A particularly personal gift is a portrait bust. These are available in a range of sizes and materials but the most common choice is a life sized bust in marble.

How does this work?

If you live locally this is quite easy as we can arrange sittings. If you're far away or the person in the portrait is deceased or unavailable I can work from photographs. It also helps if you tell me a little about the person in the portrait as I can incorporate something of their personality into the pose, expression and gesture. The busts can be done in a wide variety of styles from relatively plain Romanesque (such as the illustration here) to more ornate and romantic French styles or even abstract. It all depends on what the customer wants.

The first step is to determine the customer's requirements, obtain suitable photographs and create a full sized clay bust. I then return photographs and a quicktime virtual reality object of that to the customer. Once the customer is happy with that, we proceed to the casting stage, create a mould and cast in whatever material the customer requires. Marble is one of the best choices because its light translucency gives the bust a lovely "alive feel" but bronze and plain plaster are also good choices. Marble, bronze, iron and concrete are suitable for outdoor use, plaster is only recommended for indoors. I can advise you on what the effects of weather etc are likely to be on any given material.

What does it cost?

This does vary to some extent depending on the customers particular requirements, but generally step one is a deposit of $300(Australian) for which I'll make the life sized clay original and send the photos. If we're unable to arrive at a bust you're happy with there's no obligation to proceed further (though to date this has never happened!) Once the customer is happy with the clay, the mould costs a further $650(Australian) (This is largely due the very high price of the quality silicone rubbers we use). Then there is the cost of the casts themselves. You can order as many or as few as you wish but most people order more than one simply because the majority of the cost goes into sculpting and mould making, so it makes sense. It's also nice to give to family members or friends. A life sized bust in quality plaster costs $175(Australian) In bonded marble, iron or bronze: $575(Australian). Shipping costs depend on weight which depends on the customers choice and the number required. But generally to ship one hollow marble bust within Australia would be about $50 and to the USA or UK about $150. If you require heavy solid casts then of course this will be a little more. I make no profit on shipping so you'll only get charged what it costs and if you can find a cheaper way, I'll be more than happy to use it.

If you're potentially interested in having a portrait bust made, please email me.