Laticrete Dazzle’s with Spectralock Pro
From grand building projects to quirky artworks: Laticrete UK products are proving time and time again that no job is too big or small; the latest being a piece of art featuring 1,500 pennies.
Carrie Reichardt’s resin dog was covered in hundreds of 1p coins using Laticrete UK’s Spectralock® Pro Premium Grout and Spectralock® Dazzle on the artwork in copper to complement the pennies with a bit of sparkly bling!
The piece was created as part of a ‘Pooch Program’ scheme by the Contemporary Art Foundation and it is one of a number of creations aimed at inspiring hard-to-reach young people to access street art. Carrie, whose house in London is covered in mosaics, has forged a partnership with industry leading Laticrete UK and its umbrella brand Palace Chemicals, which have been supporting her work since 2017. She asked Steve Ball, Commercial Director at Liverpool-based Laticrete UK and Palace Chemicals, if he could help supply the best possible grout for the job. So he sprang into action and arranged for some Spectralock® Pro Premium Grout and Spectralock® Dazzle to be sent Carrie’s way.
Carrie said: “I stuck the pennies on with glue and Laticrete UK kindly provided me with grout to use. I’d never used it before. It’s also the first time I’d used pennies and I wanted to use Laticrete Spectralock® Pro Premium Grout in particular to make it harmonious with the sparkly copper finish. I wanted the grout to blend as much as possible to make it shiny, because people like shiny stuff and a bit of bling. It was really easy to use, and it came out really well.” Carrie’s piece will be one of a number of ‘pooches’, which will be sent around school- based workshops to inspire students to design and make their own plastic dog sculpture and the dogs will go on display at a London Gallery alongside the featured artists’ pooch pieces, culminating in a “Crufts for contemporary art” awards evening.
Speaking of being involved in such a rewarding scheme, Carrie said: “I’m pleased to think it’s encouraging young people to get involved in art, to make it very accessible and kids love it.” It took around three weeks to complete the 50cm-high piece, with help from Carrie’s assistant Jessie McCallum and fellow artist Eoghan Ebrill and Carrie says she has only ever used Laticrete products since being introduced to the supreme products three years ago.
Laticrete Spectralock® Pro Premium Grout is a patented, high-performance cement free grout that offers colour uniformity, durability and stain resistance with extraordinary ease of application unlike any other epoxy-based grouting system, making it the ideal choice for this project. It can be used on ceramic tile, glass tile and stone applications, in both residential and commercial settings and in interiors and exteriors.
For those wanting to add a little sparkle and that WOW factor just like Carrie has, Spectralock® Dazzle offers incredible design possibilities to enhance tile and stone applications by accentuating the grout appearance through various metallic and glow- in-the-dark components. It can be mixed with any of our 40 vibrant colours to produce hundreds of stunning design combinations when used with metallic, glass, porcelain or any other type of tile.
Laticrete Spectralock® Pro Premium Grout and Spectralock® Dazzle is ideal for pools, spas, backsplashes and bathroom installations and the exclusive glow-in-the-dark component enhances the installation even when the lights are turned off. Charles Clapham MBE, managing director of Palace Chemicals and Laticrete UK, said: “We are absolutely delighted to see our relationship with Carrie Reichardt continuing, with her latest quirky piece of art. We are glad we were able to provide her with quality, enhancing grout for her work and hope it inspires as many young people to get into art as possible.”
Read more about the products featured here: Laticrete Spectralock Pro and Spectralock Dazzle.
