Kroupa and foundry co-owner Katrina Toft have occupied their present building on 25th and Commerce for about a dozen years. “We currently have three other employees,” Kroupa notes. “We’ve had six in the past, but work kind of died down.”

Kroupa originally hails from California, where he “did drafting for the government,” until he joined up with some high school friends who’d started a special effects company in Simi Valley. They eventually all made the move to an effects studio in Shelton, Washington. “(That experience) taught me a lot (about) mold making and resin casting and that kind of thing,” he says. When the studio relocated to Grants Pass, however, “My wife didn’t want to move. She told me, ‘You’ve got to find some other kind of job.’ That’s when I went to work for the Bronze Works in Shelton.”

Just over a year later, a shake-up/takeover reduced their numbers, and a core team moved to Tacoma, just up the street from their current location. Seven years later, around 2007/2008, that operation shut down, presenting Kroupa with the opportunity to acquire the foundry, and Two Ravens was born. The studio and foundry was named after the two birds that always return to sit on Norse god Odin’s shoulder—Hugin (representing memory) and Munin (representing thought)—and inform their master of their explorations in the world.

The process that resulted in the gloriously patinated one-foot-by-three-foot sculpture at the zoo was many-phased. It began with Kroupa envisioning the final product. “I had probably over 200 images of green sea turtles on my phone,” Kroupa says. “I originally envisioned the turtle on a rock, but due to safety concerns, we had to lower it,” thereby lessening the amount of bronze needed and the resultant cost.

Kroupa began by carving the basic shapes that compose the sculpture out of stiff foam. At that point, Ed needed to check for approval with the zoo. “I had to talk to their zoologists to make sure everything was correct proportion-wise. I got to actually visit the aquarium and observe the sea turtles.” These elements were then covered with a thin layer of oil-based clay, which was deftly sculpted.

“We take the clay originals and apply different layers of silicone rubber with different consistencies to make a mold of the piece,” Kroupa explains. To this, they attach a plaster support shell. “The silicone captures all the detail—even if there are fingerprints from me on it, it captures all of that. Once we have the mold made, we pour the wax, and that wax will be the same thickness as the bronze.” Using the “lost wax process,” the bronze was cast and the pieces—all fifteen—were welded together with the same alloy, ground down, and retextured.

“One thing that’s kind of nice,” Kroupa adds, “is I’m familiar with all the steps of the process, since I own the foundry, so I can design the texture so that it’s easier to match all the way through, because we use different die grinders and different techniques to recreate the texture that is on a sculpture.” When asked if he knew how many person-hours it took to create Sally, Kroupa laughs. “No. One night, we were here all night. In that two-month span, we were probably working ten-hour days, so it adds up.”

Other than the considerable labor involved, Sally only imposed one major challenge Kroupa hadn’t yet faced in his years of experience. “On the buoy balls… I didn’t have to deal with a marine biologist, so I’m sure there are (biological) imperfections. This turtle is more accurate. So, there’s that difference: making sure that, if another biologist goes through the zoo, they recognize it as a green sea turtle.”

On February 17, 2024—having been installed just the day before—Sally was unveiled in a private dedication of about 100 people, including the grateful donors. “They were very pleased. They both came in and did some of the clay work as well. All the employees here at the foundry worked on it. The timeline was tight enough that I needed some help. (Sally) was kind of a group project, though I was the artistic lead.”

Coincidentally, Kroupa’s current project is a sculpture of a dearly departed dog. “I kind of enjoy the challenge of capturing exactly what (a) person remembers, or their photograph. I find it more fun with animals than people. The relief panels (of specific surgeons) I did at (a local) hospital were more challenging because people will say, ‘He had more of a twinkle in his eye,’ or things like that. I don’t know how to capture all of that! People are more challenging. But I love ALL the challenges.”

“Luckily, I’ve been pretty fortunate—I own a foundry and get to do my own work,” Kroupa says. “It’s pretty fun.” When asked if he has projects of his own in the pipeline, he shakes his head and sighs. “By the time I get off work, after working ten hours, to do my own—whatever I want? I want a break. But ideally that’s the plan: to keep progressing as an artist by doing my own stuff and then limiting the amount of other work the foundry takes in. Everybody who works here is an artist, so that’s kind of our end goal. To just…do our own work.”

All seven species of sea turtles are threatened or endangered. They face many challenges, including poaching for their meat, eggs, and shells and being caught as bycatch in fishing gear or entangled in plastic. They also consume plastics that they mistake for food.

How can you help protect sea turtles in the wild? Reduce usage of single-use plastics to keep our beaches and oceans clean, carry reusable water bottles and shopping bags, and reduce marine debris that may entangle or be accidentally eaten by sea turtles.