Wax Sculpture Consultation Bronze Foundry

Dear Art Lover,

     I returned to the foundry in Pietrasanta recently, but it meant an early rise for me!  Hhaha… still, it was a beautiful sunrise and the light was pretty to see the dawn while the lights of the faraway village were still on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another reason to NOT smoke!

 

    When I entered the wax room, the first thing I saw was the bottom section of my sculpture "Rock Towers and Frogs."  It was floating upside down in a tub of water with wax parts from other sculptures.   

 

 

 

      You may see it here reinforced on the underside with bamboo.  I always think that water is a brilliant storage method for the waxes.  It helps normalize the temperature, so less risk of the wax melting or becoming too brittle. Water is soft enough to never damage the wax or mix with it.  And it can accommodate a sculpture of any shape or size, supporting all parts equally.

      The choice to use bamboo as reinforcement is important because the next step is to dip each sprued sculpture part into at least six layers of a ceramic shell slurry.  This takes several days since each coat must be dry before being dipped into the next.  Once the dipping done and the layers thoroughly dry, the ensemble will be cooked in a furnace, firing the ceramic mold while melting out all of the contents.  That is why this is called the “Lost Wax Process” and why any material MUST be destroyed by fire, leaving very little inside.  Bamboo is rigid and strong, but burns away!  Bamboo, newspaper, wooden toothpicks, wooden skewer sticks (for shish-kabob), etc. are some of the materials used to support the wax when needed.  Not  all sculptures require this, but it helps creativity to know what is available or what are feasible options around potential complications, no?

My future bronze sculpture in wax - upside down in water!

And now, right side up on a table-ready for proofing!

     Here Raymondo has removed my sculpture bottom part for my lookover and approval.  He has already chased (cleaned up) the wax and the piece is ready to be sprued.  That means it wlll be connected to a wax funnel and connecting and venting (wax) lines whose placement is determined by the inevitable flow of molten bronze.

     Each foundry works in a different way and you might imagine there is never only one way to cast a composition into bronze.  I used to be a production manager for the neg/pos department of a commercial photo lab, until I moved into image preservation.  I learned from my study of mathematics and enhanced in the lab the idea that if you can understand the process and plan for it, you may avoid many hurdles along the way.  I also learned to trust people to do what they do best.  

     So, this last image I share with you shows Raymondo and Fabio studying the photo of my original composition in clay, wax, and foam.  Fabio works in the bronze part of the production.  I deferred to their judgment, which was to cast the remaining ten stones separately.  Earlier we had thought to mold them separately, but weld them together in wax, since working in wax is MUCH easier than working in metal.  But they decided the safer thing would be to receive good parts in bronze and then we will arrange the stones into the towers that were in my original composition.  And then weld and possibly drill a hole for a future fountain.

     Remember, I am offering a pre-casting discount on the price of this piece if you place your order before 1 November 2016.  This copy in the edition has been sold, but I will send you progress pictures of your sculpture being made, just as I am here.  In the case of a “future” artwork, we work out a payment plan that works for you and the casting process, meaning that after the initial payment, you pay installations based on the progress of the work, paying in full before the sculpture is shipped to you. I have sold many bronze sculptures in this way and am grateful to those who can envision the finished bronze when all they have seen is clay or wax!  

    Thank you for your interest.

Peace,

Kelly

http://BorsheimArts.com

Consulting on the Best way to Cast THIS bronze sculpture

Patina on Bronze Metal Sculpture

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

I thought tonight that I might share more of my previous unveiling of the bronze patina process used on my newest figurative sculpture titled “Against the Dying of the Light.”

Last time you saw that in the beginning of the patination process, the bronze metal took on many mottled colors as it first felt the torch. But keeping the heat on and applying more of the chemical coloring (in this case, liver of sulfur) in a consistent manner gradually changes the metal.

He is coming along beautifully, this figure sculpture of a triumphant nude male.

To see the previous post on this topic, please Click HERE.

Lost Wax Bronze Casting

I received a wonderful gift this month. A new collector with a vision and trust is helping me to realize one of my most personal artworks in bronze. I first created “Against the Dying of the Light” in 2001. I originally sculpted most of the clay in a week in my Texas studio and then later added the large hands at night at my site at the MARBLE/marble Symposium in Colorado. After I returned to Texas that summer, I hired several different models to assist me in getting details such as the veins in the arms and, as I told one model Todd, “quads like diamonds.”

For various reasons, this sculpture was put on hold and finally finished in 2005. Then in August 2007, a mold was made. While I had received wonderful comments and several inquiries about this sculpture, it was only while I was in Italy this past fall, that a serious collector contacted me. So my foundry created the wax from my mold in time for me to arrive back in Texas and work the waxes that will later become bronze.

For those unfamiliar with the bronze casting process, most bronzes are created hollow, like a chocolate bunny. Smaller pieces can be cast solid, but if very thick, that is not practical. Not only because of the ever-increasing price of the metal, but mostly because of the chemistry of cooling molten metal. Bronze is poured into a mold when it is around 2000 degrees hot – after the metal has become a beautiful liquid. Thin sections cool faster than thick sections, and this unevenness, if you will, causes problems in “shrinkage.”

In the case of “Against the Dying of the Light,” the arms will be cast separately, and solid. The upper body will be cast hollow, but as its own piece. And the hips and legs of the figure will be cast as one hollow piece with the large hands. After the sculpture has been cast into bronze, the parts will be welded together and then “chased,” resculpting details in the metal where all the connected parts require it. Then I will add the patina and carve the stone base.

Here you see my original work in plastilina (an oil-based clay) and later the wax pieces that my foundry poured from the mold that was made from the plastilina original. I am spending this week “chasing the wax” or removing mold lines, bubbles or holes in the wax, and checking that every detail is true to my original idea. The first step I do is examine the wax and thicken thin parts. My goal is to have a wax of consistent thickness, to minimize the effects of bronze shrinkage after the pour. It is difficult to pour a hollow figure, and often (internally) protruding parts (receding parts in the outer surface) must be reinforced from the inside. (One image shows how transparent the wax looks in the crotch area of the figure. I can clearly see where the wax is too thin.)

I will finish these waxes and return them to the bronze casting foundry before I return to Italia soon. I cannot wait to see “Against the Dying of the Light” in bronze!