Patrick Kipper, Master Patineur
by Suzanne Smith Arney
From his studio in Loveland, Colorado, Kipper talks about his ongoing fascination with patinas and sculpture. “There’s a whole history of the world in bronze casting,” he comments.
That history of casting bronze - for tools, weapons, and devotional art works - spans nearly five thousand years. The innovation of adding a small amount of tin to copper to make a stronger alloy gave its name to the Bronze Age (3000 - 1000 b.c.). At different times and in different places, the alloy’s composition has changed, but copper remains the dominant metal. Today, the vast majority of castings in America are made of silicon bronze (copper/ silica/ manganese). |
