August 01, 2018, Wednesday
Today we poured Iron at Atelier Haus. I was proud to be the first to pour my mold and very grateful for all of the support and good wishes of the resident artists and residency directors. As you all probably know, iron casting is a cooperative activity with many people joining together as a team to accomplish a shared goal. That spirit of camaraderie seemed so appropriate to an event intended to honor Bill. His service to the country extended well past his retirement from the Army and fidelity to his comrades was at the core of his character.
I decided that some of Bill’s ashes should be incorporated into the Lodestone so I placed those that I had brought with me into the mold and we proceeded to pour iron. Although , for purely practical reasons this was a small mold, it still took more than one pour to fill the mold. After Bill’s Lodestone was cast I joined the crew in casting works by fellow artists and I am pleased to report that we had complete success with all of the molds in spite of 1 or 2 small misadventures. Iron casting wouldn’t be nearly as interesting if we didn’t face some difficulties!
Here is a more-or-less chronological series of images of the casting of Bill’s Lodestone:
