This is a sculpture created specifically for an art show: “Full Plate” (05/03/2009 – 05/29/2009).
It is a three piece wall sculpture, which consists on two eyes and one mouth/nose.
Creating a Bronze sculpture requires a lot of steps and materials. I divided the process into 5 different stages to make it easier to browse.
1.-Clay: First of all, a clay sculpture is created. Some details are added to it, but not too many, since they will not show on the casting.
Click here to view pictures of this stage.
2.-Wax casting: After the clay sculptures are ready, a plaster casting is done to create a mold of the original sculpture. When the plaster mold is ready, is it soaked in cold water, and hot wax is added to create a new sculpture in Wax.
Here, you add details, correct errors, etc.; to do this, I used a variety of tools including a TORCH! Everything that is left on the wax will show up in the final piece.
Click here to view pictures of this stage.
Click here to watch a video of this stage.
3.-Silica mold: The wax casting, complete with it’s wax funnel and branches of spruces and vents, is fixed on a hanger and alternately dipped into a large vat of a liquid ceramic slurry and then silica sand. This process is repeated many times with each sand application progressing from fine to course. For these sculptures, each piece got at least 6 coats.
Click here to view pictures of this stage.
4.-Metal Pour: Pouring molten bronze is the final step of the making process. This step cannot be done by one person alone. It is very dangerous, and difficult to do. I was very lucky to assist a veteran in the are, artist Les Bruning. Also, Megan Eull and Angela Rusell (graphic design students) helped us set everything up. The most commonly used metal is silicon bronze, which is composed of 95% copper, 4% silicon, and 1% manganese, though, I’m not sure that was the mix we used.
Click here to view pictures of this stage.
Click here to watch a video of this stage.
5.-Detailing: Now that the three sculptures are ready, it is time to clean them up, and treat the bronze. Click here to view pictures of this stage.
The entire process has taken 2 1/3 months from conception to final product. I came up with the concept in February 2009. The first clay sculpture was created on 03/10/2009 and the process was finished on 04/30/2009.
This is the my first bronze sculpture, and it has been wonderful to create them and learn the process, which of course, I couldn’t have done without the support of my mentors Les Bruning, Kelly Adams, and Mike Giron.
Each eye weights around 13lbs, approximately 10″ across; the Mouth/Nose piece weights 27lbs and it is more or less 16″ across.
If you wish to learn more about the Full Plate art show, click here. The Florence Mill gallery is beautiful historic building with lots of old equipment, machinery, etc.
On a funny note, my Nose/Mouth, which weights proximately 27 lbs, was to heavy for the Mill’s wood… so, they had to display it on a belt!
View more:
View Full Plate art show pictures, including other artists.
View the “Watching you” page.
Step 1: Clay sculptures.
Step 2: Wax Casting.
Step 3: Silica mold.
Step 4: Metal pour.
Step 5: Detailing.
