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Fountain Sculpture: Osprey catching fish

Use a carpenter's pencil to make a rough sketch on plywood. It's not necessary that the sketch be perfect The main idea is to have an approximate visual representation of the eventual sculpture.

The first pieces of wire mesh are trimmed and bent into shape. Now it is time to carefully fit and add structural steel. Much of the initial structural steel is not necessary for the final sculpture. It is the armature for the welded wire mesh, which is the actual armature of the plastered sculpture. Welding is quicker than tying steel for this. It is quickest and easiest if one learns to weld with a cutting torch in order to avoid continuously changing welding tips. Don't worry about burning holes in this first layer of wire, it can easily be changed if necessary once the inner steel armature is complete.

The original sketch may change as the sculpture proceeds.

The head illustrates why learning to weld with a cutting torch is a good idea. Close inspection of the head reveals several kinds of steel leading up to the underneath beak. The head was "sketched" in steel and "erased" with a cutting torch several times before it was useable. The body was filled with foam construction scraps because it is unnecessary for it to be filled in with solid cement. Always remember that the steel work is part of the finish work in all ferrocement projects.

Notice that the original wire mesh is completely replaced. In this particular case this was done because the sculpture was coming out nice and is intended as a monument to endangered species. Should future generations not discard the sculpture, the ungalvanized wire is better for multi-century longevity. A sculpture like this involves much more work than the small effort of changing the original layer of wire if it becomes too torn up along the way.

The spirit of wild life became evident as soon as the body was closed back up.

The idea of this ferrocement fountain sculpture is water squirting up under the splash structure defined by the splash shaped steel. Quite a few artists have expressed the opinion that this armature should not be plastered and should remain as a steel sculpture, perhaps bronze or brass plated. This introduces an additional consideration into the ferrocement sculptural process.

Remembering that the steel work begins ferrocement finish work, one tends to exaggerate aspects like the thumb and finger feathers because the ultimate finish work is plaster that will obscure some of the steel details. If one is careful enough with the steel that the final product may turn out to be a steel sculpture rather than ferrocement, then one must consider this in the details as both a steel and ferrocement sculpture simultaneously. This is not so difficult if it is kept in mind.

One additional opportunity is presented to the sculptor who works with ferrocement. It is possible to leave a message under the base to the future which is as fine as writing on paper. One can write on strong plastic or thin metal sheeting with a dull etching tool. If the sheeting is on a soft surface while the message to the future is written, the letters will be raised and backwards on the down side of the sheet. If this sheet material is placed under the base of the sculpture with backwards writing up, a perfect impression will be transferred to the underside of the sculpture which will be smooth with normal writing when the sheeting is removed.

Perhaps this raptor will ask the future, "Am I still here?"

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