Sold, ceramic torso sculpture with a bronze effect finish

I am really grateful that people sometimes contact me to visit my studio to buy art. If it wasn’t for that, I’d probably starve.
But a nice couple from Kingston upon Thames popped down to Hastings recently to choose a ceramic torso for their home.

…and they chose this one with a bronze effect finish.
Bronze effects can be used instead of glazes to finish off sculptures. The technique can be used  on plaster of Paris sculptures as well as on ceramic objects.

I love making sculptures out of found objects such as this sea shell and a dragon I made out of plaster of Paris and then bronzed.

I cast my neighbour’s daughter’s fingers and placed them inside a clam.

These are all Mood Critters; little sculptures I make to amuse myself, mainly.

I still get emails from people asking me how to get this bronze effect going, so I thought I’d share the secret recipe again…

You need;
Bronze metal filler powder ( can be found at Tiranti’s)
Graphite powder
Matt clear water based varnish
Brushes
Wire wool, medium grade
A few very good face masks

Mix varnish and bronze filler until you get a creamy consistency, and it covers your bisque fired sculpture.
Wait for the varnish to dry completely; say overnight just to be on the safe side.
This is the colour you will get when it dries;

The bib and crown is painted with a gold glaze and it  has already been glaze fired. There is no reason why you can’t glaze some areas and use the bronze effect on others. The red heart on the Bottom Vase above is glazed.

Next, you mix the graphite powder with varnish, but now you want a slightly thinner consistency. Paint your sculpture and let dry for another 24 hours.
Rub the sculpture with the wire wool to expose the metallic finish. But do wear a good quality face mask and rubber gloves; it is a tedious and very, very long job.

Finally polish your piece with a wax polish.

Ta-da!

This is little Earth Star, and you can find her and her brothers and  sisters here

www.annakeiller.com