It tolls for thee...

© Robert Sommers

Leslie and I visited the Fallbrook School of the Arts Friday night on the occasion of the Artwalk. They were having another bronze pour. The Fallbrook foundry program started so many years ago by Wendell Perry is now enjoying a nifty rebirth and renaissance  under the new and able direction of Brandon Roy.

Roy, 29, studied bronze and casting techniques in Italy at the Florence Academy of Arts for three years under the tutelage of Robert Bodem. He has a quiet competence and skill set that belies his relatively young age.

Friday, he was casting a bell, which we decided to buy. Watching bronze get cast is both mesmerizing and electric.

The bell we purchased is the fifth bell he has made in bronze and is currently a work in progress.

Today I decided to pay my bell in waiting a visit and talk to Brandon a bit about his artistic creations. A very nice, soft spoken guy, he was happy to talk about his work.

First the technical stuff. Brandon showed me how he makes his sand molds and weighs the bronze pieces that he has calculated are necessary to fill his molds. It takes about seven pounds of bronze to make the smaller bell.

He heats his fire up to 2100º fahrenheit and then lets it settle down and pours at a cool 1950º.

The pour is a pretty critical zone, some years ago I watched a pour go afoul and spill all over the place. It is dangerous and you have to be on guard at all times.

The flame coming out of the crucible was glowing with the most beautiful green flame shooting out of the sides of the cylinder. A pyromaniac's wet dream! Nothing went afoul friday, I am happy to report. We watched the artisans don their special suits and then try to coax the molten metal into doing what it was told.

Our friend's the Fish's bought the other bell that was poured. The bells are built  in two sizes and they are really quite affordable. The bells are decorated with lovely historic japanese iconography.

Brandon tells me that he was originally influenced by the Arcosanti bells of Paolo Soleri but delved back even farther and found even more inspiration in the bell casting techniques of the early japanese craftsmen, whose bells tended to have much better tone than Soleri's which seemed more involved with the aesthetic and form than the ultimate function and sonic signature.

He showed me the exterior cylindrical knobs adorning the surface that are integral to his design and which he found that he can modify to alter the ultimate tone of the individual bell.

He fashions the strikers from the spill that is left at the top of the mold and fashions a simple collar that will allow the bell to ultimately hang from a chain.

Today Brandon was grinding excess material off the top of the bell where it had been attached to the trivets in the mold. We talked about the patina I would like to see on my bell and I checked out the sweet gong striker he has devised. He has quite a few hours in each bell, they are an act of artistry and love. I would highly suggest that you get your name on a list while you still can. Will post a picture of my finished bell next week.