The Lady

So here's another bronze piece that popped out of my head last fall semester. I've always liked making nudes, eve since my first semester in sculpture. The themes of water and fluidity tend to happen in conjunction with them for some reason. I really don't know if she likes that she's melting, or if she's even melting at all, perhaps she's coming into being. I like that about this piece though, it's fluid, and can be interpreted in different ways. 

A snow covered City?

Nope, it's not covered in snow. I just had to take some pictures showing what one of my projects looked like in the cleaning stage, the ceramic/silica(?) shell is still covering it, and let me tell you, it is a beast to get out of all the nooks and crannies. Though once it's done and has had a nice patina applied, it, looks something like this. 

This is a completed city bowl (I know my titles are great aren't they), it weighs about five pounds, is bronze, and fits in the palm of your hand. 

I sculpted each of the buildings by hand from wax, it took a very long time. But I enjoyed it so much I had to do it again, this time with a vase. This one was even more work if possible. I had to pour it in two pieces, otherwise it would not have stood a chance of getting cleaned thoroughly again. 

This one is still in two pieces, I'm thinking about just putting a hinge on it and then it'd have the option of being closed or open. Because that's alot of detail I'd be losing if I just welded it shut. Though at the same time, the idea of having it be a hidden little world, that could be viewed through only little windows is also really appealing...

Pouring

The pour! 

We poured aluminum and bronze several weeks ago. I've been busy with the last weeks of school so here it is! Finally. 

For the pour we placed our empty molds in a bed of sand so that there would be less chance of splitting. It was also important that before then we made sure there were no loose pieces inside the molds that would mess up the form of the figure.

We all wore plenty of protection and looked kind of like spacemen.

The metal cools and we soak it in water til it's cold enough to remove the mold.

The pieces can be dislodged by striking the end of the piece that the metal was poured into.  

Once the larger pieces of the mold have been removed the smaller pieces can be chipped off and the piece can be blasted with air to clean off any excess silica. After that the next step is to saw off the excess metal (the screw) and apply a patina or base, as the case may be. 

Anyway, it's practically summer, and it's a beaaaauuutiful day!