(lighthearted music) - [Julian] These are some images that we got from the digital printing people to show us how it's going to get cut up.

- [Narrator] This mosaic of colored parts will eventually be assembled into seven different bronze seating structures.

- This is the largest one of 'em.

- [Narrator] It's called "Groves and Stones", and it's the work of Oregon artist Julian Watts, and Baker City's Blue Mountain Fine Art.

- My name's Tyler Fouts, and I'm the owner of Blue Mountain Fine Art.

It's an art foundry.

It's in Baker City, Oregon.

- [Narrator] Over the last 20 years, Blue Mountain Fine Art has become known for producing bronze art that can best be described as contemporary.

They work with national artists, like Deborah Butterfield and Jim Dine.

And local artists like Brenna Kimbro, Bill Will, and Dana Louis.

(lighthearted music) But the process by which that artist made goes back some 5,000 years.

(lighthearted music) (object clatters) In the ancient world, bronze's strength and ability to hold fine detail made it highly desirable, for everything from coins to weapons to fine art.

And shows up in cultures as varied as China and Egypt, India and Greece.

- It hasn't changed very much.

What has changed is things like the digital printing.

But still, most pieces we have to mold.

- [Narrator] The technique is known as lost wax casting, and it starts here in the mold room.

- The artists send us an original sculpture, and we take it through the process of making it into a bronze.

- [Narrator] The process by which a sculpture is made into one of the most durable materials in the world, starts with one of the most flexible.

- We use a urethane rubber, and just paint it on with a brush.

And after the rubber's up to thickness, then we make what we call a "mother mold", which is the plaster mold.

- [Narrator] After the mother mold is done, a collection of gates or feeders are attached, that will allow liquid bronze to be poured into it.

- That's what's happening over here.

The red gates on there, or sprues, that will eventually be the feeding system for the bronze to flow through.

After the mold's made, we'll pour wax into this, and you'll end up with wax parts.

(lighthearted music) (lighthearted music continues) Then we just let it cool down, and then just pop it apart, and peel the wax out of there.

This piece here is the part we want in bronze.

It's the artwork.

And the rest of this here is just a feeder system.

- [Narrator] Once the wax form and gating, or feeder system is ready, it's time for the slurry room.

- So all the parts are brought in here, and then we will put a ceramic shell coating on them.

We dip it into the slurry, we call it.

It's a colloidal silica binder.

And then we apply sand to it.

It takes one fine coat, one medium coat, and anywhere from six to eight coarse coats.

We have to air dry them in between coats.

After they've gone through the process of dipping, and they're up to thickness, then we take them out, and we burn the wax out of them in the kiln.

- [Narrator] In this burnout oven, the wax is lost, or melts out of the heat resistant shells.

- You can see how it's sloped to the bottom, and there's a hole in the middle, and underneath there's a container to capture the wax.

After we've burned them out, they'll be ready to go in to the oven to be preheated and poured.

(intense drum music) (over hums) - [Narrator] The bronze pouring process, even in the 21st century, is done pretty much as it has been for millennia.

(intense drum music) (intense drum music continues) - Lift!

(intense drum music continues) - [Narrator] Bronze is heated into a molten state, and poured directly into the molds.

(intense drum music) The technique is ancient, but no less compelling.

(intense drum music) (person chatters) Anything left is poured into an ingot, to be used again in the next pour.

(intense drum music) Once cooled, the mold is broken off.

(hammer bangs) (hammer bangs) - And then all this stuff will get cut off right at the panel.

And then that's the art, is the top piece.

- This is the piece we want right here, and it'll go in and get sandblasted, and at that point, it'll be ready to get worked on by the metal shop.

(tools whirring) Depending on the size of the piece, some pieces can be a hundred parts, some pieces can be just one part.

So the bigger pieces have to be welded together, and then tooled.

(tools whirring) We use sanders, grinders, air hammers, all kinds of things to make different textures so that we can match the texture on the piece.

Afterwards, it's time to put the patina on.

Various chemicals make different colors.

After we get the color of the way we like it, then we warm the piece up and we wax it, and that seals it.

At that point, the piece is pretty much finished.

(upbeat string music) - [Narrator] In the spring of 2023, Groves and Stones was installed in downtown Bellevue, Washington.

The setting is urban and contemporary, but the art was handmade in Baker City, Oregon.

- We're a service to the artists, so it's kind of like being involved in that process.

And in the end, there's a lot of satisfaction in knowing that a piece that I install in Seattle, you know my grandkids can go see it someday.

(lighthearted music) - [Presenter] Oregon Art Beat shares the stories of Oregon's amazing artists.

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