Perreault Magazine - 65 -
However I was very moved by a female baboon I had encountered who was carrying her baby on her back, with the sort of tired, worn out look that I strongly identified with, as a young mother myself at that time! I had captured her on film and felt compelled to recreate her pose, in bronze. It was a fortunate decision, since the finished baboon bronze, which was named 'The Art Of Nurture’, earnt me a nomination for Wildlife Artist of the Year in 2011 and moved my sculpture career to a new level. It illustrated to me the importance of choosing subject matter of personal relevance into which I could more easily breathe life and sense. Several of my pieces have subsequently featured the parent/offspring theme, including elephants, rhinos, giraffes and, most recently, a pair of hippos - technically I enjoy the challenge of recreating a small, baby version of the adult, with the same level of detail and realism and emotionally, I want my pieces to communicate directly with the observer. Nurture and the image of a parent/offspring suggests a degree of tenderness, affection and support - a set of emotions that humans can directly relate to and I feel that this helps my wildlife sculpture to speak to an onlooker. At every showing of my work, I am asked by visitors if they can touch my sculpture; I feel that if my pieces don’t inspire the onlooker to reach out and touch, connecting in some way with the piece, then I have not achieved what I wanted to. I spend enormous amounts of time working on a clay, using my fingers probably more than any other sculptor’s tool, to refine, smooth and almost tease the clay into the form I want it to take. The desire to touch my work, once finished, is the biggest compliment an observer can pay me, since they are inspired to want to connect not only with the subject matter but with the sculptor and the creation process itself.