be asked by Rancho’s to make a new backdrop of clay plaster. As a certified green restaurant (www.dinegreen.com), Ranchos is dedicated to creating healthy, low-impact food for their customers wants to do so in a healthy, low-impact environment.
The base coat is American Clay Tucson Gold Enjarre. The second coat will be a double Tucson Gold skip trowel texture. We would like to thank both American Clay and Olive Branch Green Building Supply for donating some of the materials for this project.
Ranchos is wonderfully supportive and wants people to see the plastering happening because they value it as an art form. So we made some signs to explain what people were seeing. The sign says:
“What is clay plaster & why use it? Clay plaster is an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional plaster and paint.
Clay plaster is natural, non-toxic, durable and beautiful. Unlike most paint, it does not contain VOC’s (harmful chemicals that are released during and after application). The pigments used to color this clay plaster are natural and non-toxic, unlike the harsh chemical used to tint most paints.
Clay plaster can even help moderate humidity, inhibit mold growth, and contribute to better indoor air quality. Its anti-static quality keeps it clean and it is easy to repair if damaged. Clay is an abundant natural resource that takes very little energy to process into a plaster.”
It is a difficult space to photograph, but I think the new color will go well with the older part of the restaurant.
The owner wanted a lot of color so we mixed a batch of double-strength and a batch of quadruple-strength Tucson Gold and then mixed the two plasters roughly on the wall.
I’m very happy with it, it almost glows and looks old without looking fake. Oscar, the owner’s son, was a gracious host. We are excited that they have invited us back to work on another part of the restaurant. So stay tuned for more, including my sky mural.
Part 2 went well, see the photos below. Thanks again to all the wonderful people at Ranchos, Olive Branch, and American Clay!
Part 3, 2012: We were invited back to install a chair rail and finish the lower part of the walls.
