"Corn Maiden Bronze by Gerry Quotskuyva, award winning Hopi Artist"

Corn Maiden Bronze
The final steps of my first piece . . .

I started out carving a Corn Maiden as I usually would out of cottonwood root. Once finished, the foundry then takes the piece, coats it with a wax and makes a rubber mold of it. Once the rubber has cured, then they support the rubber mold with a plaster backing. This would be a negative form of the piece. From this point on, that encased mold will always be used to create a wax model - a positive image of the piece. From this wax model, they will then coat it with another form of heat tolerant plaster, and then melt the wax model out of that casing. This will, again, make a negative of the piece. The next step is to melt the bronze ingot and pour it into the final negative casing. After the bronze cools, they will break that heat tolerant plaster off of the bronze piece. Usually, the piece is created in several parts and then welded back together. This will allow the liquid bronze to fill all the intricate details without too many air pockets.

This is where our day began. They are working on several pieces at the same time, so I was able to photograph the final two steps before the patina. Here, they are welding the pieces back together.
	Then they will go back with dental tools and grind in any details that may have been lost with the weld, as well as clean up any areas that might have been altered during the pouring process.
	*After all that is done, then they will sandblast the piece.*
Once all the oils from handling the piece is removed, they heat up the bronze to apply the patina. Check out that bronze ingot that they are using for a stand. THAT'S AN $80 BASE!!!
	The first layer of black patina is applied. After he brushes the patina on, he will heat it again. Look at the steam rising off the piece as he applies the liquid patina.
	*Here he is buffing the black off the area that will be of a different color. This process will leave the black in the lines that create the design on the cape.*
	After doing the cape with a more natural bronze finish, he then applies the blue on the face, jewelry, and corn, then seals it with a lacquer. There are two ways to seal up a bronze: one is the lacquer application, which will always retain the shine; and the other is with the application of a wax finish, which will require regular maintenance.
	*Me, admiring their handiwork, knowing that I will never have to touch another piece again to have a finished product.* *I can now see the margaritas flowing, and, of course, a hammock in the back yard . . .*
	Here's the final piece before the face is painted on. That's her make-up that will bring her to life. It will be mounted on a post with a walnut base that will have a nameplate. It will be complete in about two weeks. *Hope you enjoyed this as much as I did.*