foundry

I know some of you have been patiently awaiting a post from me.  And for that I am sorry.  

Winter Quarter started right after the New Year and so along with that I've been getting ready for a pottery show (which was this past Saturday) and working on a HUGE frame order for a new client.

I wanted to share with you the Foundry class I've been taking.  I became interested in this course because I was working with metal last quarter and found myself wanting it to do things that it was incapable of doing.  

The solution?  Melt it!  Then it can bend the way you want!  Mwahh ah ah....

Inspiration

I've been collecting little seed pods and other items that I find on our walks for a number of years now.  This one has always been a favorite.

I sculpted a wax version that could be used for casting in bronze.

After discussion with my professor, my wax version was deconstructed   The plan was to cast the sections and then weld them together after the pour.

So I sculpted one of the "sections" using oil based clay and made a plaster mold from that.

The plaster mold was used to cast wax patterns.

I got a little carried aways and soon I had about 15 wax patterns.

I began bending and twisting them and finding new ways to put them together.   I decided to cast several of them in bronze and then figure out how to arrange them when it came time for welding later.

 Creating my wax "tree" composed of my wax patterns and a series of sprues and vents for the pour.  

Stay tuned for the Bronze Pour......