| I began making bells 30 years ago with a welding torch and anvil in a small garage. I cut, hammered, and welded together pieces of sheet metal to produce my first wind bells. They were crude, but people seemed to enjoy their mellow cowbell tones. I purchased a peddler's license, and on Saturdays during the fall of 1970 I would drive into Boston and sell my week's work from a pushcart in a few sociable hours. It was fun for awhile, and offered a brief and pleasant tie with the colorful tradition of street vendors that I always enjoyed on visits to the city when I was young.
Later I learned of the American Craft Council fairs at Bennington, Vt. These shows opened the door for a career in crafts bringing me into contact with an exciting network of supportive galleries and craftspeople from the entire country. My wife and I moved to Maine in 1975 where we have built our home and enjoyed many happy years raising our four sons. We built our first workshop from wood cut on our own land. It was rustic, but it served us well for several years. Then, as I became more involved in the process of bell making, I realized the need to pursue the technique of bronze casting. Although sheet metal bells could be very successful, the range of forms and sizes was limited. Many new possibilities surfaced when I began working in bronze. In 1982 came our original foundry building. There is no school for foundry work, especially as it applies to bell making. So there was a lot of experimenting and trial and error. It was a slow way to learn, but we made steady progress. Thankfully, people continued to enjoy and purchase our work. Gradually over the years we have been able to acquire the techniques and equipment to operate a successful foundry business. Much of our process is entirely conventional, if old fashioned. We probably would fit in fine with any small town foundry of 50 years ago. In fact the molding machine shown in our foundry illustration was made in 1946, the same year I was born. But we've also developed a few tricks of our own, usually to deal with problems specific to a particular design or pattern. Of course, solving those problems has always been among the most stimulating and satisfying joys of running this business. |
I have also enjoyed showing our customers about sand casting and watching their fascination grow as they see the molten bronze glowing with heat flowing quietly into the heavy black molds. When they see the work and care that goes into every aspect of the bells, they look at our finished pieces with genuine interest.
In the past several years we have expanded our foundry four times, built a metal finishing and pattern shop and our own US Bells store. We now sell our work in Prospect Harbor as well as through galleries, direct mail and the internet. Although we are still a small family run business with only 5 full-time employees, our bells are widely recognized for their quality of tone and integrity of design. One of my long term goals has been to work on a larger scale. Although we are still limited by the size of our furnace to castings of less than 100 pounds, it is possible to join sections to make larger sculptures. We are finally at a point where we can consider more substantial one-of-a-kind pieces and work with customers accommodating their unique architectural and aesthetic concerns. Throughout my work with wind bells, I have always enjoyed the connection they establish with nature. They can remain outdoors year around, through winter blizzards and quiet summer breezes. As the weather changes, so too does their song, which, for me, becomes a vibrant reflection of our living world. Richard Fisher, Oct. '99 |
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