Creating a Bronze and Stone Sculpture

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

I spent part of my day today with Philip Hoggatt of Carved Stone in Dripping Springs, Texas. Phil not only supplies stone to carvers, but his primary business is creating stone products, from plaques and furniture (lamps, park benches, planters, and clocks) to sculptures large and small.

Phil took my specs for the base of my newest bronze figure sculpture “Against the Dying of the Light” and found a piece of limestone that fit the size requirements. He used a chainsaw to cut the basic shape and when I arrived at his studio this morning, he refined the shape of the stone and added a really cool texture.

He used a bush hammer for texturing the surface of the rock. I had never seen this type of bush hammer and nicknamed it a horseshoe crab because of its shape. It is quite cool, leaving a much larger textured pattern than the texture tools I use with my pneumatic hammer. I love the look and I loved the time savings.


I share this close-up image with you of the blades of this bush hammer. When the power is turned off, as in this image, you may see the triangular arrangement of the three blades.

Afterwards, Philip used his forklift to load my new stone sculpture base into the trunk of my car. After I took the image below, I needed to stop playing tourist so that I could guide the stone into the trunk as Phil lowered the forklift. We set the stone inside the trunk over two 6 x 6 cedar posts that I had placed there to aid in removal back at my studio. I have a dolly with a hydraulic lift. She is fantastic! And she is much cheaper and healthier than back surgery!

Once unloaded, I will lighten the weight of the stone a little bit, wash it, dry it, add holes so that the bronze figure can be attached to its base, and then seal the stone for protection.

Drawing of Nude Male Figure

Drawing of Nude Male Figure

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

My mother took off this morning after a fun visit here in Texas. I hired a model on Tuesday and we even got to draw together. We have not done that in years.

This latest drawing in charcoal pencil from that session is of one of my favorite male models, Eric. He is a seated male nude. I love Eric’s long toes and his exotic eyes.
The paper is a greenish-grey paper and the figure drawing measures 14” x 10.”

Eric, the figure drawing, is available. I would love for him to find a good home.

“Eric 19 August 2008” for $150 + $15 shipping.
Texas, USA, addresses must add a 6.75% sales tax.
Just click on the PayPal button below.

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.

Stone Carving Marble

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Several people from different parts of Texas will be joining me at my home studio on Labor Day weekend Aug. 30, 31, + Sept 1. They will all be learning to carve stone for the first time. Stone is my drug of choice, so I cannot wait to share it with them!

I miss stone carving the most when I am working in bella Italia, but I was able to get back to it these last two days here in central Texas. I hope to make a lot of progress on a stone carving that has a real title already, but has affectionately been nicknamed ‘George Washington.’ She is a figure in Canadian marble – but no, she does not look anything like George.

I am a direct carver. This means that my technique is to draw directly on the stone and cut away what I do not want to remain. Another method to carving is to create your sculpture in a more forgiving medium, such as clay, wax, or plaster, and then transfer or copy the original into the stone, usually by measuring. For more complicated compositions, the latter method can save a lot of disappointments and time.

However, I am stubborn and I want to push myself to see more into the stone and improve my skills and vision. I also like the ability to change and “play” that the direct stone carving method offers.

Now my day is over and tomorrow my aide and I head into Austin, Texas, to start our series of anatomy and drawing workshops. It is not too late to join some of them:
www.borsheimarts.com/artclass.htm

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Sepia Drawing of Belly Dancer

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Through word of mouth, I was invited to create a series of works for a potential exhibit in Austin, Texas, next year sometime. The show theme is about models and their creative energy with the artists they work with. And thus, I found myself at the home studio of my friend Maria Lyle along with another artist Patricia Lyle (no relation) working with belly dancers.

I show you here an experiment in which I used Conté Sepia Drawing Pencil on some kind of acrylic primed board I bought years ago to try out for oil painting. I intended to use the pencil only to sketch out my design and add paint later, but the more I got into the sepia, the more I was loving it.

Meet “Alana” She is an original drawing, sized 16 x 12 inches.

Today’s blog entry is dedicated to my Grandma Phyllis Pease, who did not wake up this morning 08-08-08. One of my favorite memories of her is when she stood in front of the St. Paul Cathedral with us. After a personal tour filled with family story telling, she looked adorable in her round white furry beret on a COLD Minnesota winter’s day as she invited us to her favorite neighborhood bar for a beer.

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.

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The Mentor Program: Treacher Collins Syndrome

Cari Amici,

Today, the 31st of July, is my birthday. I turn 44 officially at 6:09 p.m. (‘ gotta get that power of three from somewhere!) Mathematically speaking, I should have twice as much fun as when I was 22 and four times the fun of my “terrible twos.” Right? I am looking forward to this . . .

But for now, I want to introduce you to “my kid” Rudy. OK, so he is not technically mine and he is no longer a child. I met Rudy Sanchez Jr. on 13 February 1992 through the City of Austin’s Mentor Program. I was working in image preservation back then and 11-year-old Rudy, along with 13 other children considered “At Risk,” waited in his elementary school library to meet their new mentors. As my co-workers and I walked into the room, Rudy enthusiastically shouted, “Who’s my friend?”

In all honesty and shame, being the queasy type, for that first moment, I had hoped it was not I. However, we still reminisce fondly about that day and celebrate this anniversary each year. Rudy rarely ceases to teach me things.

Rudy was born with Treacher Collins’ Syndrome. It is a facial-cranial birth defect that left his head severely deformed. Rudy has been in surgery more times than anyone I have ever heard of. His first one happened shortly after his birth to repair a cleft palate.


Rudy has a few other struggles, but he has always taken one day at a time. He is more optimistic than most and a smile is never far from his lips. He has learned how to play the drums and the guitar and teaches children at his church these skills. He often helps his parents in their print business and finds other jobs where he can.

Unfortunately, Rudy has been without teeth for about three years now. The doctors pulled out his last remaining teeth he had so that they would have a blank canvas with which to work after they did more surgery to extend his lower jaw. His mother tells me that Medicare will not pay for teeth because they are considered cosmetic. She was told she had to raise $13,000 to buy her son some teeth.

So, Gail Ferris at Modern Renaissance and I are pooling our resources and starting a fund raiser to help Rudy. I am in the process of choosing some of my images from Italy and we will create an edition of canvas giclée prints.

I have been working a lot on a private bronze commission and so I have not had time yet to fully prepare my images and the Web page for this canvas print project for Rudy, but I will be posting more information over the week or so. In the meantime, please visit what I do have online at:

Teeth For Rudy

So, as you add to your personal art collection or give the gift of art to others, know that you will be helping a young man to enjoy the simple pleasures of eating a healthy meal.

Wikipedia’s page on Treacher Collins Syndrome

http://www.craniofacialcenter.com/book/treacher/treach1.htm

http://www.tcconnection.org

The Craniofacial Center in Dallas, Texas USA