12 replies to this topic

[twoheads]

I am an artist and my usual medium is oil painting but I have always done a little clay sculpting and now I have an interest in learing how to work with metal. I don't kow if I can make the time t do it as it seems the longer that I live here the busier I get but I would at least like to talk to someone (a metal sculptor if possible) to get an idea of what is involved.

[Ferret]

Google "Lost Wax process for bronze sculpture" to get an idea of how time consuming the process is. You can also look up "Sharon Milligan" who has a studio in San Miguel de Allende that specializes in her own bronze sculptures. Lots of time, lots of patience...there's a reason they aren't cheap.

[twoheads]

Thanks! I will follow up on your suggestion.

[More Liana]

Are you in Ajijic or Chapala? You might want to get in touch with highly acclaimed local artist Estela Hidalgo. Someone will be able to give you her contact information. She's fabulous, and works in lost wax.

[twoheads]

I'm out past Jocotopec.

[twoheads]

Can anyone tell me how or where to find Estela Hidalgo?

[sparks]

Via Google

http://www.escapetoa...ela-hidalgo.htm

[gringal]

Another suggestion: Ask at the next Ajijic Society of the Arts meeting. Estela has been one of the guest speakers. Someone might know of another person to see. The next meeting is at 10 a.m. on Monday, May 7 at La Bodega Restaurant on 16 Septiembre in Ajijic. All are welcome.

[cookie]

Unless something has changed ...and that's entirely possible... you don't actually work with metal when you're sculpting for a bronze. We had a wax, clay mixture the we sculpted...then our instructor cut it apart ARGH!! and did the lost wax in his foundry....walah! Bronze sculpture! Very spendy process. Jim stafford was our instructor and an absolutely fabulous wild life sculptor http://www.24-7press...pture-77667.php

[twoheads]

Yeah! I thought that it might be an expensive process and time consuming. I'm not quite a "Gorilla Painter" but I do tend to start things that have a chance of being finished up in about a week! I have a patiences problem: I am always so anxious to see how it looks when finished that I have to constantly remind myself to slow down and enjoy the journey!

[MtnMama]

When we lived NOB in Colorado, the Sculpture in the Park Show in Loveland offered a foundry tour in conjunction with the exhibits. I liked the tour so much I went twice. They showed us the original clay sculpture, about 18" high, all the steps, and the finished life-sized bronze. Fascinating process.

[angela04101]

I've made a few bronze and also aluminum sculptures. It's basically creating the piece in a hard wax, building a plaster mold around it with vent tubes to let air escape, pouring the mooten metal such as bronze into the mold and heating it in a kiln until all the wax disappears, then removing the plaster mold, cleaning up and polishing the metal. It's a several days to weeks process. I did all this in a foundry in an art school that can accomodate dangerous molten metal and also offered a kiln. For another method, it's relatively easy to learn some basic welding and weld a sculpture using a constructive technique rather than a casting tequnique. But they're all fun to do. I wonder if there is a foundry nearby, there are plenty of steel fabricators who might know.

[twoheads]

I initally thought that I would like to create some bronze sculptures but it is sounding expensive and also hard to find a teacher with access to a foundry, but I am very open to learning some basic welding so that I could maybe work with some aluminium or maybe some copper. I actually have some objects in mind that I would like to produce, and I suppose I could comission them if it were not too expensive but to be able to make them myself would be so much more interesting to me.