A small element On a cold January morning, I had the distinct honor to visit the Robert Bricker foundry in Virginia. The foundry is part of a large secure industrial complex tucked away in a corner of a small town. When I arrived, Bricker came down from his sprawling perch to meet me. Though I have met him numerously, it's easy to forget how tall he is. We climb flights of stairs before entering his art complex which he has maintained for over four decades. Suddenly, entering the room and seeing the scale of his operation, Bricker seems both imposing and yet not as tall in the context of the high ceilings and sweeping open wall studios. I am endlessly fascinated to hear the story about how artists found their talents and when. At one moment, Bricker brought down a model airplane-- his first project. He had built this airplane as a boy from balsa wood, even making the detailed rivets by snapping off the heads of pins to line the wings. He demonstrated the spring-loaded machi...