Using oil based clay, Christopher creates the original sculpture. Once he is pleased with his creation it is taken to the foundry where it is then photographed and measured to ensure accuracy in the assemblage process.

Molding

The sculpture is first cut into sections; this has to be done carefully so that the mold will capture the detail and also allow for good pouring and draining of wax and eventually metal. Each sectional piece is then carefully molded with silicon rubber and then covered with composites of plaster or fiberglass for a ridged backing. We now have created the "rubber mold" that will be used to create the wax duplicate.

Wax

Each mold of a sculpture is filled with molten wax and drained, so as to create a hollow duplicate of the original sculpture. The delicate wax is gently removed from the inner silicon mold. These wax castings are "chased," or re-worked to be free of any mold seams or flaws. They are then "sprued;" extra wax tubing is attached to certain areas of the wax to allow for the escape of gas and proper flow of the gravity fed bronze. These sprued waxes are taken to the "slurry" room, where they are dipped into the liquefied silicate material the room is named for. Fine silicate sand is blown onto the inside and outside of this wet sprued wax. This process is repeated at least eight times, with a minimum of 24 hours of drying time between each coat. The result is a ceramic shell that completely encases the wax form both inside and out.

Lost Wax

The ceramic shells are placed in a "burn out" oven. Just as it sounds, this oven will melt the wax out of the ceramic shell. Thus the entire sprued wax is lost and now only air fills its space. The temperature of these shells is raised to 1800 degrees. Simultaneously we are melting bronze and raising its temperature so as to pour it into the ceramic shell at nearly the same temperature, between 1800 and 1900 degrees. The shells are removed from the "burn out" oven and placed in a sand pit. The molten bronze is poured inside the hollow cavities left by the wax.

Reassembling

After solidification, the shell is carefully chiseled away. The sprues which are now bronze are cut away from the actual piece of sculpture. The last part of the metal cleaning process is sand-blasting, which removes any residual shell. The cast pieces of the sculpture are perfectly aliened and welded back together. Each weld is re-tooled, recreating Christopher's original texture. The utmost care is taken in this process so the welds cannot be detected with the naked eye. The sculpture now appears as if it were cast as one piece.

At this point Christopher must approve the sculpture, and then it is again sand-blasted in preparation for the patination process. The patina is the color that results from applying varying amounts of heat, along with special chemical "recipes," to the bronze. Once the desired affects are created to Christopher's specifications, the sculpture is sealed, usually with wax, to prevent color change caused by natural oxidization. Christopher carefully examines the piece one more time, and then finally engraves it with his signature and the edition number, giving it his seal of approval.