Flowforms production, sales, and artisans: Northern California, American flowform producer

About Us

California Flowform Artisans is the leading flowform production and sales outlet in California. CFA has as its mission to heal the economic, social, and ecological realms by being an economic force with a triple bottom-line, whose product benefits both society and ecology.

Our materials & processes

Our primary medium is cast stone, which is an artistic version of concrete. Careful attention is paid to the formula of the mix as well as to the finishing of the material once it has hardened sufficiently. The casting of stone requires vibration at high frequencies to release trapped air and structure the concrete properly.

As a technology based on alchemical and ecological principles, we are committed to bringing the flowform to the highest energetic potential, while reducing our overall footprint as much as possible. Our aggregate is sourced from a local quarry that has won numerous awards for its fish-friendly practices.

Our team

Creative Director/Founder, Patrick Garretson

Patrick is a long time student of Nature- out of which his deep passion for water and its healing capacity was born. Patrick’s first introduction to water ecology and biodynamic agriculture was as a farmer and watershed restoration worker between 1999-2001. From there he returned to finishing his college education and studied herbalism, cultural relationships with ecology, and various artistic media. Patrick finished his B.A. from New College of California with his thesis on the Astrological Aspect of Biodynamic Agriculture. This study brought him to water flow science. During this time Patrick was also trained as a Permaculture Designer at the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center during a 10 month internship there. Later, Patrick also studied fungi and soil relations under renknown mycologist Paul Stamets. He has since taught in numerous venues on permaculture and specifically on the subject of mycorestoration and soil health. Concurrent with managing CFA as a part-time occupation, Patrick is now lives and works at Avalon Springs as the Events Coordinator and on-site ecologist.

Business Advisors/Partners- Jim, Holly, and Susie Garretson
CFA is a family owned business, largely funded by the previous generation's entrepreneurial success in Flagstaff, Arizona. Jim Garretson is founder and President of Flagstaff Athletic Club, Inc., a very successful dual-location operation featuring indoor tennis, soccer, racquetball, volleyball and basketball, fitness and swimming pools. FAC totals 240 employees, and more than 12,000 members. Square footage of both clubs is about 110,000. The Club was founded with Susie Garretson shortly after the birth of their first son, Patrick Garretson. Visit their website at www.flagstaffathleticclub.com.

Legal Advisor/Partner Clifford Paulin

Clifford Paulin is a solo legal practitioner in Ukiah, California. He graduated from Vermont Law School with Juris Doctorate and Masters of Study in Environmental Law in June of 2004 and was admitted to the California bar in 2006. Clifford was an intern with the Water Institute at the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center in the Fall of 2004, researching and writing on the intersection of water quality and water quantity law. From that research he published a paper entitled "Water Rights Implications of Water Quality Protection in California - Landowner's Guide" Clifford has provided legal services for a number of non-profit groups and groups seeking to establish intentional communities. He is the co-founder of the Greater Ukiah Localization Project (GULP) and the Vice President of the Cloud Forest Institute. In addition to his professional connection with CFA, Clifford and Patrick are long time friends, having met on the first day of kindergarten.

Judson King Smith, Concrete casting, production, welding
Jud Smith, artist and creator of Arkeon Art, fabricates everything from concrete countertops to concrete, metal and wood sculpture. Since graduating with honors in sculpture from California College of Arts & Crafts, Jud has experimented with casting techniques for a variety of applications. For seven years he worked with Architectural concrete innovator Fu Tung Cheng, mastering the process of forming and pouring countertops, curved walls & large scale fountains.

The Greater Flowform Community

The Western World has had a destructive relationship with brilliant inventors and scientists- like Tesla, Schauberger, and even Einstein. CFA is committed to reversing that trend. We are sub-licensed as a flowform manufacturer through Designs for Life USA, who holds the licensing authority in the USA for John Wilkes Flowform © designs, see www.flowformsusa.com for more information. Eight percent of our gross margin goes to John and his further research on water through the internationally operated Healing Water Institute. See www.healingwaterinstitute.org for more on the workings of HWI. CFA is alos a member of the International Flowform Association, an open network for Flowform workers to dialogue and communicate, see www.internationalflowformassociation.org.

Also on the horizon is Nature Intelligence- the international Flowform marketing and lisencing company owned by John Wilkes, Iain Trousdell and Christopher Hecht. Nature Intelligence is introducing a whole new range of self-contained, ceramic flowforms to the American market- hand crafted by a Buddhist community in Vietnam.