Steel Horse

This was a wonderful opportunity for me to create something large and ambitious, using new techniques and working on an unfamiliar subject. I was grateful that Towndoor had faith in my abilities, as I knew that although I’m known more for my ceramic birds and reptiles, I knew that this was something that I could do, and do well. The process of making something as large and complicated as this steel horse is quite involved, and requires initial sketches in wire and on paper, and once the client was happy with the way that these were developing, I set about sketching the full size piece with wire and tape, as this is a quick, spontaneous method, and I wanted the finished piece to inherit the lines and curves that came naturally whilst I was sketching in 3 dimensions. Once I was happy with the life-size wire sketch, I could begin bending and welding together the 12mm steel rods. During the making process, the piece was suspended from the ceiling so that I wasn’t constrained by the practicalities of gravity, as I knew that the desired pose had just two legs touching the floor. Once the steel was welded, and the welds ground down, I removed the wire sketch, and then the finished piece was taken to be galvanized. It is now safely installed at its new home near Meltham, less than a mile from where it was created, and although it was at least 3 months hard graft, I enjoyed every aspect of its creation.