Faux bois is French for "false wood".  Ferro cement faux bois is a traditional French folk art form, several outstanding examples of which still exist in the beautiful and ornate renaissance gardens of Europe.  The tradition of forming cement paste over a metal substrate was later resurrected in Mexico and became known as "el trabajo rustico" or rustic work.  This art form was practiced by Dionicio Rodriguez and Maximo Cortez who brought the craft to the United States in the early part of the twentieth century.  There are many wondrous examples of their work in places such as San Antonio,Texas and Memphis, Tennessee.  For those of you in the Chicago area, there are two examples of Mr. Rodriquez's palapas in suburban Cook County.

Gwyn creates faux bois cement sculpture using traditional methods she learned from Donald Tucker, an extraordinary artist and one of only a handful contemporary faux bois artists in the world.  Gwyn then mosaics the sculpture to create a unique work of handcrafted art.   Faux bois can be used to create garden sculpture, benches, tables, and bird baths.  It is a time and labor intensive process which results in a beautiful one of a kind art object.



Magpie's Nest, 2008, ferro cement faux bois, minerals, wasp's nest, copper electroformed twig