Commercial

The River's Edge

Blue Cross of Idaho Campus, Meridian ID

Commissioned for the Blue Cross of Idaho campus in Meridian, The River's Edge brings the movement of Idaho's waterways indoors. Hand-selected solid wood slabs frame a poured epoxy river that catches the light differently throughout the day, anchoring the space and giving employees and visitors a moment of calm. Every contour was shaped by hand in our Idaho studio, and the piece was professionally installed for a seamless, gallery-quality presentation. Shown below is some of the fabrication process.

CAD plans mapped to a Box Elder wood slab for The River's Edge — CAD plans and illustrations are approved and mapped to the selected Box Elder wood slab.

Design lines hand-routed along the wood grain — Design lines are adjusted according to the wood’s natural grain pattern and then hand-routed into the surface.

River channels carved in topographic steps — Rivers are carved to depth in topographic steps to create a more dynamic epoxy pour.

Pre-stained river edges ready for epoxy — Pre-staining the river edges is done intentionally for added epoxy color vibrancy without losing transparency.

Custom-colored epoxy resin prepared for pouring — Custom-blended dies and metallic pigments color large batches of epoxy resin, ready to pour.

A beautiful blue and white Blue Cross logo, encased in the sky, turns into a distant mountain range.

Aqua epoxy flowing through The River's Edge — Aqua epoxy flows naturally through the scene, like a river meandering out of the mountains.

Layered epoxy sky pour creating clouds and mist — Pouring the sky in layers provides some control for shaping three-dimensional clouds and the illusion of distant mist.

Sanded artwork prepared for surface carving — After the sky and river pours are complete, the front is sanded smooth and prepped for the surface carving and foreground details.

Epoxy-filled surface trees and hand-stained veneer trees — Carved surface trees are filled with colored epoxy, and veneer trees are stained by hand using powdered pigments.

Final epoxy flood coat applied at the Star fabrication shop — At the new fabrication shop in Star Idaho, the piece receives one last flood coat of thin epoxy to seal in all of the wood appliqués.

Flood coat sealing the foreground tree appliqués — Detail shot of the encased foreground trees shows how a flood coat seals in the appliqué edges, maximizing durability for art in a public setting.

Matt delivering the completed artwork to WoodLab — Matt delivers the completed piece, and his first solo project, to the showroom at WoodLab.

Steel cleat and LED component layout on the artwork back — The back of the art features a custom steel cleat and a rough layout for where the LED light components will be installed.

Final lighting test at WoodLab — Final lighting testing at WoodLab before delivering the piece to the Blue Cross of Idaho campus in Meridian.

The River's Edge installed at Blue Cross of Idaho — A beautiful custom wall art scene in its new home, installed by the team at WoodLab.

LED backlighting illuminating the installed artwork — Remote-controlled LED backlighting ties the piece into its lit cove surround.

Surface trees and the artwork's natural wood edge — Detail shot showing off surface trees and the art’s thick, natural wood edge.

Detailed view of The River's Edge mixed-media artwork — One final detail shot showcases the countless areas of interest in this multi-media art form.

Patty Hagedorn with David and Matt at The River's Edge installation — Blue Cross of Idaho Director of Facilities Management, Patty Hagedorn, with David and Matt, at the install of *The River’s Edge*.