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

About Us

California Flowform Artisans is the leading flowform manufacturer in America producing original John Wilkes designs as well as a handful of other models. 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

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. There are many exciting new materials available on the market with which we are beginning to explore, from Bioceramics to silca-based, and recycled materials.

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. Our forms are cast at high vibrations with varioius resonant and disonant tones. This ocillation between harmony and chaos is crucial to the proper structuring of the cast stone as well as imbues the form with a higher living quality. In the near future we will be exploring the replacement of cement in our mix with other more sustainable forms of cementitious media. We are also engaged in bringing ceramic and glass flowforms to the American market.

Our aggregate is sourced from a local quarry that has won numerous awards for its fish-friendly practices. We have also begun incorporating fine powdered rock-dust, of mostly granitic origin, which has shown to be of tremendous benefit in agriculture. The slow release of these minerals will have an overall positive effect on the micro-ecology of any living aquatic system.

Based on the indications and findings of Victor Schauberger, we are committed to using copper tools and vortex technology as much as possible in our production. Our aggregates are handled with copper shovels from Pythagoras Kepler Systems (PKS)- the descendants of Schauberger. The water charging methods encouraged by Dr. Masuru Emoto are used on the water we mix with and the water for our curing tanks. At the recommendation of John Wilkes, the water in the curing tanks (a standard cast stone procedure) is circulated and structured by the laboratory Stackable flowform.

Our team

Creative Director/Founder, Patrick Garretson

Patrick has been a long time student of Nature and her mysteries- out of which his deep passion for water and its healing capacity is born. Patrick’s first introduction to water ecology was as a restoration worker for the Salmon River Restoration Council in 1999. 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, as water is considered the medium upon which the cosmos interacts with the terrestrial plane. During this time Patrick was also trained as a Permaculture Designer and Educator by Brock Doleman and Penny Livingstone 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. Complimentary to his Biodynamic studies, Patrick is now in the midst of a 4-year Waldorf Teacher Training at Summerfield Waldorf in Santa Rosa. He is also on the Council of Phoenix Fire Gathering- www.firefamilygathering.org.

Business Advisors/Partners- Jim, Holly, and Susie Garretson
CFA is a family owned business, largely funed 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 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.

Cynthia Rakelle, Concrete casting, mould making and upkeep

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 FlowformÔ 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 will soon be bringing a whole new range of self-contained flowforms to the American market. We are pleased to be working in close association with this new development.