| While living in Kenya,
Africa, I began modeling portrait heads of different tribal groups, i.e.
Masai, Bantu, Nylotic, using local potter’s clay. I also modeled a number
of African wildlife pieces. I received a commission for a portrait head
of Jomo Kenyatta, first president of the Republic of Kenya. In the U.S.
I studied basic bronze casting techniques with John Battenburg at San Jose
State University, with a view to setting up a bronze casting studio at 1209
Polk Street Benicia. This enabled me to cast my own work and to control
each of the many stages in the production of each bronze sculpture: modeling
the original piece, making a mold , casting a wax, investing the wax with
ceramic shell, burning out the wax , pouring in molten bronze, cleaning
, chasing, polishing and mounting the finished piece. Many of my earlier
pieces I cast in the simpler but less durable cold casting method. |
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