When Rejection is a Good Thing

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

I am trying to find the bright side . . .
Yesterday I took some waxes over to my bronze casting foundry and learned that one of my compositions is not feasible to cast into any other material. Last summer I was asked to submit an idea for a bronze art limited edition series to be used as a corporation’s board of directors’ gift. I thought it would be a good excuse to try something different from my application the year before, but was later told that my new design was “too modern.”

I am not sure why this struck me as funny.

And thus, the waxes and sketches sat in my studio here in central Texas for a year while I went back to work in Italy. But a lot of times, I like the ideas I have for other people and want to see them through. So, knowing that I would soon be delivering some waxes of a new composition, I decided to pull out my rejected waxes and my soldering iron. I began welding wax to make the composition ready to sprue for the bronze casting process. I now intended this to be a one-of-a-kind bronze sculpture.

So what is the bright side? Normally, I discuss any potential hurdles with my foundry before trying a tricky or experimental composition. In my haste and possible arrogance about my experiences in casting bronze, I did not do that last summer. Losing the bid on the large corporate project for an idea that turned out not to be financially feasible may have been the best thing that could have happened last summer.

Or so I tell myself . . . Allora, I must admit that I have not given up hope and my wax will find a place in storage until I can come up with another idea for casting that may work. I show you a detail shot here of my little composition. Perhaps you bronze artists will have an idea about why this is a difficult metal (or even the non-sexy resin) casting project.

If you like what you read, please consider . . .