|
While his pieces are being cast, Turner frequently visits Sun Foundry in Burbank California to approve the
cleaning, chasing, welding, polishing, and patinas on each casting.
The wax is prepaired.
At the foundry, the wax casting is further modified. The sculpture may be cut into various pieces to facilitate the casting. Larger pieces must be cast hollow, so the hollow wax castings are cut open and the ceramic solution allowed to fill the inside. A system of pour spouts is added for pouring in the bronze, and air vents for letting air escape.
The wax casting is encased in a ceramic shell.
Each piece, along with it vents and pour spouts (called sprews) is dipped in a ceramic solution, that, over a period of time thickens and hardens into a ceramic shell. The larger the piece, the longer it must be dipped.
The wax is melted out, leaving a hollow shell.
The wax is melted out and reused, then the shell is heated to a very high temperature to burn out any residue from the wax.
Molten bronze is poured in.
The molten bronze fills the cavity or negative space inside the ceramic shell along with all of the vents and sprews.
Ceramic shell is chipped away.
After it has cooled, the shell is chipped off; it can not be reused. The pieces of shell that cling to the surface of the bronze and must
be painstakingly removed by hand. The vents and sprews are cut off and ground flush to the surface of the sculpture in a process called chasing.
The component parts are then welded back together and the welds ground down to blend the parts together. Once the chasing has been approved, the entire piece is sand blasted to create a uniform surface, then selected areas are polished.
Bronze is finished, acid patinas added.
A blow torch is used to heat the surface of the bronze and acid applied that impregnate the surface of the bronze and color it. Silver Nitrate, for example, creates the nightgown in "Strangers in the Night" and the woman's shirt in "May Flowers."
Finishing Touches
Turner hand finishes the wooden bases himself as well as executing the final detailing (such as
polishing the belt buckle and spurs to a high gloss on "Next Time") and mounting of the bronzes.
Douglas Turner’s hands on approach places a greater demand on his time and results in sculpture that is more completely and personally "his" work. As a result, fewer sculptures are made, the number in each edition is smaller and each individual bronze is more valuable.
| 
