The Statue

Blind Jack

The Process

When creating a bronze the work goes from the original clay to an initial mould, then to wax, to the investment, and finally to the bronze – five stages

THE ARMATURE

We start by imaging the size and shape of the finished bronze piece and begin by creating an armature ie a metal skeleton on which to form the clay. This is often padded out with polystyrene or such

THE CLAY FIGURE

Because of the size of the Blind Jack figure we are using clay that contains heavily ‘grogged’ sand
The clay layers are then built starting with applying a base coat then building up to the measurements you require and finally the details are added. This takes you to the stage where you can imagine the bronze figure and are happy with the overall look of the piece

THE PLASTER MOULD & WAX MODEL

When happy with the clay piece a plaster mould is made, usually in many pieces, then a wax model is taken from this

CREATING A WAX

We now prepare it for casting it in bronze. We ensure that the wax model has ‘runners & risers’ where the hot metal can run in and the air can escape then coating it in a ceramic shell that will withstand the temperature of the molten bronze.

BRONZE

When the bronze is poured there is still a great deal of work to do before the piece is completed. This is called ‘fettling’ and can take a great deal of time. When satisfied with this stage some patination is called for to make it the colour that suits your piece.
And finally you have your beautiful piece of bronze.