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Shirley Sykes Bracken

8 Years Ago

Cement Sculpture/fisherman

I just wanted to show my new sculpture.

He is life size, built by hand in cement. I still need to pour the bucket for him to sit on.

I'll need help moving him!

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Kevin Callahan

8 Years Ago

Wow, again Shirley. He'd look great in our entry way.

 

Vincent Von Frese

8 Years Ago

Have you available more photos of your cool work?

 

Shirley Sykes Bracken

8 Years Ago

He would need a pond to fish in. Thanks Kevin!

 

Shirley Sykes Bracken

8 Years Ago

Vincent, I have a store here with paintings and photography. My sculptures are not on FAA. Maybe I should show them in a gallery, not for sale through FAA. Just for interest.

 

Vincent Von Frese

8 Years Ago

I do not sell my sculpture here but show some of it to benefit customer service. Occasionally I get a bronze commission by virtue of showing what I can do.

 

Shirley Sykes Bracken

8 Years Ago

Vincent, I visited your store, wow, you do wonderful work! I think I'll build a gallery for showing my work.

 

Parker Cunningham

8 Years Ago

Beautiful! What a cool medium.

 

Vincent Von Frese

8 Years Ago

What inspired you to make this Fisherman?

 

Kevin Callahan

8 Years Ago

Parker, as we used to say in the 60s... very heavy.

 

Dorothy Berry-Lound

8 Years Ago

Shirely that is fab!

 

Shirley Sykes Bracken

8 Years Ago

Yes, heavy is right! What inspired me?... the challenge.

I have sculpted many heads in clay and fired them. I decided to mold them (in silicone) and cast them in plaster, then in cold bronze, and then I decided I could cast the heads in cement and build the rest of the body directly in the cement. Cement is not something I would recommend trying. The weight alone is daunting.

 

Shirley Sykes Bracken

8 Years Ago

Thanks Dorothy! Do you think starting a gallery of just sculptures will draw people to go to my store, just to look at them?

Thanks Parker, I almost missed you.

 

Vincent Von Frese

8 Years Ago

Another medium which is workable on top of itself and durable outdoors is body putty and fiberglass. It lends to abstract art but the materials are expensive and hazardous. The putty mix is spread out over an armature made of something strong like aluminum and mesh.

 

Shirley Sykes Bracken

8 Years Ago

Vincent, interesting. I use fiberglass for my mother molds. I was using plasti paste for a while but that really is expensive. Now I just use Fiberglass. The silicon molding material is very expensive too, but I wouldn't mold using anything else. I use rebar for my armatures.

 

Vincent Von Frese

8 Years Ago

Rebar has one big problem as an armature. They soak up moisture and rust then expelling stains.

I love to use Smooth On for my molds although There are many other brands available. Smooth On 50/50 is best. Detail as sharp as the fingerprint with this! I use plaster with burlap or hemp for back up molds supporting the rubber on large sections. You can cast in microcrystalline wax and then sand cast or lost wax metal cast from these.
It's a good idea to know all this to save the foundry costs.

At art shows having a dozen reproductions in plaster of ceramic clay fired makes money.

 

Xueling Zou

8 Years Ago

Very cool sculpture, thanks for sharing it :)!

 

Shirley Sykes Bracken

8 Years Ago

I use Rebound 25, also a Smooth On product.

Thanks Xueling!

 

Dorothy Berry-Lound

8 Years Ago

Shirley I think it would work well to have a gallery of sculptures - it will add a different aspect.

 

Shirley Sykes Bracken

8 Years Ago

Either that or a blog? Do you think blogging is a good use of time?

 

Dorothy Berry-Lound

8 Years Ago

Couldn't you do both? Yes I think a blog is an important part of marketing.

 

Shirley Sykes Bracken

8 Years Ago

Thanks Dorothy. I'm going to go check out your blog. I think I'll start blogging too.

 

David Randall

8 Years Ago

Working in cement are you using primarily molds or do you treat it like stone carving and chiseling it too?

 

Vincent Von Frese

8 Years Ago

OK

 

Shirley Sykes Bracken

8 Years Ago

Hi David, the only mold I used for this one was for the head, the rest is layered over rebar and wire. I only use my own molds. No chiseling. My hands couldn't take any more abuse.

 

Shirley Sykes Bracken

8 Years Ago

Vincent, I want my large sculptures to last outside. Cement seemed the only answer. I don't carve so I have to build. Hydrostone is not weather proof.

 

Edward Fielding

8 Years Ago

Very cool!

 

Cynthia Decker

8 Years Ago

Shirley, that's amazing! Nice work!

 

Newwwman

8 Years Ago

Very nice...why not put up the photo of the sculptures. I think it would make a nice card or a super metal print - in the right setting, maybe at a dock or at a pond?

 

This discussion is closed.