Sculpture Using Brazing Torch
The Scottish sculptor Sue White-Oakes has been using Bullfinch equipment (including the Autotorch Brazing System) for nearly 20 years in her innovative and beautiful work in copper. She was recently described as possibly the finest worker in metal outside Japan, and examination of her figurative sculptures shows why. Her work covers insects, crustaceans, fish, birds and mammals. It is applique sculpture, in which carefully crafted pieces of copper sheet are fitted together by brazing and soldering. Heat is needed to anneal the copper to make it malleable, to braze and solder, and to colour the final sculpture. For each of these operations, precise control over the heat source is required.
The flexibility afforded by copper is shown in these two recent pieces: a Tawny Owl (60cm) and a Weaver Ant (30cm).
Courtesy of Sue White-Oakes 2009
Photos copyright Jim Pratt
