Gabe's casts are not "recasts".  They are original castings done by a foundry working under strict copyright laws, directly with Gabe.  (A re-cast is a copy of an original cast that does not generally have any control on how closely they follow the artists original sculpture.  Many deceased sculptures' works are done in recasts, such  as many of Remington's.  Some are done very well, and some very poorly, depending on the foundry.  Unfortunately, since the copyright time has elapsed, there is no control over the variance in quality nor the number of recasts that are produced.) 

Gabe Gabel's editions are very limited, usually less than 30 are made, and the artist proof is always kept by Gabe, herself.  She does not do partial casts, and when a special variation is made of the original edition, it is still considered part of the original edition. 

Gabe takes great pride in her work, and this integrity as an artist, is reflected in these magnificent bronze.

 The Process from Clay to Bronze...

The completed clay sculpture is first dissected with piano wire.  The individual pieces of the sculpture are mounted on armoratures.  Latex molds are made of each piece, followed by a plaster mold for stability.  This mold is the basis for all of the bronze pieces in the edition to be made.  The following steps are used to make each and every piece in the edition.

A hot liquid wax is poured into these moulds in several layers.  After they have cooled, they are removed from the molds and pieced back together.  After the wax replica is chased precisely to match the original clay sculpture, it is then gated with sprues to allow the gas to escape when the molten bronze is poured.

The wax replica is then dipped into a slurry mix and followed by layers of silica sand, drying up to 24 hours between layers.  This coated shell is placed in a kiln for the burn out to cure the cast and melt out the wax, thus claiming the name "lost wax process".

The vacant ceramic shell is ready for the molten bronze.  The bronze material is an ancient copper alloy, beginning in ingots placed in a crucible which is heated to 2000 degrees, then poured into the newly created shell.

After the piece has completely cooled, the shell is carefully chipped away.  The individual pieces of the bronze sculpture are pieced together by welding with the same bronze material.  After detailing the bronze, the piece is now ready for a patina.

Patina is an Italian word for color.  Patination is done by applying different acids & caustics to the piece which has been preheated with a torch.  The mineral content of the water and the heating and cooling of the different acids and caustics will cause the patina to vary.

One bronze piece has now been created.  From making an identical wax replica, to the slurry layers, to the chasing, to the pouring, welding, and patination; these steps are repeated for each and every piece in the edition.

After the edition is complete, the original molds are destroyed in order to preserve the integrity of the limited edition bronze.