My bronzes are cast at Cire Perdue foundry in Hayden, Idaho.  At the foundry, technicians and artisians mold, cast, weld and apply the patina to the finished pieces.  The following pictures were taken during my various visits to the foundry - when I delivered new pieces or supervised the application of patina to finished work. 

 

These are pictures of the foundry equipment needed to melt and cast the bronze. 

This is what the bronze metal looks like before it is melted and poured into the casts.

A glimpse into the furnace!

Foundry workers remove hot casts from the furnace.  The furnace melted the wax out of these casts, which are now ready for the bronze to be poured into them.

Two or three workers perform this task, since temperatures are too excruciating to get close for a significant period of time. 

The bronze is poured into the casts. 

Broken casts show a glimpse of the bronze sculptures inside them.  After the casts are removed, the sculptures are in pieces until they are welded together by foundry artisans.

 

When the foundry called to tell me that my first bronzes were ready for patina application, I was so nervous.  I had never had a piece cast in bronze before and I was terrified that something of my original clay would be lost in the cating process.  This is a picture of the first glimpse I got of my bronzed pieces "Pride and Possibility" and "The Hand-Me-Down."  Note the color of the bronze with no patina (as compared to the finished pieces).  After I saw how true the pieces were to my original work, I wasn't nervous anymore. 

Here is a shot of the first and second casting of "Pride and Possibility."  Now #2 is at home with my first client in California.

 

 

This is me at the foundry posing with my very first bronzes.  I was so relieved and excited!

 

   

Here is "Pride and Possibility" after being affixed to its new wooden base.

A foundry artisan applies the patina to "Pride and Possibility."

Now "The Hand-Me-Down" takes its turn.

 

I'm signing my name to the clay sculpture of "The Joyfully Borne Burden." I dropped this sculpture off the same day I picked up my first completed pieces (December 11, 2006).  The first castings of this sculpture are now available for purchase.

    

I was given a glimpse of the status of The Joyfully Borne Bufden before it was welded back together.  Artists generally don't see their pieces in this condition!

 

 

Here the foundry owner applies a wooden base to the first casting of "Summer at the Ranch."