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This bust of "Mr. Molina" - a friend and supporter of Dr. Bradley Engle - is a signed original. It is "one of a kind", having no duplicate. Work on the clay model commenced in Naples and the bronze was completed at Brian R. Owens' studio in central Florida.
It was installed prior to the grand opening of a new luxurious dental office in Naples in the fall of 2018.
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The bust was sculpted from a combination of life and photographs. It is mounted on a piece of manmade quartz to fit the decor.
The bronze rims were very successful - which is good - because Mr. Molina's eyewear is a feature of his face.
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Engle Dental Associates, Naples, Florida
The new offices of Engle Dental Associates in Naples (on US 41) is a modern, two story, 9200 square foot dental office with 15 state-of-the-art operatories and a small movie theater. This is a photo of the lobby. The bronze bust is in an alcove to the right of center.
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"Mr. Molina" - In the Making
Here we see the clay model of Mr. Molina, after my second visit to Naples. The clay is "oil-based" so it doesn't dry out. It's holds details, is made in France and has a fancy name, but it's still just clay.
Director Sydney Pollack called film-making a "mosaic art form ... consisting of other arts".
The same could be said of sculpting in bronze. It is a "process" that involves many steps. Clay modelling, mold-making, bronze casting, metal working, patination, photography. You start by modelling a likeness in clay. Later, you prepare a ceramic mold that contains an undulating negative space inside of it. It's strong enough to withstand the mechanical and thermal shock of molten metal rushing into it. But you only have one shot. The ceramic mold is destroyed in the process.
In the beginning, humans carved forms by only removing material. Our methods were intuitive and "subtractive". We made arrow heads and tools, then masks and totems. A few thousand years ago, we learned how to combine "additive' and "subtractive" methods. We poured soft metal into shapes and then "tooled" them. We needed a harder metal so we learned how to work in bronze - which was a big step - because as Dr. Bronowski said in The Ascent of Man, "you can't go out into nature and find bronze. You have to make it. Bronze is an alloy. The first metal invented by men."
Gradually, we learned that nature is not animated by goblins and satanic familiars but by forces that we can understand and predict. Now, with great effort, we can rearrange molecules in new imaginative combinations. We print guns, make bullet-proof shirts, replace hips and build flying machines with stuff that nature does not provide. Bronowski nailed it when he said that the modern problem is not to find structures to make with the materials at hand, but to invent materials to make structures that otherwise would not work. Still, we cannot escape our biology. There is a need in the human heart for the luminous and the transcendent, and for the stories of the giants who paved the way for us as we struggle to become more than what we are. We send our probes to the stars and still, we never tire of the sculpted portrait and this ancient metal.
Brian R. Owens
March 2019
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About the Sculptor
Brian R. Owens is a second-generation professional artist; a sculptor and painter, schooled in the methods and materials of classical, traditional fine art. Owens' studio is based in central Florida about half an hour north of the Orlando metro area.
For more information, call Owens directly at 386-956-1724 anytime after 10 AM Eastern time. Click on the link below to review his online biography and resume.
CLICK HERE to review Owens' biography and resume
CLICK HERE to see more Sculpture
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