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Beautiful Dreamer Bronze Foundry pics- (Also Including Michael Parkes Sculptures)
January 7th, 2012 | Posted in Foundry | 
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Beautiful Dreamer Bronze Foundry pics- (Also Including Michael Parkes Sculptures)
Going to the bronze foundry is always such a thrill (never mind the bay area city traffic that gets my heart rate going!). This time was no different, as I was able to see up close Michael Parkes’ creative realism sculptures. What greeted me is seen below, what looked like a Las Vegas act, all legsssss!
(Edit- Thought twice about posting pics without permission of Michael Parkes. He may not like them seen- they are neat photos though!)
I learned that Parkes “Angel of August” is an edition of 60 and the collectors had the option of picking which number they wanted in the edition. I saw 60/60 which is a pretty cool number I think. Likely the number has a personal sentiment to it so that is a selling point for people to buy and choose their special number.
Parkes’ work is really detailed (hands are simple though). I enjoy the swirly hair. Also, I like how he sculpts the upper lip on the large size. He sure does know how to create beauty. Very enjoyable to see up close.
These sculpts only have the liver of sulphur applied (darkening agent) with color to be added later. A picture of Michael Parkes’ sculpture with full patina is here.
When I saw “Angel of August” in Southwest art magazine’s December 2011 issue on page 2, I kind of wondered how risque it was. But to my surprise, nothing is shown but just a line from her legs being together. He’s a classy guy (and how many buyers would want the other option- ponder……).
There always are areas that will need to be chased out after the metal is poured. Doing a metal check means that you look the piece over and point out to the metal worker the areas that still need attention. A black marker pen works well to circle these areas so nothing is forgotten. (The pen marks go away very quickly when a little sandpaper).
Foundry worker.
On a side note, something that came from this foundry visit was that I made a gallery contact and gave out some postcards and business cards. I’m really hopeful of getting in that fine gallery! Also, another enjoyable contact was meeting up with Larry Noble again. He’s a great sculptor who made a bronze Yoda for George Lucas. One of the perks of going to such a well known foundry as Berkeley’s Artworks foundry, is that you often make career altering contacts. At the least, you get to see new and wonderful artwork!
My sculpture shown with chest area just beginning to be polished to 320 grit.
Now we come to my sculpture and I’ll share with you pics all about her. First off, her skin and chaise lounge wood areas were supposed to be sanded (except face) to a 320 grit but this wasn’t done when I got there. This put me behind schedule but we got it all done. I would have liked to have had more time to do fine detailing (i.e. more sanding to really have the most beautiful smoothness to the 320 sanded areas).
Thankfully, I did have time to sand her face myself, making sure that her eyebrows or lip lines didn’t get sanded off completely. I like to do the face if I can to make sure the anatomy of the chin and cheeks isn’t altered (i.e. flattened out). I won’t always be able to do this kind of supervision to my casts. It’s definitely not making me money by being there for every metal and patina check.
What’s supposed to happen is eventually you trust your foundry enough, after they’ve worked on a few of the same sculpt, to know the piece well and to know you as an artist, understanding what’s expected and desired. You turn them loose to make the future castings and have confidence that all will go well.
I am trying out another foundry that I think I will be able to trust to do my highly detailed work without me doing checks. It’s being run by an artist himself, someone I really respect and trust. Hopefully all will work out wonderfully and his foundry will be my main foundry. Then, I’ll be free from so many trips to the foundry. However, for Beautiful Dreamer, I will always work out my own waxes. She has so much detail and I want to crisp it all up in the wax and know that no foundry will want to do what I do on her. But this piece is a special piece to me and I want each collector to have something that is like a gem or a piece of fine jewelry. Something they will know I put my heart into to have just right for them.
Liver of Sulphur has been applied and patina is being rubbed back with scotchbrite pads.
I asked that the skin could have very, very subtle liver be added. One time, not at this foundry, one of my pieces ended up looking like she had raccoon eyes!
I love this stage when the bronze looks like gold!
She looks like gold to me! Bronze is an alloy made from around 90% copper and 10% tin (sometimes other metals are added too). So what we’re actually seeing here is that beautiful golden copper color. And as we all know, copper tarnishes easily, thus the need for a patina to protect the metal from turning to a weathered copper look (unless that’s what you want). Wax is also essential (or lacquer) to really protect the metal from the elements and oils from handling.
Aiya at Berkeley
Aiya is scrubbing back the liver of sulphur with two different strengths of pads.
One time, the smaller Beautiful Dreamer actually fell off of those granite pieces that she’s being propped up on. Eeeks, I think that patina ended up being redone anyway because it was a white patina and looked blotchy. The patina artist wanted to redo her and the second time around she looked good.
Painting on the burgundy color onto the hot bronze.
Brightness of the dress and ruffles will change once wax is applied to warm bronze.
Wax when applied when the metal is warm, will soak into the metal’s pores and cause the white lavender ruffles to die back quite a bit, having the bronze show through. And for the red color, it will darken to a rich blackish burgundy.
Applying wax to warm bronze.
I love it when the wax is applied! That’s when the colors, including the bronze, glow. But it only looks that way while the wax is melting. Sure does get me excited though! One of the many pretty moments in the process of going to bronze (ugliest stage is the wax stage- so dull- not reflecting light).
Tested how she looks without a granite base.
She looks wonderful without a base. For the small Beautiful Dreamer, I had a base because she needed a little height to see her better. But for this size I like her without a base. I tested her in my bathrooms on pink marble in one bathroom and green granite in the other. Both looked very nice. then on antique furniture and also on newer rich walnut book cases, all looked great. I love how versatile this patina color is with many different colors.
By the way, that large stoneware lady holding a cat, is one of my early works. She just so happens to match my green granite. The glaze in her dress has white puffs in it that look like the green granite with white puffs as well. I love my early works because I can see my progress.
She looks great on wood, granite, and marble.
Probably she looks the best on this antique furniture because it goes with the era that she is from. 
Creamy light bronze skin was achieved by misting ferric with an airbrush.
If ferric nitrate is applied with a spray bottle, it can end up leaving larger droplets which show up as spots on the skin. That’s not good at all. I really liked how Aiya applied the ferric with an airbrush. The skin ended up perfect and looks really creamy. Also, she didn’t get the skin too dark. Aiya did a really good job on her!
See the old picture frame in her hand? She's dreaming of someone in the photo....
Indistinct photo.... could be her father she's remembering or perhaps, as my mind sees it, her lover is the guy in the photo.
Next week I’ll bring Beautiful Dreamer into Napa’s Quent Cordair Fine Art where her new home will be. Hope the reception will be very good for her. She is an edition of 50. I think I want to have an artist proof or two made for me as well.
Thanks for listening and seeing how my trip went to the foundry this past week. I hope that all of you who are sculptors have a wonderfully productive 2012. If you are a collector, I’d love to hear from you and which piece you like the best out of my works. Perhaps one can be yours!
~Tamara
2 Responses to “Beautiful Dreamer Bronze Foundry pics- (Also Including Michael Parkes Sculptures)”
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Tamara, what a very impressive and gorgeous sculptor. I highly admire your talent and eye to detail. You have been dearly blessed. Luella
Luella,
Thank you very much! Grateful is how I feel to feel just an inkling of what Jehovah felt to make new things. Of course, He made really “new” things whereas I use clay from His earth and try to mimic a tiny fraction of the beauty but it’s pleasurable to do it. Animals don’t enjoy creating, so it’s another one of those special traits we as humans have in his “likeness.”
Tamara