![]() ![]() Before painting even begins you have to worry about seams and finishing. Unless you are sculpting an igloo or polar bear it is unlikely the white foam will complete your look. If hand carving with EPS, the common tools in his tool box include a chainsaw, hot knife, rasps and sanding blocks – ideal tools when working with EPS foam. For hand-carved projects, he will order appropriate sized foam blocks. So when he is planning his projects he will order EPS foam from Insulation Company of America in precut sheets to fit his router. Morrone uses the CNC machine to create most of his larger 3D pieces. A CNC (Computer Controlled Router) machine is ‘subtractive’, meaning it will remove material based on your programmed design.” Here is what he said: “Think of a 3D printer as ‘additive’, meaning it adds layers of material to create a 3-Dimensional piece from a 3D design that has been created with software on your computer. ![]() We asked Morrone to explain what a CNC machine is for those that might not have a machine shop background. It is a very large puzzle that takes careful planning and a lot of organization. The challenge of creating the whale was the assembly. The whale was created using a CNC machine that carved 26 pieces of precut 3.75 inch thick EPS sheets (48” by 96”). The Ocean project included pieces that were hand crafted and others that were milled on a CNC machine. Morrone is not a fan of wasting any material and if he can’t reuse pieces he will send them back to Insulation Company of America to be recycled. In one case, he and his lead sculptor Jamie McCauley created a coral reef that was hand crafted out of the EPS scraps. Ī 20′ long Humpback Whale mother and calf swimming through the open ocean hanging from a 21’ ocean mural ceiling, welcomes guests in a dental office in Greensboro, NC.Īs often as he can, Morrone will try to repurpose the scraps from previous projects to complete a new project. Yes, you read that correctly – under 100 pounds. Surprisingly the Humpback whale that measures 20 feet long and about 6 feet wide, weighs less than 100 pounds. To date, this is Morrone’s favorite installation. An underwater wall mural and 20 foot ceiling and windows create the perfect backdrop for a large humpback whale mother and her calf. When a dental office wanted to make a statement in their office, Morrone did not disappoint with delivering not one but two whales that hang from the ceiling in their lobby. Just like that Imagine Factory was born and Morrone started landing new clients like Village Family Dental with multiple locations throughout North Carolina. After doing additional research he found that dental offices and amusement parks could use his talents, especially if he used his mural and sculpting experience. This is where it all began… in order to make a living out of this type of art he would need to expand his clientele and service offerings. Morrone started off making his (EPS) foam sculpture creations when his Uptown string band was in need of props for the Mummers Parade. Behind the majority of his 3D creations you will find EPS, expanded polystyrene, as the sculpting material that is manufactured by Insulation Company of America in Allentown, PA. Steve Morrone, owner and artist of Imagine Factory in Sicklerville, NJ has taken his childhood passion and made it into a successful business that is expanding. Growing up he loved to paint, draw and play music. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |