The Bible

A rubber stamp is made of the verse. 

The last and final piece to be complete for the praying man is the bible and seat.  The biggest hold up with this was the text that was to be created in the bible. Usually I hand carve the text; however, this was three verses and quite a bit of text.  After much diliberation I had the text created as a rubber stamp that is reveresed, the type is indented into the rubber. I completed sculpting the bible and than put this stamp inside the pages, claying up to the edges.Then we made a mold of the seat and bible.  THE FINAL MOLD IS COMPLETE! Everything will now go to wax and metal.  

The rubber stamp was clayed up and set within the bible
pages. Here is the seat after the mold was made. 

The seat is a large mold, but it is the final mold. Time to
clean the studio and get ready for the next project. 

Each mold must be cleaned before sending to the foundry.
The text on the bible looks great! 

Waxes- gating up

Once the waxes are poured and cleaned the foundry will gate them up. Gating is adding wax channels to the wax pieces so that gases can escape.  A pour cup is also added to the wax.

Pouring cups are added to each piece as well as gates. 

Today I went to the foundry to check on more waxes and saw that a good deal of the praying man has been gated up.

Waxes- Cleaning

From the molds that are provided the foundry pours wax,
or with larger molds they brush it in.  Then because the molds
are in two parts each wax must be cleaned.  Blemishes from
the pouring process and seams are removed.  

Today was a day at the foundry. Once again, most artists don't go to the foundry and look at their waxes. I suppose it is because I'm a perfectionist, or maybe I have a hard time letting go. I tell everyone it is because I might want to tweak something in the wax. Today I  only had to do a little bit of tweaking. Here is the foundry process of waxes.

I'm headed back on Tuesday, maybe they will be able to take pictures of the next stage- gating up.

Slowly wax body parts are accumulating at the foundry 

A wax is hollow.  This thickness will be the thickness
of the bronze- more on that later.  Many people think that
when they see a bronze it is solid.  It is not.  This will all
make much more sense once you see the rest of the process. 

Cleaning wax hands that touch the Word. 

Mold making

The mold making process is a long and grueling part of the lost wax method of bronze casting. This part is usually done by the foundry. I enjoy having a bit more time to look at the pieces and see what more work I can do on them when I create the molds.  Because of the time crunch on this project and my desire to tweak just a bit more we are making the molds in my studio.  Now be careful, if you don't leave the studio with some rubber attached to your clothing you will leave with plaster dust.  

I have until January 28th to get these molds done and out of the studio as I need to clean up the space for my daughter's baby shower on the 2nd. Oh Lord, give me strength. 

Pieces are everywhere in the studio.  Interns are smoothing,
cleaning, and claying up. The place is quickly becoming
quite a mess. 

The many many pieces of the sculpture mus be made into
individual molds.  Sometimes this is done by "claying up"
one half, then painting rubber on the portion. 

Interns mix and then apply each coat.  It is an important
step in gathering all of the detail. 

Another way of of creating a seam around the mold is by
using shims.  The advantage of this way of making the
mold is that both sides can be covered with rubber at the
same time. 

Many coats of rubber are put on
each of the pieces. 

James and Shirley clay up the floor boards for a plaster mold

We have to spread out to the porch.  Each piece when it is
coated with rubber must then have a mother mold. The
mother mold holds the rubber in place.
Mother molds are made of a hard plaster. This work is
completed on the studio porch. We wrestled with a lot of rain
but were able to cocoon ourselves in. 

Some days were cold in Houston, but plaster 

Rubber is covered over the chair arms

Plaster and hemp a messy job. 

Each mold once it has been coated with rubber, and the
rubber is covered with plaster must be separated.
The original artwork is taken out of the mold, the mold is
cleaned and then it is inspected, put back together and sent
to the foundry.  Antoinette and Alison work on cleaning molds.

Going to Pieces

Don't let this part scare you. It is what happens with every single sculpture that goes to bronze. We spend all of that time making it perfect only to cut it up into many, many pieces.  This part is usually done by the foundry.  My team and I continue on with this part of the process.  I like to do this because I can tweak the sculpture even more.  There will be more smoothing and working with the sculpture. 

Cutting apart the chair to make a mold 

The reciprocating saw- my favorite tool for this part of the
process- Off with his head! 

It is amazing how many, many pieces in a bronze sculpture. 

Can't wait for that sacred space to return.

The process looks pretty intense, but it will all come
together in the end. 

Reducing things to the basic elements. 

Pieces are placed on tables all around the studio. They patiently
await the mold making process. 

Approval

It has been about a month since I physically started sculpting on the piece and just about 7 weeks since we met in Dallas to discuss the project. This is  a miracle.  I'm thankful that God has kept my health, as well as the health of all my interns in check.  Dr. Blackburn and Shannen Smith come to my Houston studio to look over the sculpture.  I'm elated when they tell me I don't have to change the hair. 

I believe the passion translates. 

The client keeps walking around the sculpture, taking it
all in. I'm pleased they are happy. 

Prayers over the piece. We still have a long way to do. 

A look into the "sacred space." 

The client looks on like it is surgery.  If you think cutting
ears off is something, just wait to when we get to
the mold making process. 

A review of the special shoes. 

A few minor adjustments are requested. " No problem,"
I cut off ears and move them around. The clay is
forgiving.