Creating memories of bronze

Rima Shah

Their artwork graces the rooms of the White House and is presented as

gifts to heads of state worldwide.

Burbank-based Andevan Bronzeworks has been recreating works of art

and commissioning original statues since 1974.

“We have people who have been doing this for several years, and we

know that, and we take care of them,” Andevan Bronzeworks President

Ian Killips said.

Originally known as Sun Foundry, Killips changed its name six

months ago when he bought the company.

“I was collecting art since I was 12,” Killips said. “This lets me

combine my love of art with business.”

Ron Pekar, a Glendale-based sculptor and one of the artists who

with Andevan, commissioned the foundry to cast his bronze.

“Bronze has been a tradition of artists for eons of time. It is a

nice medium of expression, and it is permanent,” Pekar said.

Pekar has worked with the foundry for 15 years and feels that

Killips is very “pro-artist.”

“He has a great deal of integrity, and he has good people that

work with him,” Pekar said. “And as an artist, it is important to

work with other people who are artists in their own fields.”

A statue of former President Ronald Reagan, created at the

foundry, is on the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan, Killips said. A

similar bust of Reagan, also created by the company, is owned by

Nancy Reagan, he said.

Reagan likenesses -- there’s even one of him on horseback -- are

some of the most popular busts or statues the foundry sells.

“This is going to be a gift to Michael Reagan,” Killips said,

running his hand over a bust of Ronald Reagan.

“A lot of people who collect bronzes are Republicans,” Killips

said. “And for a lot of people, Reagan was the ultimate Republican.

But we’re neither Republican nor Democrat; we do Bill Clinton too.”

The foundry, however, has sold so many Reagan busts that Killips

calls his business the “preferred authorized” place to go for them.

But the foundry creates a lot more than busts of political

figures. On display are graceful equestrian statues, classical

figures, cowboys, Samurais, animals and mariachi figurines.

Just recently, the foundry created the bronze replica of a cigar

store Indian, originally made in wood in the 1920s by Scottish artist

Samuel Anderson Robb.

The bronze statue captures the wear and tear of the wood and

details creases in the clothes or lines in the feather.

“Bronze captures every little detail,” Killips observed.

Each piece takes about a month to complete, going through a

16-step process that begins with creating the mold and pouring the

wax. It is then assembled and engraved.

“We can mold anything that will stand still for 20 minutes,”

Killips said.