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2017-02-01 https://www.aliciaponzio.com/process-and-progress daily 0.75 2024-05-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5820218ae4fcb51e9e1c0444/1482441904379-2YHZN17J0IY72CYUR4KH/12.jpg Process and Progress Blog https://www.aliciaponzio.com/process-and-progress/2024/5/3/recommended-clay-modeling-tools monthly 0.5 2024-05-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5820218ae4fcb51e9e1c0444/c6ed6b66-5eae-4c96-880b-f5d2ee93873e/PXL_20240504_041110351.jpg Process and Progress Blog - Recommended Clay Modeling Tools - Make it stand out These tools are modeled after the Tiranti B-Series Professional Hard Wood Modeling Tools. Click on the image to go to their website . https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5820218ae4fcb51e9e1c0444/cfdf0d02-156e-4d7c-a71c-7bf6aed2188f/PXL_20240504_041129907.jpg Process and Progress Blog - Recommended Clay Modeling Tools - Make it stand out A drawing tool is extremely important. I don’t know of any commercially available models that I like- see what you can find! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5820218ae4fcb51e9e1c0444/aef01d75-1bd9-4ac6-8d4e-765b9118f1c9/PXL_20240504_041023238.jpg Process and Progress Blog - Recommended Clay Modeling Tools - Make it stand out The Paddle is way more useful than I ever imagined. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5820218ae4fcb51e9e1c0444/0fd30701-52da-468c-a727-1427ce6e0f89/PXL_20240504_041156893.jpg Process and Progress Blog - Recommended Clay Modeling Tools - Make it stand out You’ll need a lot of Loop Tools! All sizes, shapes, hardnesses, with and without teeth. Click on the picture to see Xiem Tools website for one of my current faves. https://www.aliciaponzio.com/process-and-progress/2023/12/10/the-americans-show-posters-with-process monthly 0.5 2023-12-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5820218ae4fcb51e9e1c0444/1c8b201a-37f6-4104-a5b7-a3f90d6e2178/Inspiration.jpg Process and Progress Blog - The Americans, Show Posters with Process - Inspiration… “Ideas for sculptures come in various ways. Often, I’m communicating a thought or feeling. Stacked Heads was inspired by a moment where I saw three separate The Builder heads piled on my workbench, with ceramic shell still clinging to the curls in the hair. I found the repetition soothing, while the varied angles of each head created interest, excitement. Sometimes the industrial aesthetic of the foundry environment enhances the subtle beauty of a moment like this through contrast. I left much of the casting process apparent in the finished work as a reminder of the feeling of that original moment.” Click Here to see the completed bronze of Stacked Heads . https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5820218ae4fcb51e9e1c0444/46f50870-6248-4219-b9cb-30981c82715c/Clay+1.jpg Process and Progress Blog - The Americans, Show Posters with Process - Clay… “Though sculptures can begin with a wide range of materials, clay is my preferred medium for working out compositions and ideas. It’s an incredible substance in that it can be pushed, stretched, or moved and maintain the shape it’s placed in spontaneously (a quality called “plasticity”). Because I create these figures from imagination, the identity of the subject isn’t static: a single character will morph many times as I struggle with who I want the character to become.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5820218ae4fcb51e9e1c0444/2c59b4b7-3424-47e8-8a30-9b2b5dd27fd3/clay+2.jpg Process and Progress Blog - The Americans, Show Posters with Process - Clay of The Builder in progress Click Here to See the Bronze of The Builder https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5820218ae4fcb51e9e1c0444/ac9c34e4-740e-403a-9fc4-bcd0589826c0/Wax+Work.jpg Process and Progress Blog - The Americans, Show Posters with Process - Wax Work… “The first step in lost wax bronze casting is to create a wax (using a mold in this case). The wax is a replica of the clay. It’s often surprising to students how much work needs to be done in the wax stage to prepare it for casting. For technical reasons, it’s often best to remove and cast separately certain parts of the wax, which will be welded back into place when the piece emerges as a bronze. Channels must be created to direct the bronze into the piece, and air out of the piece. Wax work is often a challenging puzzle, an aesthetic exercise, and a painstaking process. The appearance and design of the wax determines the quality of the final bronze in many ways.” Click Here to see the completed bronze of Resting Equilibrium. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5820218ae4fcb51e9e1c0444/ba9293ab-b05f-4de9-a9a4-79d97b2626e3/Gating.jpg Process and Progress Blog - The Americans, Show Posters with Process - Gating the Wax… “The wax will eventually become a negative space in the shell. Channels are designed to direct the flow of hot metal into the piece, allow wax and air to escape the shell, support the piece during the subsequent stages, and minimize shrinkage of the bronze. Each sculpture being a unique shape, the gating has to be carefully considered for the challenges specific to that shape. Ultimately, it’s important to imagine how the 2000 degree bronze will flow through the channels, how gravity will help or hinder the process, and how to maximize the filling of the shell.” Click Here to see the completed bronze of Reverie and Abundance . https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5820218ae4fcb51e9e1c0444/8b9c6e1e-a2e6-4404-a544-9296e88212dd/Shell++Dipping.jpg Process and Progress Blog - The Americans, Show Posters with Process - Building the Shell… When the wax is ready and gated, it’s coated through a dipping process with ceramic shell. The hollow piece is coated inside and out with the shell material. It takes several dips to build up the strength and thickness of the mold to the desired level and the shell must dry for roughly 2 hours between each dip. Building the shell can take a few days to a week. When the dipping is completed, shell will be fired in a kiln at 1750 degrees (F). This will strengthen the shell, and remove the wax from inside it, leaving an empty space that is a replica of the original sculpture. This empty space is where the molten bronze will be poured into. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5820218ae4fcb51e9e1c0444/77cfd901-32fe-42ed-849c-8eee49776c18/The+Fit+Up.jpg Process and Progress Blog - The Americans, Show Posters with Process - The “Fit Up”… After the metal has been poured into the shell, and the shell has been broken from the bronze, the metal work begins. It’s important to ensure that the pieces fit back together for welding. This image shows the successful “fit up” of The Builder , with 5 pieces to be welded. It’s often during the wax stage that the relative success of the fit up will be determined. Taking the time to ensure that the pieces fit together in wax will save time in welding and may lead to a better result. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5820218ae4fcb51e9e1c0444/c3b2a2ea-5f93-4c26-a819-bf2fd5b85e17/Welding+halo.jpg Process and Progress Blog - The Americans, Show Posters with Process - The Welding Halo… A process called TIG welding is used most commonly in bronze casting to reattach the parts that were separated in wax. It’s precise and versatile. Through an electric arc, the area of the weld is heated rapidly to 2000 degrees, melting the metal and allowing the 2 sides to fuse. Because bronze is mostly copper (96%) it conducts heat better than steel, for example, and it requires more heat to fuse it (as heat dissipates quickly away from the weld). Because the metal becomes hot, it reacts with oxygen in the environment and a rainbow halo forms, radiating outward from the weld site which is hottest. This effect is fugitive, unfortunately, but lovely to witness. Click Here to see the completed bronze of Distant Storm Tall Grasses. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5820218ae4fcb51e9e1c0444/3318ecf5-eb6b-44b8-8e10-41e826964b35/Sandblaster.jpg Process and Progress Blog - The Americans, Show Posters with Process - Sandblasting… “The bronze goes through many states during the process of lost wax casting. The metal may change color and appearance. The welds will be blended back into the surface through grinding and polishing. The process of sandblasting cleans and equalizes the surface of the metal, unifying the appearance and revealing the satin sheen and golden-coppery color of the bronze. After the trauma that the piece has sustained throughout the lost wax casting process, it’s a positive feeling to watch the forms emerge again, often with the original fingerprints of the artists still intact on the surface. It’s remarkable how rough the process seems, and how fine the results can be.” Click Here to see the finished bronze of The Bashful Torso https://www.aliciaponzio.com/process-and-progress/2020/11/10/building-in-the-time-of-covid monthly 0.5 2020-11-25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5820218ae4fcb51e9e1c0444/1605047648817-TZ5DFNTH504PU8FZCJ46/F758EEE2-59F4-44FD-8770-CAA7DEA588BA.jpeg Process and Progress Blog - Building in the Time of COVID by Alicia N. Ponzio Concept Sketches in Clay , Alicia N. Ponzio 2020 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5820218ae4fcb51e9e1c0444/1605047886824-O4YZCVUIZ9ZX53HIIQ10/7ED8BA97-8A65-46C4-87DA-4B8A3D7E1F51.jpeg Process and Progress Blog - Building in the Time of COVID by Alicia N. Ponzio The Builder (working title), clay in progress, Alicia N. Ponzio 2020 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5820218ae4fcb51e9e1c0444/1605051105843-6OQMY4CYSSHXQPXOHQGM/5E4BDE82-48F1-4B3C-8CA6-B7F69C8A1CB0.jpg Process and Progress Blog - Building in the Time of COVID by Alicia N. Ponzio The Builder (working title), clay in progress, Alicia N. Ponzio 2020 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5820218ae4fcb51e9e1c0444/1605048067868-WDBDQPA5DOAE1RDFBYR9/21E32C47-F32F-4D34-A146-5FB245704FB6.jpeg Process and Progress Blog - Building in the Time of COVID by Alicia N. Ponzio The Builder (working title), detail of clay in progress, Alicia N. Ponzio 2020 https://www.aliciaponzio.com/process-and-progress/2016/11/8/lost-wax-method monthly 0.5 2017-01-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5820218ae4fcb51e9e1c0444/1479697711413-3TOFIIPRC42XX3PIMOQQ/image-asset.jpeg Process and Progress Blog - Lost Wax Method: described in images I've always appreciated craft... and since I began casting bronzes of my own work, I've wanted (very-much) to learn the process from the inside out. I notice a subtle but tangible quality in works that were created by artists who understand the process and/or execute it with their own hands. It allows me be present for the artistic decisions that can be made along the way...and opens my mind to the possibilities of the medium. In short, it creates a shorter path between imagination and tangible object. I'm fortunate to live in the San Francisco Bay Area, for the many resources available to sculptors here. For the past almost year, I've been studying foundry work and casting some of my works at The Crucible, an industrial arts school in Oakland, California, just 20 minutes from my studio door. Here you can follow the story of one bronze, the "Little Laughing Lady"... https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5820218ae4fcb51e9e1c0444/1482260610948-C83YYIYJ3EOQ9NXXO23P/image-asset.jpeg Process and Progress Blog - Lost Wax Method: described in images THE ORIGINAL: This six inch figure will take us through the basic steps of casting a bronze. I modeled it directly in microcrystalline wax (which is the most commonly used at foundries). We'll be using the Lost Wax Method of casting in bronze, which is essentially the same process that has been used to cast bronze for approximately 6000 years, though technology has streamlined it. This will be a direct casting, meaning that the original wax will be used to create the bronze, and will be destroyed in the process. (another option would be to make a mold of the piece so that multiple waxes could be made and cast into bronze)... but for this one, I'll give myself just one chance.... https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5820218ae4fcb51e9e1c0444/1482260544414-4KOG023H0K3TPEHIYQRT/image-asset.jpeg Process and Progress Blog - Lost Wax Method: described in images GATING THE WAX "Gates" are channels that allow the bronze to flow into the form of the figure, and air to flow out. The gates (seen in red here) are bars of wax that are attached to the figure using heat to melt the two surfaces as they contact each other. The number of gates and position varies depending on the unique form of the piece, so it takes some experience and practice ( sometimes humility) to become proficient at gating. Oh yes- it also takes imagination. One must imagine how the molten bronze will flow into the piece, and what obstacles it will encounter... and try to overcome them proactively. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5820218ae4fcb51e9e1c0444/1482260640953-SI9FAR2EW1CIN3MLWFJX/image-asset.jpeg Process and Progress Blog - Lost Wax Method: described in images https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5820218ae4fcb51e9e1c0444/1482260658764-EVWOA7R5NWEMDYKTNBNX/5.jpg Process and Progress Blog - Lost Wax Method: described in images https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5820218ae4fcb51e9e1c0444/1482260689933-W9G5Z1O98SCGZZUIY9WA/6.jpg Process and Progress Blog - Lost Wax Method: described in images https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5820218ae4fcb51e9e1c0444/1480447387871-P51J7KM5LZMBA728ESSX/image-asset.jpeg Process and Progress Blog - Lost Wax Method: described in images https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5820218ae4fcb51e9e1c0444/1480461527385-R36DOOPA4OEVOOE5YCLI/8.jpg Process and Progress Blog - Lost Wax Method: described in images https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5820218ae4fcb51e9e1c0444/1480451721930-JGKJRFE6ZYO39RPYDNNS/image-asset.jpeg Process and Progress Blog - Lost Wax Method: described in images https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5820218ae4fcb51e9e1c0444/1482261101781-B86BX4IXSRJXNQF4NNLP/image-asset.jpeg Process and Progress Blog - Lost Wax Method: described in images https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5820218ae4fcb51e9e1c0444/1480543353273-40Z7BB06MY5CPQ3FZV17/image-asset.jpeg Process and Progress Blog - Lost Wax Method: described in images https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5820218ae4fcb51e9e1c0444/1480543364473-OLTBI5Y3P3QM4EYF2QCF/image-asset.jpeg Process and Progress Blog - Lost Wax Method: described in images https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5820218ae4fcb51e9e1c0444/1482292950947-XVGGH3WX6AKISUG0AS3F/image-asset.jpeg Process and Progress Blog - Lost Wax Method: described in images 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