beautiful casts of your child's hands & feet

step 

one

We arrange a time for me to come to your house to take the mould/s.

I use a rubber called alginate (the same as dentists use to take mouth impressions) which is totally safe for delicate skin. It's pretty quick and the child's hand or foot doesn't stay in the rubber for more than a minute. During this visit I'll show you examples of other work and we'll talk about colours and engraving for the finished piece.

step

two

Once I have the moulds, I then fill them with hot wax (usually while still at your house). I take the moulds away and, once the wax has cooled, I peel off the rubber to reveal a solid wax foot or hand. 
 

I then take the waxes to the foundry- Lockbund, in Oxfordshire- where I touch up any imperfections that might have occurred during the mould making process

step 

three

The foundry take over at this point and the waxes embark on the incredible process of being turned into bronze.  

To see more about the bronze casting process visit: www.lockbundsculpturefoundry.com

step 

four

Once they are cast in bronze, I return to the foundry to patina them. Patination involves heating the bronze cast up using a blow torch, and painting on chemicals which turn the bronze either a light or dark brown, a pale gold, a browny yellow or bluish green depending on your preference.

step

five

The final stage is to engrave the pieces, usually with the name and age of the child, or the date the mould was taken. Or something else if you prefer!