Gallery      : :      Artist Biography      : :      The Bronze Process
The first step in creating a bronze is to make an original sculpture. Many mediums can be used although clay or wax are the choices for most sculptors. When this original model is finished, a latex mold is made. In designing a mold, the mold maker must consider how wax would be poured as well as the simplest, but most sure way, to pick up the detail of the piece. All but the simplest compositions need to be cut apart and many molds are made to plete a single sculpture.

When these molds are finished, the original clay model is discarded or the clay is reused. The latex molds, however, are used to make wax shells of the original model. This is accomplished by pouring small amounts of hot wax into a given mold and rotating it until all internal surfaces are covered with wax. This wax-pouring is repeated four or five times until the inner wax shell is about 1/8 of an inch thick.

Once these wax shells are cool, they are removed from their molds and the process called wax chasing begins. This is the process of repairing any blemishes or air bubbles that may have marred the wax reproduction as well as reassembling any small pieces that were cut off of the original clay model for ease in molding. It is very important to finish all of the details, textures, and overall form of these waxes perfectly because whatever is done in wax will also be transferred into the bronze. Keep in mind, however, that after all of this wax chasing is completed, it is many times necessary to cut the sculpted wax shell apart in a different confuguration to attach the sprues - the next step in the process.

Sprues are wax bars of different sizes that are attached to the wax sculpted shell. These bars become the channels that the molten bronze will travel to fill the sculpture. These many sprues are then attached to a single large wax sprue with a large wax pour cup at the top. This entire wax configuration - sculpture, sprues, and pour cup - forms what is called a tree; and, indeed, resembles a real tree except it is upside down.

From here, this tree makes its way to the shell room. The shell, which covers all the wax tree is made by dipping the tree in a ceramic slurry and sprinkling with silica sand. This dipping and sprinkling is repeated several times until a shell is formed on the outside of all portions of the wax tree.

When this shell is completely dry, the tree is fired at a high temperature, baking the ceramic shell and burning all the wax portions. What is left is a hollow void surrounded by ceramic shell - a perfect negative of the sculpted wax form.

Now the ceramic tree is filled with molten bronze and allowed to cool. The ceramic shell is then broken away with hammers an the final shell is removed by sand blasting. Bronze sprue bars are sawed off and any portions of the sculpture that were cut off or cut apart are welded back into place.

The sculpture is now ready for the part of the foundry work called metal chasing. This inolves all repair of any imperfections in the finished sculpture such as retexture of welds and fixing all air bubbles and any other marred areas. Rotary grinders are the preferred tool for this work; some being as large as the largest grinders, others as small as a dental grinding bit.

The cleaning and coloring of the bronze is the next step. Patina is the term used to denote a particular color given to a bronze. This coloring is caused by an oxidation of the bronze surface using chosen chemicals and heat. The artis chooses a color that he feels would best compliment his piece of work. After the patina is applied, the sculpture is ready to be mounted on a base and displayed!

This lengthy process must be followed with each bronze produced (i.e. 25 in an edition means the process is repeated 25 times). This repetitieve, yet individualized process also enables a different edition number to be placed on each sculpture. The length of time it takes to complete a sculpture after the latex molds are made is from eight to ten weeks.

My sincere hope is that this short explanation will aid in understanding the lost wax process and the intricate craftsmanship involved in producing a bronze sculpture. From the conception of the first design, to the completion of the caly model, and on the finished product, the many hours spent making your bronze a valuable piece of artwork.