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Originally, the name was to have been "Bridle Path, " but that had already been chosen, so it became "Bridle
Pass." After presenting several designs, the one the client liked the best featured the head and chest of a palamino
horse, with rolling hills in the distance.
Once the drawing has been modified and finalized, it is over-laid on a brick grid. In this example, the brick is a modular
sized brick, but since we use oversized brick (depth-wise) the grid helps us determine the degree of raised-relief for each
section of the sculpture. On this sculpture, we used a brick unit approximately six inches deep for the "horse's nose."
Around the edges of the design, we carve the brick back to the "bed-depth" of the surrounding brick, the "field
brick" which is a regular manufactured brick.
While this brick grid helps us when we lay-up the wall of "green" unfired brick on our studio easel, the same
grid or "map" assists the mason when he's laying up the fired brick at the job-site. Note that the sculpted brick,
whether for a sculpture or sign, always starts with brick number A-1 at the bottom left corner. Since every brick is identified,
the wall is reassembled in the same order as it was carved.
Once the artist (in this example, Karen Ritchey) has decided that the carving is finished, and after the scrap brick clay
or the "tailings" have been hauled off by wheelbarrow to the studio's dump, the sculpture is ready for the next
step.
If the sculpture is to be left as a natural brick color, it would be taken down for drying, with each brick numbered.
In the "Bridle Pass" sculpture, it was decided to "color" the horse and hills with engobes, or colored
clay slips that are fired onto the brick. After firing, these colors will have a matte finish.
After the colors are chosen, mixed and applied to the still-moist unfired brick, Karen then carves through the engobe in a
technique called "scrafitto." This allows the brick clay color to show, and somewhat mutes the brightness of the
colors and blends it into the surrounding brick.
Finally, the sculpture is ready to be taken down for drying and firing. The numbers are marked, and the brick are carefully
stacked for drying on pallets. Depending upon weather conditions, this could take anywhere from one to two weeks.
The final drying takes place inside our large gas-fired kiln where the sculpted brick are stacked in rows, until the last
brick is loaded. The firing is a three-day process, with the temperature slowly climbing to the top temperature of over 2,200
degrees Fahrenheit.
After firing and the brick are cooled, they're removed from the kiln and the sculpture is assembled on the ground outside
the studio as a final check prior to shipping. Brick are then stacked on pallets and "stretch-wrapped," ready for
shipping to the job-site by truck. The top layer of brick will include brick A-1, ready for the mason to start laying up
the sculpture.
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