Bronze Tree Trunk Boxes/Bookends

I'm currently working on a pair of bronze tree trunk bookends that are also boxes. Metals are such a neat medium although a little intimidating at first. Like with all things, you just have to take it one step at a time. I've been meaning to document my bronze casting experience, but I keep forgetting to take photos during class. Here are a few that I took last night though.



This is the plaster mold I made after initially sculpting the general shape of the piece with clay. I don't have any photos of the clay though. I then poured wax into the mold. To make the piece hollow, I poured out most of the wax after a shell had cooled and hardened around the outside edges. To make the bottom, I poured some wax onto a wet surface to make a sheet which was cut out and soldered to the shell. Next, I carved texture into the tree trunk and made little animals to go on the lids.











This last picture is the step I'm on now. It's called sprewing. I attach the red wax sticks to the piece in order to create a path for the bronze to flow.

Here is a great site that explains the whole process:
http://www.modernsculpture.com/bronze.htm