Richard Hathaway

The foundry e-mailed today, wanting the bench that Dick Hathaway was created on. I had it loaded into the van and brought it over to them. When arriving to the foundry the Hathaway sculpture was everywhere! Pull yourself together Professor! Miguel the master foundry man was diligently working on putting him together. It won’t be long. What was that quote that the professor used to say, “My body is just something I use to carry around my head.”

When I was searching for reference for the Dick Hathaway memorial, I went through the collection of his books and found this page. It seemed so appropriate for what I do, what transpires with the deceased. I think of it often when I am trying to capture the essence of those I have never met and who are now gone.

The poem

Out on the end of an apple tree bough
A birdie was singing a song just now.
And when it was ended
the birdie pretended
to say good-bye,
But he did not know how!

August 25th 2008, TW Wood Gallery. ( not sure of the time)

DATE IS BEING MOVED TO SEPTEMBER 25th 2008 5:30

June 10
The professors glasses are all fogged up!
While at the foundry dropping off the Jenna waxes and picking up wax two, I snapped these pictures of Dick Hathaway. Here you can see his head foot and…? The white stuff on the metal is the ceramic shell. The foundry will now break this away and begin to weld him back together again. Quite a process!

While at the foundry dropping of the Jenna waxes and picking up wax two I snapped these pictures of Dick Hathaway. Here you can see his head foot and…? The white stuff on the metal is the ceramic shell. The foundry will now break this away and begin to weld him back together again. Quite a process!
June 05
Today I went to see the pour of pieces of the Dick Hathaway sculpture. Here you see them pouring the head, in the background are the some other parts of the sculpture. You could say Dick Hathaway has a hot foot.

June 03
Richard Hathaway
Meanwhile I was able to take some pictures of Dick Hathaway, or at least pieces of him that have gone through the dip process. They are a bit different than the last pictures of the head.

Quite a shell around those wax pieces. If you have followed documentation process before you will note that inside these shells are the waxes. On Thursday the wax will be burned out of these shells until only a cavity remains. The molten bronze will be carefully poured within that cavity. The pour is scheduled for Thursday. I hope to get some good video footage of it for the upcoming video. I just love to watch a pour! There is something very entrancing about that glow!

May 29th
On with the bronze process of Professor Richard Hathaway
The next step, after the creating the waxes, is the gating of the waxes. Pour cups and wax sprues are added to the waxes that came from the Dick Hathaway molds. These are then dipped into a mixture coating the waxes both inside and out. Each of the many pieces will need to be dipped creating a ceramic shell. I went to the foundry today to take some pictures and video of the dip process for the next video that I will be creating about this sculpture. This part of the bronze process will take the foundry about a week.

The next step, after the creating the waxes, is the gating of the waxes. Pour cups and wax sprues are added to the waxes that came from the Dick Hathaway molds. These are then dipped into a mixture coating the waxes both inside and out. Each of the many pieces will need to be dipped creating a ceramic shell. I went to the foundry today to take some pictures and video of the dip process for the next video that I will be creating about this sculpture. This part of the bronze process will take the foundry about a week.

Yesterday I was at the foundry trying to take pictures of the gating up of the Dick Hathaway project as it goes through the bronze process, and at the manufacturer picking up God’s Word sculpture, then it was off to the Ceramic supply store to replace tools that had broken and purchase new ones.

I lost almost an entire day of sculpting, but got back to it last night. My new apprentice Caroline worked on smoothing out Jenna’s dress on Tuesday night and again last night, while I figured out how to create cherub wings. Took quite a long time for the one wing, on side, but now that I know what I am doing I am confident the other will go much more quickly. I’m not sure we got as much done as we could have as we were watching my favorite show while working, “so you think you can dance.” I think Jenna liked it as well, as I am sure she would have loved to learn to dance, and she is probably dancing in heaven right now. Can’t you hear her giggling, “look what I can make my legs do now!” I watched her move her hands and wrists in the video around and around in a circle, seemed similar to the expression I saw in those young kids dancing last night- the good dancers. I’ll post some more pictures at the end of the day.

Once all the molds were made they were sent to the foundry and waxes were poured. The waxes are then brought back to the studio to be cleaned up. So here is Dick, gone to pieces! Now that the wax pieces are cleaned they are sent back to the foundry and they are gated up to get ready for the next steps in the lost wax method of bronze casting. I am so excited that Richard Hathaway is well on his way to becoming a bronze sculpture

The 6 molds went to the foundry today. I always like taking a picture of the inside of the mold of the face. It looks so strange. I still have 3 more to make. Can’t wait for this week to be over with.

Once shims are put into the sculpture to create a parting line the rubber is painted on. Then each side receives the mother mold made of plaster. My hands go through a dry week as I mix each batch of plaster with my hands. When it kicks and begins to cure it does so very quickly. The means haste in putting on the coat of plaster. This is why my studio is an absolute disaster right now. Plaster is everywhere, including spots on the cabinets, the phone, the tv remote and all over me. Just a few more days of this mess. That is not a birds nest on professor Hathaway’s rubber face, it is hemp that is added to the plaster to make it strong.

It is all part of the process. Not for the weak of heart. We have spent many months perfecting the sculpture only to cut it to pieces in the end. Each of these pieces will have rubber painted on top of them. Then a mother mold is added on top. They call it a mother mold because it holds the rubber in place. This process is grueling work. It will probably take me an entire week of long hours to complete all of the molds. The sculpture is cut up into 9 pieces.