Limestone \'l+eye+m-st+oh+n\ n a rock that is formed chiefly by accumulation of organic remains (as shells or coral), consists mainly of calcium carbonate, is extensively used in building, and yields lime when burned

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Completing The Bronze Sculpture "Sea Turtles I"

(Carving the Limestone Base and Finishing Touches)

by Kelly Borsheim

Before making the commitment of carving into the piece of limestone that I was going to use for the base of the sea turtles piece, I wanted to get a more concrete (bad pun, as usual) image in my head of what I wanted the base to look like. So I pulled out some clay and started pounding it into the general shape I had envisioned. [The kelp still had about three inches of bronze sprue connected to the bottom of it to allow me to secure it to the base.]

Then I sketched the basic shape onto the limestone block. It may be hard to see here, but the black outlined shape on the top is where the kelp will be. Then I took my mallot and carving tools and began to take off rock--first concentrating on losing the corners and the large section of rock I knew I wanted gone. I used the pointed chisel for this stage. Leather gloves minimize blisters and safety goggles are a must. Stone flies everywhere and this is not worth losing your vision over.

I kept chipping away and the form began to evolve. It is important to work the whole shape at the same time--to keep moving around the stone, developing the piece to the same degree all the way around.

This larger image makes it easier to see the chisel marks and the 4-point chisel I used to remove rock and define the shape. There is still a long way to go.

At this point I tried placing the kelp over the stone to see if everything was looking OK. I decided the rock was too tall and sketched (in pencil again) more details of the shape. The more scribbles, the more rock to take off in that location.

I have begun to use the flat-headed chisel as well as sanding with 100 grit sandpaper to see how the base is looking. Because the chisel is being pounded into the stone, it is important not to go too far. The force of the blow may have affected rock much deeper than the sculptor realizes ('course, I'm a beginner). The "half-donut" tools in the photo to the left are broken grinding wheels my husband gave me for sanding.

A hole was drilled into the limestone carving. The angle of the bronze kelp "handle" was measured so that the rock could be tilted (supported by a board propped in place at the correct angle). My husband & I tilted the rock since the drilling had to be done vertically. I then did more sanding (using finer grit). The turtles were soldered on to the kelp, which was later joined to the stone with J-B Weld epoxy. The epoxy is a 2-part mixture (comes in tubes) and can be found at a hardware store. We let it sit overnight.

This is how the piece looked after it was all together. The final step is to give the bronze a patina. There are various chemicals used to alter the color of bronze. The bronze must be clean (no fingerprints!) to insure the chemicals react as desired. I applied a thin layer of wax where I wanted the bronze to keep its natural polished color and buffed it to a sheen (otherwise, the bronze will turn dark with time). [In reality, I cleaned the bronze and added the patina before the sculpture was epoxied onto the base. I put a plastic bag over the bronze to keep it clean.]

Thank you for following the creation of "Sea Turtles I".

See the finished piece, Sea Turtles I.
See the finished piece, Flying Sea Turtles.
Bronze Casting (creating the turtles & kelp)

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