Murray Clarke is "The Blue Guru"
How did you become known as the "Blue Guru?"
"It all started back in 1981 when I was working my way through college, in a very large pigment producers warehouse containing over 80,000 bags of Yellow, Red, Brown and Black Iron Oxide Pigments. Most of these bags sold for less than $50 each or $1 per pound at the time. And in one small corner, five beautiful bags of Blue Pigment rarely ever moved. I had no idea why, until one day when I found out that they cost more than $2500 per bag. Wow! That was crazy and explained why almost no one ever purchased Blue pigment.
Not many customers could afford to use this Cobalt Blue Pigment in concrete because it made the concrete so expensive. A typical Iron Oxide Tan concrete driveway might use $500 worth of pigment. A Blue driveway would cost well over $10,000 for the pigment alone. The vast majority of projects which specified Blue concrete were never made due to the very expensive pigment cost and quickly changed to the cheaper standard Earth Tone Iron Oxide pigments.
The reason the Cobalt Blue Pigment was so expensive is that Iron Oxide companies do not want to sell Blue pigment. They marked up the Blue to extreme price levels and made it too expensive. As the colored concrete markets grew in the 80's and 90's Blue remained an oddball concrete color due to cost.
Blue is a favorite color to most consumers and designers. More and more BlueStone Concrete Pavers and SRW are installed every day. Durable exterior Blue Cement Terrazzo is now a reality. Concrete Roof Tile, especially in Florida and California, can be designed using Cobalt Blue Pigment. Blue Concrete countertops are installed in thousands of homes. Cobalt Blue Pigment is more affordable and is a great alternative to Earth Tone Iron Oxide pigments for concrete and cement. Imagine the world if Blue paint was not an option.
When you are considering Blue for your next project or product line, know that Clarke Cobalt Blues are:
- AFFORDABLE - Most Cobalt Blues cost less than $15 per bag of concrete mix.
- CREATIVE - Many shades of BLUESTONE Concrete and Lapis Lazuli are possible.
- SIZED FOR YOUR PROJECT - Available in containers as small as 1/4 LB, 1 LB and 5 LB gallon containers.
Call or email Clarke Colors to discuss how to incorporate our range of Cobalt Blue Pigment into your concrete product lines or next project.
Office Phone: (404) 964-0003
E-mail: murray@clarkecolors.com