Monday, November 19, 2012

Daphne Finishes and becomes a poster and Patinas on bronze


 Daphne is finally coming to a finish, just a few clean up areas to do, this is a shot of the interior, I'm using a die grinder to smooth out some areas.
 With her finish I have decided to make a poster of her.  I liked this image so much (this is from an earlier post) I thought it would make a cool poster on Zazzle, a print on demand company. It measures 16 x 20 inches.

 I have also created a 2013 calendar showing my works in stone, paper and bronze. The address to buy the poster is- http://www.zazzle.com/megwhitesculpture+gifts
 And now for something completely different.  This is a life-size woman's face I created from wax and had sandcast years ago.
The sandcast process is very different from the lost wax process and is much simpler.  It involves sand acting as a sort of mold (it is pressed on either side of the original)  there can be no undercuts and the original must be fairly thin and uniform - this face (formed from Wax) is about 1/2" thick.
 The face then gets a light ferric patina. It is a chemical sprayed onto the bronze to give it a light gold color.  I will then apply a wax while it is still hot to seal the bronze and protect the color of the patina.
 This is a wolf head also created using the lost wax process.  Both these pieces were created a few years back and then I got busy and never went on to add a patina.  This is the natural patina that the wolf took on.
 This is how he looked after I sandblasted him. Sandblasting is a way to clean bronze of old patina prior to applying a new patina.
 Again the torch and some ferric is sprayed onto the bronze, next a coat of wax. Both the woman and wolf face will be for sale on ebay in the near future.
 I am experimenting with a patina for my sculpture Flight.  The figure is in light ferric, the uprights supporting him are in a powder blue patina.  I wanted the figure to have a feeling of being suspended and I think the contrasting colors of patina help give that feeling.
 And speaking of flight, I got this picture of an immature bald eagle soaring overhead.  At first I thought it was a vulture and I zoomed in and snapped this photo and was pleasantly surprised...
And this was a surprise - a bobcat in broad daylight and I had a camera with me, what luck!

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Heron sculpture installed at Cave Hill, finishing touches on Daphne

 The heron sculpture was installed at Cave Hill Cemetery in the Scattering Garden.
 Lee Squires (who designed the monument) and I hold the heron.
 Ron readies the granite plinth for the sculpture.  Holes have been drilled in the granite to accomodate the stainless steel pins of the heron sculpture.  Billy holds the heron until Ron applies the epoxy to the holes and is ready to set the sculpture in place.
 Soon the heron is attached and is looking over the lake.
 Some views of the heron - sillouetted against the sky..

 against the fall color...
 The sculpture at a distance with one of the butterflies which will grace the monument.
 A guard watches the heron for the rest of the day until the epoxy has cured.
 I have been putting the finishing touches on Daphne, cleaning up some areas with a die grinder...
 hand sanding limbs and leaves...
 defining leaves and smoothing areas.... it just seems to go on and on and on.....
A picture of her with the fall color behind her...