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the HERALD Wednesday December 4 Arts and Ideas Page 11B Art casting has a long and storied tradition By JOHN SOMMER Herald Special Most visitors who come to my gallery are intrigued by the many bronzes by Canadian sculptors on display They always ask where and how they were made The first question where is easy to answer the second how is a bit more difficult Canadas bestknown art foun dry is right here in Georgetown Its name is Inc and it is located on Armstrong Avenue Eric Knoespel the owner of Art- cast Inc started an industrial foundry with a partner in 1964 This foundry was called Mid- Canadian Investment Casting and later became Cercor 25yearsago next year Eric Knoespel started to cast sculpture as a sideline The sideline grew and in the late the original partnership Ideas and The Arts John Sommer 1 In 1981 Artcast Inc moved to the present location and was guided by the expertise of the owner and his family a son and daughter work in the business to its present eminence Many of the most prestigious Canadian monuments had their origin in this Georgetown foundry One of Queen Elizabeth for the Prince Edward Island capital Charlottetown for instance and the large statue of former Prime Minister John for Parliament Hill to name just two Lately Inc has brought out The Canadian Con temporary Sculpture Collection and Nova Art two series of bronzes cast in large editions that make it possible for every art lover to collect authen tic bronzes by Canadian sculptors without having to pay the high prices that small edition bronzes demand on the market Big star names like Walter Bachinski Don Bonham Pauta Christmas celebration in Terra This Saturday and Sunday the Shops of Terra Cotta invite the public to come and join them for a cup of hot cider and take a leisurely stroll through the village The FORGE STUDIO GALLERY JO WALTERSONS STUDIO AND THE BRASS THIMBLE are joining together in one big Christmas Village Celebration They will be offering the usual unique glass pottery wood and pain tings to mention only a few and specially for this season you will find Handmade Boxed ChocolatesRaku Fired Candle Holders and Wooden Animals at the FORGE GALLERY Miniature Paintings and Hand Painted Guardian Angels at JO STUDIO Hand- painted Wooden Birds at THE BRASS THIMBLE Say it trie Saila and Michael Snow to name a few are represented in the col lection as well as Fernando who is known for his ballet dancers and Siegfried Puchta the famous sculptor of animals Why are sculptures cast in bronze expensive To begin with a cast in bronze is not a reproduc tion The artist who wants his work to be cast in bronze even tually will model in wax Lets say that he is modelling a small fawn in wax The finished piece is not more than inches high There it stands tottering on thin vulnerable legs Left like that the sculpture will not last long The wax will soften in the heat of sum mer and the whole charming piece will sink to the ground Before this happens the artist if he has the money will take his creation to Artcast in Georgetown where a skilled ar tisan will fashion a rubber mold from the piece Next molten wax is poured into the mold It is this wax duplicate that is later melted out prior to casting This is called the Lost Wax Process Now wax bars are fused to the wax duplicate to make up the sprue system After the sprue system channels the molten metal into the mold cavi ty Next the sprued wax duplicate is coated several times with a ceramic slurry and stucco to build up the thickness until the piece is encased in a strong shell This ceramic shell is heated us ing steam to melt out the wax The shell is then cured in a fur nace and preheated In prepara tion for casting When all this is done the molten metal is poured into the ceramic shell Upon cooling the ceramic shell is chipped off and the sprue system removed Now each loca tion where the sprue system was attached has to be retextured to restore it to the texture of the wax For the final finish the piece is either polished or given a patina All these operations are hand operations and at any time accidents can happen that might destroy the art work There are no unskilled jobs in a foundry Art casting is an art by itself and one with a long tradition The casting and collecting of bronzes links us to the ancient world The Lost Wax Process was known in ancient Egypt and Greece and during the Shang Dynasty in China from to BC ex quisite artifacts were cast in bronze by the Lost Wax Pro cess Inc is conducting tours through their premises Groups up to IS people can be ac comodated If you want to have a closer look at one of the most fascinating enterprises in town phone and ask for Ms Mona Knoespel You will be filled with awe everytime you see a bronze thereafter GREET MORE FOR LESS Save 5 on each card you send When purchasing greeting cards look for the Greet More symbol on boxed sets These sets contain specially coded en velopes Follow the simple instructions block in the Postal Code and affix a Greet More 35 stamp Youll save 5 and speed the processing of your holiday greetings Save 5 with Greet More greetings in Canada Greet More stamps Pack of 10- each Greet More ISS DELREX SMOKE SHOP GEORGETOWN MARKETPLACE 8779284 Fax Service Available Minimum SB Purchase For All Your Fine China Silver Crystal Giftware MAIN ST MILTON 8780050 A Passive Reducing Solon FACIAL CM fa Hon 8734907 1 116GuelphSt Georgetown We would like to encourage your children to play safely will you help Pictured above is two of a series of new safety signs They have been designed especially for children to warn them of the dangers of playing with equipment and climbing hydro towers or poles Some of the signs feature ZAP the Electrical Safety Bird and all feature a very dear warning Why not take a minute to talk to your children about electrical safety outdoors Show them the signs in this ad Thank you for helping ENERGY HINTS How To Reduce Your Heating Bills Lower Thermostat vow at KiuiiC6S above treominendcd selling me by about higher than norma tvonr licit your any fairer house It you have a spate loom that nut being used close the hut an register or torn the and close the door to that room 71 Dont Overheat Clowdoir iMdntg to unhealed of tit- m a The Electricity People