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PHOTOS: FRED GREAVES, CAPTION: SENA CHRISTIAN
CUSTOM CREATIONS
A trip to southern Italy in 2013 inspired
Joe Triglia to create a new product for his
business Tufarock Design — a concrete
planter resembling the lava rock of Mount
Vesuvius. To make his handcrafted pottery
and plant arrangements, he first mixes
concrete and then packs molds (top) in
the garage of his West Sacramento home.
“It’s like making mud pies when you’re a
kid, but it’s permanent,” he says. He’s
made at least 100 molds since founding
his business in 2009. Some look like
driftwood; others are tiki heads; simple
pots or the face of Jizo Bosatsu, a divinity
in Japanese Buddhism. It takes Triglia from
five days to a month to make a mold (he
makes several at once), depending on the
size and because he often uses more time-
consuming liquid latex rubber instead of
fast-drying silicone and must paint up to
20 coats on the object, with each coat
taking a day to dry. “I like the old-school
way of doing it,” he says. After removing
the castings (bottom left), he paints them
with diluted acrylic. Next, he adds an air
plant that he secures to the planter using
an epoxy; a string keeps the plant in place
until it dries (bottom right). Triglia creates
custom installations and sells his items
online, at the Midtown Farmers Market,
Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op, Talini’s
Nursery, and other local nurseries and
florists. n
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