Bronze statues – from inside out

Wax to model – to mould – to casting and creating a series of unique Laughing Frisian horses

“A horse is a horse, of course of course”
Ed, the talking horse

Starting the build

The challenge was to further my learnings working from the opposite perspective. Not outside in as with stone, but inside out. In particular I wanted to have my statue in a more abstract manner, leaving room for fantasy in the eyes and mind of the beholders. Not fixed firmly on the ground, but a balance between air, movement and yet the string and earth related features we find in Frisian horses.

Choose position

The difficulty was to work slowly, concentrate on the arabesk, not to loose sight of proportions. Also not to only add, but also remove, and add again. Working towards the desired outcome going back and forward to the interior line and the outer appearance. Along the line I learned that horses do laugh, albeit not of jokes, but out of desire and lust 😉

Bring in the energy

Working with wax is great. You can leave your piece for a while, without a need to keep it moist (as with clay). You can add, shape, reshape. But you need to get the construction right. In this case building on techniques and knowledge of Jon Gardella, for getting the core right. With spirit (also literally), and a rush to the finish line in our three day workshop, the laughing Frisian horse was “born” late 2015.

Getting started

A convincing argument to make a horse;
A stable construction with sufficient “length” of base material to work with (copper thread e.g.);
3 slates of firm (black) wax;
A bottle of Fryske hynder (3 y/o);
A couple of great movies with Frisian horses dancing in the meadow.