  |
||||||
| A few years ago I walked into the local foundry and signed up for a lost-wax, bronze-casting class. I had never worked with metal before, so for me it was an experiment in learning everything I could about this art form. I’ve always admired bronzes. But they seemed so difficult. Seven weeks later, after my first piece was cast, that first experiment turned into the desire to continue expressing myself in the golden metal. Did I mention that it was magic?
Each lost-wax bronze is one-of-a-kind. There is no mold. My original wax model was melted away in the kiln that fired the silicon shell, the shell that now waits to encase the molten metal. It is poured—sparkling orangey-gold—from the crucible. Cooled in a water bath, the shell splits. With hammers and chisels the rest is cracked away. Nothing remains of my original work except a shell-encrusted bronze. Two weeks later, after the metal is “chased” and sand-blasted, an acid patina color-coat is applied, and a single statue is born from my wax vision. TOTAL MAGIC! Each piece takes many hours of continuous work, first in wax, then in metal. Because I enjoy working in many art mediums, I produce only one or perhaps two bronzes a year. They are very special pieces. Each has a life that only this metal can provide. Anyone who works in bronze understands what I mean. Bronze is hard, yet soft—easily damaged or overworked. It is resistant, yet yielding. Even as a solid it has the most marvelous quality of flowing through space.
|
|
|||||
