Raw skill
An unorthodox artisan creates functional furniture from concrete.
by Landry Harlan
Originally published in TulsaPeople Magazine, August 2016
Craftsman Greg Hosterman creates furniture and planters, like the one above, from concrete. He works out of his admittedly “decimated” garage, but any plans to open a studio will emphasize keeping it local. His business has picked up since the 2016 Designer Showcase, which featured some of his products. (Valerie Grant)
Greg Hosterman’s life has been shaped constantly over the years, much like the concrete he uses to craft modern furniture masterpieces.
From an early age, it was clear the arts would be part of his future, but his path was unorthodox.
“My mom and dad were very musical, and my aunt was an artist who always sent me brochures on where to buy art supplies,” Hosterman says. “I was a theater major and loved to paint and draw at Holland Hall. The arts have just sort of permeated my life.”
After brief stints at Rhodes College in Memphis and the University of Oklahoma,
Hosterman moved to Los Angeles, where he worked as a singer-songwriter.
He and his wife, Wendy, eventually moved back to Tulsa to plan their wedding — and ended up staying. The couple now has two sons, Noel, 11, and Shane, 6. Hosterman discovered his love for concrete when they decided to remodel their home with a modern aesthetic.
“It’s a hobby that has kind of gotten out of control,” says Hosterman, a freelance graphic designer.
In fact, his concrete work has turned into a part-time job.
After an entry table, a kidney-shaped bench and other works were featured at the 2016 Tulsa Designer Showcase — a fundraiser for the Foundation for Tulsa Public Schools — numerous attendees approached Hosterman to commission works. He also became a vendor at the River City Trading Post in Jenks.
Presently Hosterman is working on a concrete pingpong/outdoor dining table for a client, his most difficult (and likely heaviest) project yet. This piece has a 9-by-5-foottop, with two trapezoidal wood-cast concrete supports. Joe Gilbert, another Designer Showcase furniture maker, is partnering with Hosterman in this endeavor.
“I’m inspired by Brutalist architecture that was popular in the ’50s and ’60s,” Hosterman says. “‘Brut’ in French means ‘raw.’ It’s very functional, monochromatic and exposed. (Concrete) is the one material that you make. A tree makes the wood, the earth makes the granite, but the artisan makes the concrete.”
Hosterman says he also is inspired by “the massive wave of talent in this city and state,” as well as by international artists he has connected with through social media. An advocate of the local movement, he is especially grateful to people like Rick Boyles, who commissioned the kidney-shaped bench for Designer Showcase.
“You can go to the store to get something manufactured abroad, (but) what you really need to be doing is buying local, supporting craftspeople and makers,” Hosterman says. “There is this soullessness when you don’t know the person who made the product.”
His artistic process involves pouring the concrete mix into a watertight mold, letting it cure overnight, removing the cured concrete from the mold and sanding it.
“It’s like Christmas Day,” he says of freeing the concrete from the mold.
He uses molds of various shapes, sizes and materials, from melamine sheets to plastic water bottles picked up from the dollar store. He often makes his own molds but has the option, for larger pieces, of drafting a design and sending it to a custom mold manufacturer.
“You conjure it out of your own chutzpah,” Hosterman says of creating with concrete. “For a hack like me who lacks formal training, it’s perfect.”
