Big wise eagle owl (Wood carving, yew wood)
Owl is carved out of yew wood which I found lovely to carve with its two colours. The white outer side of the wood is softer than the orange centre.
Eagle owls are the largest of these type of birds with distinctive ear tufts.
The food chain (sculpture installation)
This sculpture installation consists of Meerkats, beetles and an owl.
It illustrates a food chain, the owl hunting the Meerkats; Meerkats hunting the beetles and the beetles are after the wood the owl is perching on.
So without the wood, the owl would not have a perch from which to hunt from.
Amur Leopard
The new wild life program 'Planet Earth' inspired this sculpture.
Through this sculpture I hope to inform people of the leopard's struggle for survival. Using words and phrases to creating the leopard's rosette pattern.
Phrases I have used:
Amur Leopard (name of species),
Critically endangered,
Loss of habitat,
40 left in the wild.
At the first year degree show I incorporate some snarling and growling sounds to go with the sculpture.
Meerkats 2, The Defenders (clay & steel skeletal structure)
Three Meerkats hunting a cobra, I wanted to capture the typical characteristics of these very sociable creatures.
Dino & Susie in the kitchen
Dinosaur species, Compsognathus
This was the first sculpture ideas inspired by a fun book called, ‘How to keep dinosaurs’ and the program, ‘Walking with Dinosaurs’.
Sparrows (fired clay & wire wings)
Pastel drawing, Golden lion tamerin.
Meerkats 5, Thoughtful (mudrock & steel skeletal structure)
Jolly creatures that are fun to watch and very social.
Pencil drawing, Elephant
Hippogriff, (steel skeletal structure with chicken wire)
Some mythological animals have developed through the discoveries of dinosaur fossils, and decided to create a mythological creature that combining all my favourite animals, felines, horses and raptors (eagles) with a bit of dinosaur thrown in, into one life form. These mythical beings are called hippogriffs.
The hippogriff symbolizes impossibilities. It is an offspring of a griffin and a horse, and as griffins regard horses as prey they should not exist at all. Like Hippogriffs, Griffins have claws, wings and head of eagles. But Griffins have the body of a lion, where as Hippogriffs have that of a horse.
My earliest experiences and influences of the art world came from my Gran. Watching her at work on her sculptures and sitting out in nature painting.
I remember she always had her rucksack with her on long outings with her watercolour kit in it. I have inherited her love for painting watercolour landscapes.
Sadly I have not had her experience of watercolour painting for long as she died when I was about 9 or 10 years old, but her paintings and her wood carvings are all around the home as a constant guide and inspiration.
Living with her art all around me is a constant influence on me although her theme is different to my own. Her sculptures are of a political nature, using human figures. She was an anti fascist artist and felt strongly about the issues at the time, I feel strongly about nature and wildlife, both of us incorporating, in our art, what we feel strongly about.
Her favourite medium was wood, but she started out using modelling clay.
This fascinating experience from my childhood resulted in my ultimate ambition to follow in my Grandmothers footsteps.
My work is a reflection of my own personal ideas concerning survival of the species and the effects humanity has on our environment. So many species have become extinct and are on the endangered list due to human intrusion and destruction of habitats.
I like to produce sculptures that have a life like quality, capture an animal’s distinctive attribute and incorporate movement.
My first inspirations for creating any animal sculpture are the endangered species. This is a subject that I find alarming, how many animal species are on the endangered list and how quickly some can come to the brink of extinct. What would the world be like without animals? They are important to the whole environment, everything is linked, when the smallest insect disappears this small unseen creature can affect the larger species. They all play a part in looking after the environment. Humans tend to do the opposite, destroying nature and cultivating it to their own needs.
Archyopteryx an extinct species of bird, idea developed from an interesting and fun book, ‘how to keep dinosaurs’.
These need a lot of imagination. There are only fossilised remains and descriptions to go on. According to the book, a pet bird with attitude, ‘ let it have it’s way, it has sharp teeth’. This particular species although long extinct are the oldest and first discovered fossils of birds, it has dinosaur and bird characteristics. They represent an important part in the evolution of birds.
endangered animals.
The Fossas are described as the world’s oddest carnivore and is the largest predator to be found in Madagascar. A website described these creatures as looking like a cross between a cat and a dog with otters whiskers.
Life-
Meerkats are jolly little creatures that are fun to watch, whether in nature programs or even in the zoo. They live in large social groups. With these I am trying to capture their typical characteristics and funny antics.
Kinkajous are related to the racoon family and live in South America. They are unusual looking nocturnal animal with prehensile tails. I have also found out that they are rather fond of sweet honey.
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