Tom Christiansen

Thank you Polytek

2012-01-26T13:56:00.000-08:00

Molds are now finished on the male officer. The Polytek mold system worked very well.

The back half of the figure with the plastic mother mold sprayed on. When we are working on the female figure I will try to get a volunteer to take some pictures of that process. With the two of us we can't take action shots, just too much going on.

Lester trimming the flange with a jig saw.

Lester holding the first section of mold peeled off the clay,

This shows a mold section, blue is flexible rubber, white is the plastic mother mold

All the molds fastened together with bolts. We drilled through the flange before peeling the molds apart. I managed to manhandle one of the molds and broke off part of the flange. No worries though it will still work just fine.

Stripping the clay from the armature. We save the clay for the next project.

2012-01-25T13:19:00.000-08:00

The other side of the piece.

The arms set up and sprayed with the rubber.

This morning we sprayed on the plastic mother mold over the front half of the mold. That material goes on very quickly and sets up in a few minutes. We flipped over the sculpture and sprayed on the rubber material on the back half and sprayed the arms. Don't tell Lester but I forgot to spray release agent on one of the arms. That oversight will make getting the rubber off the clay a chore but won't hurt anything but my reputation. The rubber will cure overnight and we will then spray on the plastic mother mold.

I definitely am glad I went through the trouble of making these figures sturdy enough to lay them down. It made spraying them much easier with far less wasted material. The shop stayed cleaner too. The gun loaded with spray material weighs about 15 pounds. It is very tiring to hold up for several hours at a time while working.

Polytek Spray on rubber molds

2012-01-24T18:41:00.000-08:00

Lester holding arm after we cut it off. We tied and taped off the arms to keep from deforming the surface.
This was a very stressful operation but worked out perfectly.

Figure without arms. This makes mold making easier and allows for better results,

Figure laid out to facilitate spray on mold. We supported figure in the middle to keep from deforming it.
We added shims to part the figure in half but I forgot to get pictures of that step.

After spraying, the tool in the foreground is used with cartridges for applying mold material.

Mold material applied, note the flange surrounding the figure creating a parting line for two halves of the mold.

Tomorrow we will be spraying on the plastic mother mold which will give form to the flexible rubber.
This was a stress filled day of very hard work. Everything worked as planned and tonight the rubber is curing so we can proceed to the next step.

Modeling hands in clay

2012-01-22T14:56:00.000-08:00

That's me working on hands today and a close up of one that is finished.

Yesterday Robin from Duluth Police Dept. and Steve from St. Louis County Sheriff's Dept. came up for a preview. They are happy with the progress and gave me the go ahead to start mold making.

Lester has been making molds already of the hardware that goes on the officer's belts. The goal is to have both the figures finished and in molds by the 4th of Feb.

Big Plasteline Figures

2012-01-20T15:29:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I have shown you a picture to put things in scale. This is the present form the Duluth project is in. Reworked the female figure quite a bit. She is more svelte now. A few details to go on the figures then the mold making can begin.
Representatives from Duluth Police Department and St. Louis County Sheriff's Office are coming to visit tomorrow. Hopefully they will be pleased.

Wax Patterns ready for investment

2012-01-18T12:55:00.000-08:00

Shown here are the two S&W hand guns ready to be subjected to the refractory mold process. In the lost wax casting method the term is investment. What you see here are the two guns made from wax. The red material is wax as well and you see the two paper cups.

The cups form a funnel in the mold. The red wax attaching the cup to the gun is called a sprue, the little red wax from the butt of the gun and from the holster to the cup are vents. Imagine trying to pour water into a pop bottle, the difficulty is the air must rush out as fast as the water pours in. By venting we can rapidly pour bronze into the molds.

Everything you see here gets invested (covered) in refractory mold material. We use Shell-Spen, a liquid colloidal silica and sand to build up coats of the mold. When fully coated the material will be 1/4 of an inch thick. The wax will then be melted out of the molds, the molds heated to 1800 degrees then bronze poured in where the wax was. The result is everything you see here will then be bronze. The sprue with cup and the vents will be cut off leaving the gun.

I will take pictures of the process to help illustrate what I'm attempting to explain.

Today's progress

2012-01-16T15:11:00.000-08:00

Missing is the badge and detail on the shirt patches. I've decided to make separate molds for these and add them in the wax stage.

Shirt pocket with a pen.

Belt with basket weave, again this texture will be easier to add to the wax.

Made good progress today. I'm thinking the top half of the male figure is finished (except for the hands).

A more friendly officer

2012-01-16T05:54:00.000-08:00

I softened his expression a bit by filling out his lips and giving him a hint of a smile. Pockets on the shirt are a bit small here and when I enlarge them he will get a pen in his pocket. The badge and patches on the shirt will be next.

Lester did a good job on the mold of the hand gun but will be detailing the wax more. The details are fussy to do but add so much to the personality of the figure. Our challenge will be to quit bumping into parts that are finished while working on other parts. The clay is soft enough to mark easily with finger prints.

The plan is to be ready to start mold making by the end of this week on this figure.

Smith & Wesson but bigger

2012-01-09T14:18:00.000-08:00

Here is the service weapon for both of the figures. I need to put a strap over it but you get the idea. Again this is scaled 1.171 times larger than life sized. I can make one mold of this and use it for both figures.

I have this figure nearly finished. I need to add pockets to his shirt and the back of his pants and the badge and shirt patches.

Rendering shirts in clay

2012-01-07T07:28:00.000-08:00

More progress on the Duluth Project. I've spent the last week on attempting to get the shirts correct on the figures. Finding the balance of realism and representationalism. In the end simplicity is the best way, looking for drama and telling the story of the heroism of the officers. I have re-learned the old lesson of less is more, several times over.
The female figure is filled out more in the waist and I may be giving her breast reduction surgery today.

2011-12-31T14:04:00.000-08:00

Thanks to John Books, see his web-site here, who came down from Thunder Bay to do some casting of his work and to cast a friendly but critical eye on the Duluth Project figures.
Often times when working on a piece it is really hard to see the faults in it. John was able to see that the male figure was standing too far back on his heels, among other less obvious faults. It took a few hours extra work but by shimming up the figure, basically giving him a heel lift, it improved things tremendously.
Lesson learned; Make the fastenings to the base adjustable!
According to John we must, " stay calm, be brave and wait for the sign."

cut out clay and drilled through to bolt down the armature after shimming

Chavant Plasteline Modeling Clay

2011-12-22T11:30:00.000-08:00

This is my first experience of working on a large scale piece using Chavant Plasteline. I must say that the expense is well worth it. In the past I have used water based sculpting clay and the need to keep the clay damp and covering and uncovering the piece all the time was a real time consumer. I have also made my own plasteline. This is a mix of dry clay and used motor oil. You guessed it, a stinky mess. That material worked OK for taking up space in resin bonded sand molds but I didn't want to risk the heavy sulfur content during this project. Sulfur in clay is incompatible with the flexible rubber mold materials I will be using.

I have found the Chavant to be nice to work with especially when heated with a lamp. I have also used a heat gun on the sculptures to soften the surface. When it cools it tools well and holds texture nicely. I have a ways to go on this project till I'm ready for mold making but the material has become a partner in the process rather than an element I must struggle with.

I'll start on the shirts tomorrow, with a couple days off for Christmas I still may be finishing the clay at the first of the year. Happy Holidays.

Duluth News Tribune

2011-12-13T12:35:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Peter Passi for the nice article in Thursday's Duluth News Tribune. It's nice to have this kind recognition and a "good news" news article on the front page. Well, good news to me. In the article Todd Fedora, Duluth City Councilor, questions whether public art is a good value. I would like to point out that nearly every dollar I am earning is going back into the community and this commission ensures my ability to keep paying my employees. Lester has gotten fond of eating on a regular basis.

Duluth Public Art Sculpture

2011-12-02T14:41:00.001-08:00

This is my "lovely assistant" Lester helping move the sculptures. We were able to lift the female figure up on the stand by hand but brains over-ruled brawn. I made an attachment to bolt into the ceiling making this process much easier. Brings to mind the old saying, "strong like bull...smart like tractor".

Duluth Public Art sculpture

2011-12-02T09:59:00.001-08:00

Detail of the female officer boots and some tools of the trade. We will take this figure off the sawhorses today and move the male figure up to work on the legs. Good progress now and I'm very excited with how it's coming along.

Duluth Public Art Sculpture Progress

2011-11-30T14:08:00.001-08:00

That's me working on the female deputy boots and legs. Because the core of the piece is mostly foam we were able to lift it up on saw horses. It's a little tough to be crawling around on the floor for this work. To the right is my heat lamp warming up the plasteline clay to make it easier to work.

DPA

2011-11-09T13:55:00.000-08:00

Working on ears for the female figure. When I see a photo like this I really get an idea of how big these are.
Next I will start on clothing the body, from the feet up.

DPA Project

2011-11-08T13:02:00.000-08:00

Making progress on the faces. Thanks to my friends John and Judie for allowing me to photograph them for modeling. Tomorrow I'll be working on the figures from the bottom up. When I am nearly finished I'll go back to the faces to" fine tune" them.

Duluth Public Art Project

2011-11-05T15:17:00.000-07:00

After a week visiting Washington DC and the WW 2 Memorial with my dad it's nice to be back at work. We visited the Capitol building and the Hall of Sculptures and the Korean War Memorial. All gave me inspiration for these big figures.

Whole Foods, Minnetonka, MN finished

2011-10-07T11:11:00.000-07:00

I finished installing the cattails at the new Whole Foods in Minnetonka. The grand opening is October 12th so I made it in plenty of time. Thanks to John of J. Swisher Construction install was as it should be. No surprises.

clay, YEA!

2011-10-02T10:17:00.000-07:00

The female figure just before adding the first layer of clay

Clay on the figure

Working with the Plasteline clay on wire mesh is a bit hard on the fingers. Having the right amount of heat on the clay helps a lot. Posters on the wall are from the event in the studio announcing our new venture, Studio Forma, Click here for info.

Duluth Public Art Project (DPA)

2011-09-21T15:32:00.000-07:00

Off with his head, weld on the support

On with his head

The wire mesh on styro to hold the clay in place, I'll have to remove this head too for the support rod

A brain storm. While working on the figures and thinking ahead to the mold making process I came up with this idea. Why not create a way to support the figures horizontally to facilitate mold making? The rubber mold material always sags and runs down before it hardens when applied on vertical surfaces. These figures are so big I was concerned about obtaining good results so why not make them to fit a rotisserie? I cut off the heads and welded an extension to the steel armature. Now I will be able to support them from both ends and turn them to make the mold application easier.

Whole Foods, Minnetonka, MN

2011-09-21T15:11:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago I received a call requesting a sculpture for an identifier for the entrance to the new Whole Foods store opening in Minnetonka in October. Speed was essential to complete and install the piece by grand opening. My client gave me permission to change the suggested design. Minnetonka has cattails painted on the water tower so this is what I came up with. Still need to do a finish patina but it looks pretty good, I think.

Sense of Scale

2011-08-11T13:47:00.000-07:00

This will give you a sense of how large these figures are going to be. I'm still roughing out the styro which is going to be covered with clay. This process is valuable in getting the scale implanted in my mind. It's a bit harder to work larger than life than smaller. For some reason our minds are really tuned to life size and reluctant to accommodate the bigger scale.

My, You are a big girl!

Duluth Public Art Project (DPA)

2011-08-06T12:51:00.000-07:00

After the Grand Marais art festival, a small group show at Johnson Gallery in grand Marais and a death in the family I am finally back to work on the DPA project.
Over the welded steel armatures I'm using Styrofoam insulation board to fill out the figures. Over the styro I'll be stretching expanded metal mesh, over that will go the clay.

Notice the drawings on the wall I use to check my proportions.

Last Weekend, Grand Marais Art Festival

2011-07-15T11:10:00.000-07:00

Here I am after giving myself the art sales person of the day award.

Celebration of Fiber Art

2011-07-03T09:01:00.000-07:00

Studio transformed, Karen speaking in the tent

Jo Wood

Stu's tools

Debbie Cooter

Yesterday, July 2nd, we hosted a Celebration of Fiber Art with guest artists Karen Lohn, Jo Wood and Debbie Cooter. Each artist spoke about their particular view of fiber art and gave demonstrations. Good weather, good food, good music. What could be better?

DPA Armatures

2011-06-16T15:19:00.000-07:00

Here are the armatures welded up. I used the drawings on the floor to size these. Think of them as skeletons to hold the foam and clay up. Tomorrow I will be gluing foam insulation board over these to fill out and roughly shape the figures. Got 240 pounds of Chavant sulphur free plasteline clay today. This is an oil based clay that will not dry out while I'm sculpting. In the past I have used water based clay and spent far too much time trying to keep the clay the correct level of damp. The plasteline will eliminate that time drain.

Duluth Public Art Project (DPA)

2011-06-11T09:35:00.000-07:00

I received the first payment for the DPA project this week and can finally get started. I was awarded the project in February but it takes time to deal with contracts and insurance. Now the fun begins. I will be making at least weekly posts so you can follow the progress. First thing to do is figure scale, shrinkage and armature (steel skeleton). This is a picture of the two figures drawn out on the floor to the scale that the original clay sculpture (the pattern) will be. The tape measure is pulled out to 7 feet. The finished bronze sculpture will shrink about 5% through the process of going from clay to wax to bronze.

Judith's Spirit

2011-05-18T13:14:00.000-07:00

Finished the sculpture today. When I put a head on the object it defeated the idea of expressing spirit. I'm happy with this outcome.

More Progress

2011-05-04T14:57:00.000-07:00

Cutting out a pattern in cardboard or doing a drawing is always easier than realizing the object in bronze.

Judith Gesch Sculpture

2011-04-19T13:57:00.000-07:00

Titanium parts, nice patina, sitting on the fab. table

one idea with the parts as arm and leg and hat, scribbles represent bronze to be sculpted

another idea using parts as legs and cap as umbrella, sculpture will be mounted on stone from the North Shore

Judith Gesch was an artist, dancer, choreographer, and teacher. She had hip surgeries and joked that her children should use the parts left after cremation for a sculpture. Peta Barrett, her daughter, is following through with the idea.
Here are the pieces on the bench and some ideas on how they could be incorporated into a bronze sculpture.

Red and Blue at Home

2011-04-06T14:30:00.000-07:00

Here are the two horses installed in their new location.

Red and Blues Great Adventure

2011-04-05T08:01:00.000-07:00

Loaded up the horses for the trip to the cities and then on to Scottsdale. We had a nice opening for the Kickin' show at Grand Hand, then left for Arizona early the next morning. All day went through big winds and dust storms, temps to 90. This morning woke to snow in Texas.

Red and Blue Horses just about ready

2011-03-30T14:56:00.000-07:00

Here are pictures of Red and Blue waiting for the final clear coat over the paint. I'll load them up tomorrow afternoon for the big trip to Arizona. It will be fun traveling with them in the back of the pick up and I plan on parking in front of Grand Hand Gallery Saturday during the opening of Kickin'.
I should be able to get some pictures on the way, I'll post them if anything looks interesting.

Final destination for Red and Blue is in the Scottsdale area. Special thanks to Elaine at Xanadu Gallery for finding a buyer for them.

Kickin' Show at Grand Hand

2011-03-28T12:56:00.000-07:00

10,5 inch horse, Bronze

11 inch Horse, Bronze

15 inch Horse, Bronze

20 inch Horse, Bronze

20 inch Horse, detail

22 inch "War Horse" Bronze

64 inch Horse, Bronze

52 inch "Little Lester" Bronze

Here are some of the new sculptures I'm bringing to St. Paul for the Kickin' Show opening Saturday April 2, Reception is from 5 till 8 PM. Click here for more information.

Scottsdale Pair

2011-03-14T15:37:00.000-07:00

Wrangler Tom

After painting these guys will be ready to load up for the trip to Scottsdale

Great News!

2011-03-03T14:39:00.000-08:00

It is now official so I can share this news with you. I have been chosen by the city of Duluth, MN to create a sculpture for the new offices for the Duluth Police Department, St. Louis County Sheriff and the 911 Call Center. This has been a long process involving a request for qualifications. Then 3 finalists were selected and invited to create concept designs with a presentation. From those 3 I was chosen to do the project.
I will be creating two larger than life figures. One a male police officer and the other a female Sheriff's deputy.
I will be posting often once I start on the project so you can follow along. I expect to start mid April, after I finish preping for the Kickin' show at Grand Hand and deliver two horses to Scottsdale.

Progress

2011-03-02T14:19:00.000-08:00

Since my last post I've had a nasty cold. It has kept me from doing much other than shuffling papers about. It feels good to be welding again. Soon I'll have horses all over the place.

There Must be a Horse Here Somewhere

2011-02-21T18:22:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Elaine and Jason at Xanadu Gallery in Scottsdale I will be creating 2 new horses similar to the Blue Horse which has gone on to new owners in Grand Marais.

Blue Horse

Susan, my returning assistant, and I will be down on the farm, so to speak, working on horses and cowboys for the Kickin' Show at Grand Hand Gallery. (scroll down on the link) This show opens April 1, the next day we will have the remaining horses loaded in the trailer headed for Scottsdale.

Here is what it looks like to start on one of these sculptures. There must be a horse in the foundry somewhere.

By the way, this is Susan who worked with me years ago and is back again. I am soooo happy to have her back.

Career Development Grant

2011-02-04T12:13:00.000-08:00

I am pleased to report I have been awarded a Career Development Grant from The Arrowhead Regional Arts Council. These grants are funded by the State of Minnesota and the McKnight Foundation.
Specifically this will help me create new work for two art shows I am participating in this year. April 1 is the opening of a show at Grand Hand Gallery, St. Paul. In August I am participating in a show at the Johnson Heritage Gallery in Grand Marais.
Currently I am working on a model and a presentation to the City of Duluth, MN for the new Police Headquarters building. I am one of three finalists for this large public project.

Road Trip

2010-11-28T17:22:00.000-08:00

At Dawn and Joe's house tonight. Playing with little Annalise before I head off to bed. Heading out to Phoenix with sculptures and golf clubs in the car. I'll post some pictures along the way.

Tooting My Own Horn

2010-11-21T09:28:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Curt Brown for this nice article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune today.
Sunrises on the North Shore sustain artist

More Art Summit/ Office Shaman

2010-11-12T13:40:00.000-08:00

These are little Shaman or Shawomen to keep your computer from crashing or to keep your boss from catching you doing personal e-mails. They work best if hung near your computer or at your office door. 5 to 9 inches, fabricated in bronze and stainless steel. See these and more at the Art Summit, 301 Summit Ave., St. Paul tomorrow from 2 till 10.

Art Summit

2010-11-10T15:20:00.000-08:00

I'm back blogging again after loosing my last computer, well, I didn't loose the computer just everything on it.

Here are some images of new work I will be showing at the Art Summit. A small group show and sale at 301 Summit Ave. St. Paul on Saturday November 13, 2-10 PM. Hope to see you there.

Tofte Fish Project

2010-08-21T09:20:00.000-07:00

This is ceramic shell coat #9 on the lake trout. One more coat of the slurry, let dry, de-wax, Vitrify molds at 1800 degrees for an hour, check the molds for cracks, patch if needed, pour bronze into the molds, chill, break off the mold material, cut off the extra metal, design and manufacture a system for mounting, sand blast, patina, and finally wax the finished bronzes. Then build the net that the fish will be mounted to.....see, nothing to it.

Tofte Fish Project

2010-08-19T14:19:00.000-07:00

Finishing up a project to be installed in the park in Tofte overlooking Lake Superior. The idea is to show life sized fish that inhabit the lake along with some reference to the people who fish commercially for our Lake Superior species.
The picture shows the beginning of the casting mold making process. I have five herring made in wax from molds I took of actual fish. The big one is a lake trout. This is what they look like after the first coat of the refractory mold material. 9 more coats to go.

Here is the trout with the second coating, called a stucco coat there is a fine sand added to the matrix of mold material. 8 more coats to go. This will take several days to accomplish.

Celebrating the Art of Living

2010-08-13T07:15:00.000-07:00

Join Last Chance Studio and Gallery this evening for the opening of "Celebrating the Art of Living" featuring the work of Artists whose work adds meaning to our lives.
Legacy Urns and Commemorative Art; Tom Christiansen
Fiber Art and the "Tao of Foolishness"; Korey Thompson
"A Few Last Words: Your Guide to the Art of Self Memorializing" ; Author and Painter, Jack Becker
Ritual Pots; Kristi Downing
Intentional and Legacy Jewelry; Kim Vorel
Opening reception tonight 5 to 7
Saturday 10 to 5 with presentations through out the day.

Fabricated Urn

2010-08-12T09:09:00.000-07:00

"Soaring"

This one I call "Soaring Over the Wheat Field". For some reason that is what came to mind while I was forging the bronze plates. The star is nickel silver.

More Urns

2010-08-10T08:57:00.000-07:00

As I have been working on urns the past two weeks it is amazing to hear how many people have ashes in a cardboard box. This one is more permanent.

This one I call "Lifeline"

This is "Sun and Moon" or.....

"Moon and Sun" the opposite side of "Sun and Moon". Please join us at Last Chance on Friday, August 13th for a reception from 5 to 7 opening "Celebrating the Art of Living"
We are featuring the work of Kim Vorel, Jack Becker, Kristi Downing and me.
Saturday 10 till 5 presentations by the artists and more. www.lastchancefab.com

Urns

2010-08-06T07:21:00.000-07:00

As long as I'm working on urns I thought I would post a picture of one I did years ago for Marcia's dog Spot. Spot's ashes are still in a cardboard box but the urn sits on Marcia's desk. Always a reminder of her beloved pet.

Next I will be working on urns from cardboard patterns. Might as well make a permanent card board box.

Good Pour

2010-08-05T15:24:00.000-07:00

The two urns poured well today. I plan to do a patina that will make these objects look ancient.

Legacy Art, Making Urns

2010-08-04T14:08:00.000-07:00

My friend and colleague Paul Linden turned two wood patterns for me to try for urn shapes. This process is a bit more complicated than most of the molds I make so I thought I would post a fer pictures to show you how this works.

Pattern and the two halves of the mold. I cut in embellishment directly into the sand mold. Sun and Moon and Star symbols.

Here the core is inserted into the mold, the three marks on top are the sprue and two vents. The sprue allows metal to flow in, the vents allow air to flow out.

The other mold nearly ready to assemble. I will try to pour these two tomorrow.

Tangletown Garden and Art Tour

2010-07-28T15:29:00.000-07:00

Loaded up at 5 AM in the rain to head to St. Paul

Love Seat on the sidewalk

Blue Horse and a bronze horse in the yard. They always look better away from my studio.

44" Bronze Horse

Sprite in the back yard. This was a one day event, lots of intrest, as of yet, no sales. Ahhh, the life of the artist, it's glamorous.

Another assembled horse

2010-07-18T09:33:00.000-07:00

Inspired by Deborah Butterfield, this horse is made from bronze scraps. It is 5.5 inches tall, 8.5 inches long. After doing a large cast piece I enjoy doing something more spontaneous, just picking through the scrap bin and making something fun.

2010-07-16T08:53:00.000-07:00

The bench is finished. I took this image right after I finished the patina. It always bothers me to do this because in a few days the patina matures to a more even color. Months later it is even more rich looking. But, I usually have to ship them out right away as is the cast with this bench. Fed Ex Freight is on the way to pick it up and deliver it to it's new home in Michigan.

This is a close up of the newspaper the man is holding.

Pouring the bench

2010-07-14T08:47:00.000-07:00

This is the mold for the newspaper one figure will hold. If you look carefully there is an imprint of the New York Times headline. The other print is just color imprinted into the mold and won't show in the finished bronze.

In the foundry we bury the molds to make it safer to pour. The hole is 3.5 feet deep.

Ready to Pour.

Lifting out the crucible.

Pouring the first mold.

Finished pouring, now to open the molds to see if it all worked as planned.

Molds ready to pour

2010-07-12T14:08:00.000-07:00

Here is part of the largest mold for the bench. This shows the sprue method I use to introduce metal into the pattern.

These are the 3 big molds for this bench, the seat and the 2 back sections. 9 molds in all. We will be pouring these tomorrow.

2010-07-10T14:58:00.000-07:00

Here is a mold opened up, it has two cardboard patters in it for legs for the bench. In the top right of the picture you can see molds that are ready to pour.

The patterns are removed and I have cut channels into the mold to allow the bronze to flow into the pattern and there are vents to allow the air to evacuate the mold quickly.

The mold is now glued and banded together. When hot metal is poured in there is a great deal of pressure trying to force the two halves of the mold apart. This bench will require 8 molds weighing about 1600 lbs.

Pattern

2010-07-08T13:53:00.000-07:00

Here is the man half of the bench set up in the mold flask. My toes show in the right side of the frame to give an idea of scale. I used real buttons and a bow and string for the glasses in the pocket. It doesn't show well but this pattern is bent in the mold to round the back and the shoulder is bent back. A little more complicated than the regular flat molds. 150 lbs. of resin bonded sand covers this pattern now, the sand has to cure overnight.

Resin Bonded Sand Molds

2010-07-08T06:51:00.000-07:00

1100 pounds of sand later, these molds are cured.

Patterns set up for sand molds

2010-07-08T06:49:00.000-07:00

New Bench Project

2010-07-08T06:48:00.000-07:00

Weezie Bradach called me a while back after seeing an article about my benches in Lake Superior Magazine.
She commissioned a bench for her parents to go to their family cabin in Michigan.

This is the FUN in FUNctional Art

2010-06-30T08:44:00.000-07:00

Here is another "Life of the Party"

Fun and Functional, or is that Funktional

2010-06-13T13:41:00.000-07:00

"Life of the Party" is a bronze figure cast from a cardboard pattern. The penis is the switch. This is a floor lamp, 6 feet 4 inches tall. I'm working on new pieces for our "Fun in Functional Art" Show coming up July 4th weekend. Hope you can make it here.

Summer Work

2010-06-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

It's nice to be working at the studio with the doors open. Here is a new bronze horse 44" tall, just finished today.

Peace Church

2010-05-18T14:11:00.000-07:00

Peace Church project is finished! Todd Signs came to do the installation and after a little slipping and sliding they got the truck in position. thanks to Gail Blum for the pictures.

Peace Church

2010-05-05T09:01:00.000-07:00

Here is the design for Peace Church in Duluth. Gail Blum designed this to attach to the new addition to the church. To keep the object within budget I am building a structure to laminate the bronze sheeting to. The circle is 8 feet across.

Second image shows the 8 foot circle cut and laminated together with a steel bracket built to fasten the piece to the wall.

Here I'm applying the first of several coats of enamel to preserve the medium density overlay board.

Judie helps Pour

2010-03-20T14:21:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of Judie Johnson with me in the foundry. Judie came to help pour the Cyrus bench. Cyrus was Judie's beloved father and she wanted to be a part of the process in making the sculpture to help memorialize him. The bench will be finished early next week. I'll post a picture of the finished piece then.

Good News

2010-03-02T06:34:00.000-08:00

Good news, it has been a long held goal of mine to be represented by a quality gallery in a large market. I now have Xanadu Gallery representing me in Scottsdale online.

They have a unique method of partnering with artists in the online gallery. They promote the virtual gallery to their clients and to visitors stopping in at the Scottsdale location. After an artist proves themselves they are invited to show in the physical gallery as well.

Marcia and I were visiting two weeks ago and stopped in at Xanadu. There we met Elaine who is an enthusiastic supporter of the gallery artists. She was interested to find I did sculpture and asked for my web address. The result is Xanadu will represent me in the huge Scottsdale art market.

I feel blessed to add them along with Last Chance in Lutsen and Grand Hand in St. Paul as partners in my art career.

Cyrus Bench

2010-02-09T16:39:00.000-08:00

This is a cardboard pattern for a bench for the Johnson family of southern Illinois. I will be casting this in bronze, after making a few refinements.

New Web Site

2010-02-01T13:13:00.000-08:00

Sometimes in the business of art making one needs to pay more attention to the business rather than the making. This past week I have launched a new web site for my work. www.tcsculpture.com is the new place to find my work. www.lastchancefab.com is still up and running. We have plans to revamp that site which will be the place to see what is going on at the gallery and the studio. When I say I have launched a new site I should really say Melanie has launched a new site. Melanie Lundheim of Good Copy Fast in Minnetonka put the new site up very quickly from the content I sent her. Melanie also is a terrific copy writer and editor. I should also mention she is my daughter.

Please check out the new site and stay tuned for more updates. I hope to be learning soon about the Children's Hospital Project and I will be updating about the Cyrus Bench, the St. Frank Birdbath and a new project I just got, The Peace Church Project, Duluth, MN.

2010-01-21T14:56:00.001-08:00

Jeremy Raverty and Rita Sloane picked up their matching bronze sinks yesterday. They look like the one pictured here. I took photos of the new ones but can't seem to get them to copy correctly. It amazes me how well new technology works most of the time and how surprised I am when it doesn't. I think it should be the opposite, amazed that it works at all.

Now I am putting together a proposal for Children's Hospital in the Twin Cities. They are spending a great deal of money on art for both the Minneapolis and St. Paul campuses. Children's is limiting art work to Minnesota artists. This doesn't happen often and I think it is just great they have the confidence in Minnesota artists to fill their needs.

2010-01-10T11:35:00.000-08:00

I have just finished a baptismal for First Lutheran Church of Duluth. They are refurbishing the sanctuary and have a new pipe organ in process. My part is the bronze basin for the baptismal, the base is wood from Rob's Mill Work in Superior WI. The design is by Steve Edwins of SMSQ Architects in Northfield MN.

Memorial for Myrtle

2009-04-15T04:52:00.000-07:00

Nancy Hansen came to me with a little sketch on a piece of scratch paper. This is the finished memorial to her mother. This memorial is hollow, to allow Nancy to plant flowers inside it this spring.

The Glamour of Art Making

2009-04-11T06:50:00.000-07:00

While working in the foundry this week my bridge crane collapsed, missing crushing my arm by an inch. The thing is I could have predicted this happening because I had never really finished welding the thing together 8 years ago, but heck, it worked OK all that time. So my glamourus work was rebuilding this big heavy tool the last two days.

There was some art work going on as well. The piece I'm working on is "Angeles Everywhere if You Know How to Look". Here are a couple of my angles helping me roll 3/16" steel plate. Stan and Dean seem to show up just when I need the help.

Response to the Financial Follies

2009-03-26T11:40:00.000-07:00

An advantage someone like me has while listening to the news is to do something about it immediately. The bad news kept coming on the radio and I was getting more depressed each day. Finally I grabbed my trusty stack of cardboard and created the "Tycoon" series. The "One Armed Bandits" almost became the "Big Three" but I felt that was getting a little too specific. This way you can decide if these cardboard execs are bankers, politicians or what have you.

The Begining

2009-03-25T20:08:00.000-07:00

Hello there, This is my attempt to reach out to my friends and fellow searchers for meaning. I have been an artist all my life and am just now beginning to understand what this compulsion to make art is all about for me. I have a notion others are in this same search for themselves and I would like to share with them our musings.

Recently I have been working on art related to death. This theme found me, as it seems all my work has (more on this idea later). I have started making funeral urns and have made a couple grave markers as well. Nothing in my long career of making objects has given me more pleasure and sense of purpose than working with clients on urns for their loved ones and themselves. I’m trying to figure out why and also trying to figure out if this is a reasonable direction to pursue.

While researching funeral urns, contemporary urns at least, there seems to be many really bad choices. Most of these choices are inexpensive, mass produced imports with some sort of engraving option. Not an artful or meaningful choice for many. A few artists are on the web specializing in urns but again I’m not seeing anything that really fills a desire to express meaning in a personal, meaningful way. Is this a niche that needs attention? Is it morbid to find meaning and even joy in contemplating death?

My friend Jack Becker has written a new book exploring some of these questions, A Few Last Words: Your Guide To The Art Of Self Memorializing, available on Amazon. This is an irreverent look at writing your own eulogy and came along when several commissions came to me for creating urns for customers. Anyway when things like this happen to me (coincidence?) I now try to be proactive and search out just what it is the art gods are pointing me to now.