After a sculpture  is complete, I take it to my foundry.  At the foundry, a moldmaker decides how the piece will be cast, and will cut up the original sculpture, and make a mold for each piece so that in the actual metal casting process, the bronze will flow properly. Once the molds are complete for the sculpture,  a wax copy of each part of the sculpture is made from the molds. At that time,  the foundry calls me to come inspect the wax parts of the sculpture prior to casting.  I drive the 100 miles back to the foundry,  spending several hours fixing the wax parts. Once I have done that, the foundry creates a ceramic shell around each of the wax parts. Then,  the wax is melted out of the ceramic shells, and the bronze is poured into the ceramic shells.  The ceramic shell is broken off of the bronze parts,  the parts are cleaned up,  then welded together.  At that point, the foundry calls me again,  and I return to the foundry to check the sculpture prior to patina.  I inspect the sculpture, marking any problems,  the problems are corrected,  then the sculpture is sandblasted,  and the patina applied.  Now,  with the sculpture complete, I draw an engineering plan for the stone cutter,  so the dimensions and screw hole locations of the stone base line up properly with the bottom of the sculpture. 

SSo, you see, not only is the creation of the original art a time consuming process, the creation of each copy a significant effort.                      

I number each of my sculptures as they are cast, and designate how many  pieces will be created with a mold. I keep a record of where each piece goes when it leaves my studio. Molds will be destroyed upon the completion of the last piece .                       

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