About the September Sunflowers

I started these sculptures during the summer of 2005. I planted over one hundred sunflowers outside my studio in early May. From inside I watched them grow from infancy to maturity. They grew tall, swaying together in the wind, like groups of people, faces upturned following the sun across the sky. As summer changed to early fall, heads began to bow down. Leaves, tired and torn, began to droop. In the September light their silhouettes cast long moving shadows across the ground.

These images stayed in my head. I simply had to try to sculpt these people standing outside my window. I guess inside I wanted them to stay longer. It was sad to see them go.

Each sunflower sculpture is unique. The heads, leaves, stems and bases were all cast from wax originals, sculpted and poured by the artist. Each wax piece was dipped at a foundry to form a shell that the bronze would be poured into. The wax was burned out before the bronze was poured; it is called a "lost wax" process for that reason. After the bronze cooled the shells were broken off, and the individual pieces were then sandblasted and ground to remove the remaining shell from the bronze surface. The stems were poured in bronze in approximately 16-inch sections, which were welded together. A stainless steel rod was inserted at each weld site for added strength. Next, the stems were mounted to the bases. The flower heads were selected and welded to the stem of each plant. For this project, over 250 leaves were poured in wax, each one distorted and bent by hand. Each leaf was poured in bronze and then ground and sanded in preparation to be welded onto a stem. The leaves were sorted for size and shape, selected by the artist for their placement on the sunflower stems. After the sunflowers were completely assembled, the foundry completed the welding, sanding and grinding to finish the surface. Each sculpture was then sandblasted to prepare the bronze surfaces for the patination process (the colouring of the bronze). Each sculpture was heated with a torch and chemicals were either brushed or sprayed onto the hot bronze. When the desired colour was achieved, the bronze was allowed to cool. A paste wax was applied to seal and protect the surface.

Bronze casting is very labour intensive. The process for one sculpture can take up to two months or longer depending on the size of the piece from start to finish.