Dan has made it back from his vacation to Orcas Island, WA and has started to point up the Flight Time Sisters. He begins again by welding together the armature. The armature is an infrastructure that will give stability to the sculpture and acts as a skeleton to the sculpture.

Once he has finished welding the armature he will add the foam board. Please follow along as we document the creation of this sculpture. As always, we look forward to any comments you may have!

Sammy has finished coating the sculpture with rubber. He had to coat the whole thing, let it set up, then mix another batch and apply another coat. He has had to do that six times. Along the way Sam built up thick seams where the rubber will be cut apart.

The rubber has completely set up, so now Sam has started creating the plaster “Mother Mold”. The plaster will help keep the mold together when its time time to pour the wax, but we will show that when the time comes. Sam has a Rubbermaid tub that he puts some water in, along with a wee bit of retardant that will keep the plaster from setting up too quick, then ads the plaster. He mixes it with his hands, making sure to get rid of all the lumps. Clumps of hemp are used to give the plaster support. Sam starts by making a plaster “sausage” that will go all along the edge. Then he makes a “patty” that will fill in the big sections. After getting all the sausage and patties on, he smooths the plaster over with his hands and uses a metal tool to smooth the edges. Once all the plaster is done, we will take more pictures.

We welcome any comments you may have about what we’re doing.

Gary put his finishing touches on Mark, signed and dated it, and it is ready to be molded. To make the molds and the casting process easier, Sam cuts parts of the sculpture off with a saws-all. These pieces are set onto turntables and rubber will be applied. Metal shims are stuck into the clay, which are used to separate the different sections of the mold. 

Sammy then mixes the silicon rubber; note that it starts off white, then the catalyst is added, which is blue, that causes the rubber to set up.  We’ve discovered our favorite way to mix the rubber is with an electric drill and a beater. After the rubber has been mixed and the air bubbles removed, Sam applies the rubber with a hog hair brush, working it in to the texture and making sure rubber covers every part of the clay. The first coat of rubber is very thin to capture all the detail. The rubber will take a number of hours to set up, at which time another coat will be applied. It is a long process, but a good mold can be used for years and many, many castings.

This, my latest, was created for the inspiration and enjoyment of kids. Those mystical and magical symbols of wisdom, long life, and happiness have forever fascinated children of all ages. This particular dragon willingly shares his treasures of knowledge- his collections of anthologies and wisdom of the ages with his young admirers. He even provides a quick seat with his tail as he looks forward to a cozy read with his friends. Come and join in the storytelling!

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan has done a fantastic job, as usual, getting the sculpture pointed up. He will make just a few more adjustments then turn it over to me so I can  put  my finishing touches on it.  Look at what  a great job Dan has done- compare these pictures to the maquette and the previous pictures on the blog.  Please let me know your thoughts!

We’ve all done it- either been the twirled or the twirler. Remember the rush, the balance, and finally trying to stay upright after the dizziness. I think most of all we remember the laughing and the pure fun as the world continues to spin while we’ve stopped.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan has been on fire the last 48 hours! He trimmed the blue foam down to the right dimensions; cutting and shaping it, getting it as close to the shape of the sculpture as possible.

Read the rest of this entry »

As we said, we want to show the process of creating a life-size sculpture. After creating the maquette, an armature is created and welded together. It will serve as a skeleton for support. My assistant , Dan, now ads foam to build up bulk that the clay will be applied to. Here is what he just finished today. Read the rest of this entry »

Someone once asked me in the studio as they were looking at one of my clay sculptures that took hundreds of hours to create, “How long did it take you to create that?” As I was trying to count up the approximate hours, my assistant, Dan Hildreth, facetiously commented, “It took his whole life to create that.” Then we got into a little discussion Read the rest of this entry »

As I stand here in my creative chamber, “the studio”, and look around at recent projects, ones in the making and future ideas that are just vague shapes of clay- it’s quite exciting! There’s lots of energy in here that is very tangible and through a very real transference process; that creative energy that has gone into the forming of the clay ends up in the finished bronze sculpture that you, my revered collector ends up with! Read the rest of this entry »