BRONZING AND PATINATING A PLASTER BUST

A few students brought their own pieces to work on at the workshop.  Chattanooga sculptor, Roses Taylor, metal coated her plaster bust in bronze and applied tiffany green patina.  First, the plaster bust was sprayed with BRONZE METAL C Coating. The first coat is applied and allowed to dry. Then a second coat is applied. While the second coat of metal coating is still wet, Liver of Sulfur is sprayed on to give the bronze a rich golden hue. Finally, Traditional Tiffany Green Patina was sprayed on while surface was still wet. The patina developed a gorgeous blue-green color in a very short amount of time. More patinas or waxes can be applied to achieve different patination. Or Permalac lacquer can be applied to stop the patina development process and to protect the surface when desired coloration is achieved.

For his Dress Series, Petrey uses Townsend Casting Resin for the torso forms. To achieve the rich green patinas on the copper torsos, he uses Traditional Green Patinas.

Dress Series: resin, wood, copper, mixed media. The piece on the left is 27″ high. The piece on the right is 58″ high.

Part of a Series of Five Dresses commissioned by The Baylor Womens’ Hospital, Fort Worth, TX

Mixed media, resin, & copper. 60″w x 44″h x 1′d

To view more of John Petrey’s work, visit www.johnpetrey.com

Victor uses a wide variety of processes and materials in his work including Knead-a-Mold. He says, “Knead a mold is a very easy to use, versatile product which has been very useful in making quick molds. It is especially useful in molding bas-reliefs, and small sculptures for wax and plaster reproduction.”

Monument to Firefighters in clay Detail

Monument to Firefighters, bronze/installation in Lawrence, KS

Old Man, clay

Sequoya, life-sized, clay

To see more of Benjamin Victor’s work, visit www.benjaminvictor.com

For more information, products and to purchase, click here

Part 2 video demonstrates how to apply multiple patinas to the same sculpture.  To learn more and to purchase these products, return to our on-line store by clicking here.

PART 2:

Applying different patinas to metal coating on concrete sculpture:

Our resident sculptor at Townsend Atelier sculpted these small figurative reliefs in clay from a live model. After the sculpting was completed, a simple mold was made out of Townsend Atelier’s Pourable Silicone.  Once the mold was fully cured, metal powders were dusted into the surface of the mold (either bronze , copper,  or brass powders) and then Townsend Casting Resin was poured into the metal coated mold.  In just a few minutes, the casting was ready to be de-molded and finished with a Sculpt Nouveau Slate Black Patina.   Below are a few more examples in this series of beautiful cold cast metal reliefs.

Britain used several Townsend Atelier products. To make the hands that support the violin, Britain used Brush-a-Mold to make a mold from her own hands. She then poured Townsend Casting Resin into the cured molds and painted the resin hands with acrylic paint.

As for the inspiration for her piece, Britain says, “Think of about the last movement of some of Beethoven’s symphonies–when the violins are playing away furiously. In my mind’s eye, I see them exploding with the music from the inside in a Crescendo.”

“Crescendo” by Judith Britain 32″ H, violin, mylar, wood, acrylic paste, resin.

To view more of Britain’s work, visit www.judybritain.com
To view a complete catalogue of all Townsend Atelier molding, casting + patina products, CLICK HERE

Here are a few examples of pieces made with Townsend Casting Resin.

Study of a Female Centaur, by Cessna Decosimo, Chattanooga, TN

A mold was made from the artist’s original piece which was sculpted from clay. To achieve the beautiful bronze patina, the interior of the mold was dusted with bronze powder before the casting resin was poured into it. Once cured and de-molded, the surface was buffed with steel wool and patinaed with our Sculpt Nouveau solvent dyes.

Detail of Study of a Female Centaur

On the left is the original sculpture of a lizard made from stone. A mold was made of it with Knead-a-Mold. Then, Townsend Casting Resin was poured into the mold. The lizard on the right is the resin cast. The white resin lizard could now be painted, patinaed or left as is. To create a bronze surface, bronze powder could have been dusted into the mold prior to pouring in the resin. Visit our “how to” section on our website to read more.

Casting resin was poured into a silicone mold taken from an architectural ornament.

Bronze powder was dusted into a silicone mold, casting resin was then poured into the mold. When de-molded, the bronze bonds to the exterior of the resin and can be buffed or patinaed.

Back of the resin piece showing bronze powder on exterior.

This resin casting was poured into a silicone mold taken from an architectural terra cotta relief. The casting resin was poured into the mold which was dusted with gold-colored powder to give it a luminous surface.

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1. First, the 7 year old artist sculpted his rabbit in ordinary clay. Any type of clay or even play-dough can be used EXCEPT sulfur based clays. The sulfur in the clay will not allow the silicone mold material to cure properly. Once he was happy with his clay sculpture, it was ready to be molded. The next steps were done by an adult.
2. Next, his dad applied several layers of Brush-a-Mold to the clay sculpture. It is not necessary to fire the clay or to let it dry before this process. Several layers of Brush-a-Mold are needed–it is recommended that at least a 1/4 inch thickness is achieved. For directions for Brush-a-Mold click here.
3. After the Brush-a-Mold was fully cured, the flexible mold was pulled off of the clay piece. The clay was wadded up to be re-used for another project.
4. Next, a generous dusting of bronze powder was put inside the mold. A small dry brush can be used to make sure that the powder adheres inside every nook and cranny. To see more instruction about bronze powder click here.
5. Townsend Casting Resin was mixed and poured into the mold and allowed to cure (about 16-20 minutes). Before fully cured, a threaded bolt was placed in the bottom so that a permanent device would be embedded for mounting the sculpture later.
6. When resin was fully cured, it was pulled out of the mold. The bronze powder that was dusted in the walls of the mold adhere permanently to the exterior of the sculpture and can be patina or buffed up with steel wool to make it shine like bronze.

De-molded sculpture with mounting device embedded in resin.

De-molded sculpture showing bottom with mounting device in white resin and bronze exterior.

We then drilled a hole in a pre-made wooden base (purchased at any hobby or hardware store), and screwed in the bolted sculpture.

The “real” Spinner checking out the sculpture.