My Friend the bronze sculptor

[chyancarrek]

Hey all,

Here's a youtube vid put up by one of the gallery owners who represents my friend James Lee Hansen's work.

Jim is 82 now and has been doing sculpture since 1948 after he got out of the Navy - He's so spry and passionate about what he does - I can only hope to be as full of life at that age.

The poems Jim's reading on the vid are his own and the opening are bits and pieces from one of our casting sessions.

It's a tad long at 7 minutes but I hope you enjoy it!

youtube

[tetnum]

thats really cool i tried casting a coupple of times i diddent work well molds cracked and other problems

[chyancarrek]

Hey Tetnum,

Keep at it, Jim and I have been pouring metal together for ten years and there's always something to go wrong - you just need to work past it. Thats a big part o' the fun.

The day they taped the video nothing went right - we lost a motor on one furnace and had to switch over to another mid-melt - the bubbling of the metal you see in the vid is due to wax left in the mold from an incomplete burn-out then we had a break out (cracked mold allowed molten bronze to escape) run all over the floor. You just can't know what effect it has on the piece until you break the molds apart.

The fella taping the pour loved it because it all looked so dramatic on camera - we were thinking: "great - we look like a bunch o' dorks with all these glitches happening"

[Bentiron1946]

Nice work and nice poetry. I liked it and thanks for posting it.

[chyancarrek]

Hey Bentiron,

Jim's been an outstanding friend and mentor - very down to earth.

Working with him has given me a sense of legacy - an opportunity to contribute to something enduring.

[makulay]

hay that's cool.

BTW,
new here.

[chyancarrek]

Welcome Makulay!

This is a great site with all sorts of great info and outstanding folks!

Enjoy!

[Dodge]

Finally took the time to watch the video. All I can say is WOW!!!. Thanks for sharing C.

[chyancarrek]

Hey Dodge,

Glad you liked it!

Even after ten years I still have to pinch myself to make sure that the experience I've had with Jim is real - it's been such an outstanding opportunity to learn and grow as a craftsman and to have gained such a friend as he!

[markb]

Now I see where you got your avatar, scary stuff that molten bronze, a process I've all ways had an interest in but never pursued, and how appropriate that you are next to Mt. St. Helens.

Thanks for sharing and please post more of your work and the process.