It is very important to start this little type up with an introduction that is unorthodox.  Hiram could be considered the Godfather of Artisan Concrete and has been on the forefront of this industry for many years. While Hiram might not admit it as so, he has become the mentor to Joren, the original person who came up with the Hand Project idea.  This relationship between Joren and Hiram spawned numerous connections in the artisan community and allowed Joren to find a medium that would help him express himself creatively. Without this connection between Hiram and Joren, this idea would have never been introduced.

Hiram comes to the Cape by way of family connections. His wife spent many of her summers on Crystal Lake and her parents would eventually settle here permanently. While Hiram traveled, his wife would come to the Cape with their boys for the summer. Eventually the family decided to make Cape Cod their permanent home. This would happen around 2007 when his wife came to look after her Parents.

 “It’s the typical story. You’re supposed to get the house but at that time the house was too big and you’re downsizing. So we sold the big house and moved into the remodeled house we got in 2007 when she came to look after her parents. Then we moved up there and then I got this in 2011. (His shop) You were still here. (Speaking of Joren) I kitted this out. I really kitted it out to make countertops.”

If you need to know something about concrete, Hiram is the man to talk to. Along with his family, the concrete industry has been a large part of his life. When he settled on Cape Cod, the idea was to set up a shop and cast concrete counter-tops.

Before coming here permanently, Hiram taught himself how to sculpt and then eventually found a passion in casting models in molds and creating figures from a product he invented for architectural ornamentation in the early 90’s.

“That’s when I started to do the reliefs. They were all painter poses from the painter group in Eastham. I am a self-taught sculptor and learned how to do these self-standing figures in 2000… no 99, 98, and really turned on to sculpting until 2004 and then went back into business and started working on the fast setting mixes and the blends and everything. In 2011 2012 I sold and then I plugged back into the artist and plugged into the model world which is good. It's key to find models that know how to pose and all that thing. I just really got back into the sculpting and making molds and I cast all those. (points to wall) Those are all cast from a product I made in 1990 for architectural ornamentation like these column covers and what not. I figured out how to put metal powders in it, how to patina it, how to polish it and this that the other thing so I can do all the work here.”

As for why he lives here and enjoys his time on Cape Cod, he enjoys driving out on Nauset Beach and spending time at the family camp still on Silver Lake. He and his wife enjoy Orleans so much they joke that he believes he has seen less than 80 percent of what Cape Cod has to offer.

“I’ve traveled the world. Hong Kong. Singapore. Beijing. Paris. London. Turkey. Saudi Arabia. There are masses of people and they’re fun and it’s cool, but it’s nice to come back to a place or a town where the people are down in the hundreds or less and you just don’t see anybody. The architecture and the plantings would probably pass as many people by, but the light. The light on the Cape from an artistic point of view is fantastic.”