Dipping The Pieces of Evelyn
I ran by the Betz Art Foundry today after receiving a message on my phone. “We are dipping.” Dipping is the next part in the bronze process. Before the foundry could dip they had to gate up each of the pieces. The waxes need pour cups to pour metal into and gates that will help the gasses escape. Each piece is coated and dipped many times covering both inside and out. This creates a ceramic shell. The ceramic shell is where the bronze will be poured, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Next post the burn out and pour of Evelyn Rubenstein.
Looking for 3D Artists and Fine Art
I am giving a lecture at 3DCAMP Houston about art and technology. I’m also one of the committee members for 3DCAMP Houston 2012, and I’m gathering information for a book. I’m presently looking for 3D artists using some sort of digital 3D to create artwork in a physical form. That means creating in 3D, output using 3D tools such as cnc, or rapid prototyping, or incorporating 3D in the physical work somehow. The things I have learned about the technology surrounding 3D is that creative people are forever surprising me. Artists are pushing the tools to create work that has never been created before.
How about the vendors?
I’m also interested in talking to vendors about the tools and services they have to offer that directly relate to the fine art audience. Though 3DCAMP is looking for vendors who work in all areas that use 3D.
If you have artwork and can share your process with me , as well as your vendors please contact me with some links to your work. This information will be used for:
- A lecture at 3DCAMP Houston and other areas
- A possible book
- Articles and possible podcast interviews.
We are also interested in finding artwork for an up and coming art show for 3DCAMP Houston. The prospectus will be on the 3DCAMP Houston website soon. If you are interested simply subscribe to the 3DCAMP website newsletter and we will be sure you receive the information as soon as it is posted.
About 3DCAMP Houston 2012
3DCAMP is an all day conference of professionals and students and those who have an interest in 3D. We all come together to learn and share about everything 3D. 3DCAMP 2012 is coming back with STEAM, supporting the educational initiative of incorporating and encouraging the blending and education of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math (STEAM) . We are very excited to have both the University Of Houston Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics as well as the School of Arts as our hosts for 3DCAMP 2012. September 28th is the art show that is open to the public. September 29th will be the all day lectures. You can see some of the speakers and topics on the website. 3D technology covers a wide area, including science, archeology, medicine, art, engineering, math, and much more. Attend 3DCAMP and pick your desired interests and see some incredible stuff.
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Bridgette Mongeon-Sculptor, Writer and Speaker
Bridgette Mongeon is a sculptor, writer, illustrator and educator as well as a public speaker.
She is on the organizing committee for 3DCAMP Houston 3DCAMP Houston
Her blog can be found at https://creativesculpture.com.
She is also the owner and creator of the God’s Word Collectible Sculpture series
Follow the artists on twitter twitter.com/Sculptorwriter
Facebook – Personal
Facebook- Creative Endeavors
Listen to The Creative Christian Podcast or the Inspiration/Generation Podcast Click on Podcast Host Bios for a list of all podcasts.
Listen to the Art and Technology Podcast
Which Way Do We Go?
To expedite the process several quick sketches are put together for Grambling State University to look at. At this point in a project it is important to find the desired direction of a client. They might not even know what they are looking for, these quick sketches, help us to narrow down our direction.
Some of our thought process is this.
- To make the sculpture look large if we place it above, climbing on sculpted rock it will enhance the height.
- It is necessary to have a sculpture that others can interact with. I love this type of sculpture. As an artist I want people to interact with my work. I can’t wait to see pictures of people interacting. When the sculpture is done and placed this blog won’t stop. I will post what you send me. Please be sure to send the names of the people interacting. A school mascot is meant to be interacted with. Having large pedestals for sculptures suits some purposes, but for this… can someone say photo op?
- Grambling State University says they want an open mouth, a growl.
From the Grambling State University project blog at Gramblingtiger.blogspot.com
The Beginning
Welcome to the blog of the process of creating this wonderful sculpture for Grambling State University. Bridgette Mongeon, is the sculptor of this life size bronze mascot. She does her best to keep everyone abreast of what is happening with the tiger. This blog is created so that everyone can follow along.
Many times Bridgette Mongeon up to my elbows in clay, which does not work very well with typing up blog posts, but we will try to keep the blog current.
The rock looks like the state of Louisiana. That was
unintentional, but lets see how that plays out
in the sculpting process.
The Beginning-
Everything is all done in secret. A contact form comes into the Bridgette’s inbox requesting information about a sculpture and she responds. Then there is a lot of red tap to go through, contracts etc. and always a very quick deadline.
“I’m thrilled to be working with Grambling on this project. I love to capture the spirit of an entire school in a sculpture. ”
GO BIG OR GO HOME! Well not really, but that is what it appears. Bridgette presents several designs and sizes to Grambling State University. They decide they are going to have the largest size created for their campus.
From the Grambling State University project blog at Gramblingtiger.blogspot.com
What Now?
I’m working on the few waxes that are here and I expect to receive a call from the foundry that the others are ready. If I am lucky then by the end of the week the foundry will have all of the waxes and they will begin the pouring process of Evelyn. It is so exciting. For the time being, in between working on waxes, I’m resting my hands and preparing for a meeting when I bring back the photograph of Evelyn.
Oh yes, it took us two days to get the studio cleaned up and it is ready for the next project.
You can follow along with this entire process of creating a life size bronze for the ERJCC on the Evelyn Rubenstein project blog located at http://erjcc.blogspot.com/
The Next Step- Waxes
Once all of the molds are at the foundry, they pour waxes. For every mold there will be a hollow think wax created. Because I finished the arms, head and base these are sent back to me first. What do I do with these? The wax stage is one more opportunity to add detail, and clean things up. Remember the rubber molds were in to parts and so there is also the cleaning of seams. Once I feel I have all of the pieces clean and that they go together correctly, we will start our process of bronze casting.
You can follow along with this entire process of creating a life size bronze for the ERJCC on the Evelyn Rubenstein project blog located at http://erjcc.blogspot.com/
I have signed the bottom.
Evelyn will be welded to this base.
The base will then be secured to the
floor of the Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish
Community Center.
Mold Making
I like that I can work on the area under
the skirt.
The mold making process is often done by the foundry. However, I create my own molds. It takes about 2 weeks of time and is very labor intensive. I’m thankful for the interns and helpers who have come to assist in the last two weeks of mold making. My husband kept coming down from his clean office and watching me tug, lift and pull and just shakes his head. My interns say it is better and more physical than working out in the gym. The mold making process consists of several steps.
1. Cutting up- This was already mentioned in an earlier post
2. Claying up- In this part of the process the mold is divided into two halves with clay seams. Pour cups are also added to the mold- This offers a place for the foundry to pour the wax.
3. Painting Rubber- Once the pieces are cut, cleaned and clayed up the rubber is painted on both halves of the sculpture. Four plus coats are used on each piece. It takes about an hour for the rubber to dry in between coats.
4. Mother mold- the mother mold is called that because it is placed on top of the rubber mold and holds the rubber in place. Without it, when someone tried to pour wax into the mold the mold would be miss shapen. Creating the mother mold is hard work. A very stiff plaster/cement is mixed for each half. I mix my plaster by hand. It takes about 40 minutes for each half of the mother mold. Everyone of the molds that I made had at least 2 mother molds- front and back. The chest had three because it was so large.
You can follow along with this entire process of creating a life size bronze for the ERJCC on the Evelyn Rubenstein project blog located at http://erjcc.blogspot.com/
coats of rubber.
to be sent to the foundry .
Call For Artists, Authors And Others To Interview For Podcasts
Bridgette Mongeon has been host of two podcasts since 2008. Through the years the Inspiration/Generation and Creative Christian podcast has covered a variety of topics and many different authors. The topics are varied. Some topics are heavy and deal with psychological issues, some have an element of comedy or fun. Other topics are books that the host or co has have read that have really resonated with them. Then there have some very difficult topics such as an atheist and a Christian in marriage. If you think your book or aspirations fit our format we would love to hear from you. You can reach us through the contact form on the podcast blog. You must note that this podcast is has an inspirational/Christian format. To learn more and to see if you are a good fit peruse our podcast blog. You can see our entire list of topic by searching the pages by year.
When you contact us please indicate “possible podcast guest” in the subject line and give us some details about how you fit our format.
Topics of personal interest:
- Topics that help individuals overcome
- Topics and guests that support love in the face of extreme differences
- Creativity and Spirituality
- Business Creativity and Spirituality
- Writing and Art
Our podcasts are heard through ITunes, the blog and Facebook. Eacb guest also receives a link to their podcast. This link may be placed anywhere, on a website, facebook or a blog. The link brings up a separate audio browser with the guests podcast interview. The Inspiration/Generations podcasts and Creative Christians Podcast have been downloaded 23,000 times to date. The podcasts are sponsored by the God’s Word Collectible Gift series. If you are interested in sponsoring the podcasts please contact us through the contact form.
How Do I Stay Focused While in The Studio?
Thought I would share this little tidbit. I stay focused by….
Listening to audio books. I’m pretty much addicted to audio books and have a regular relationship with my library.
I also have the company of a very faithful, yet somewhat stinky old dog. And when I need a break I head outside my door and hang out watching the turtles at my pond.
watch nature for a moment.
Now For The Next Part Of The Process- Mold Making
The sculpture is divided into 8 pieces.
Once the approval is received, I then begin the next step. Even though I have spent hours painstakingly putting in all of the texture and detail, I must now cut up the sculpture. In the end there will be molds made of the following.
1. left arm
2. right arm
3. toros
4. head
5. two parts of skirt
6. left leg
7. right leg
8. base
The best part of cutting the sculpture apart is that I can work on the detail so much easier. For example, I work on the detail on the underside of the hands. This means that all though I have approval I still am spending an entire week on making parts as perfect as possible. While working on the hands, I found some chord and was able to make a better wedding ring, and give Evelyn a manicure.
You can follow along with this entire process of creating a life size bronze for the ERJCC on the Evelyn Rubenstein project blog located at http://erjcc.blogspot.com/