Kirsty Armstrong Sculpture Archives | The British Craft House

Posted on 02/09/2024 by Just Kirsty Sculpture & Gifts

My bronze standing Otter Sculpture is now available!

Large Bronze otter figurine by Kirsty Armstrong Sculpture

The latest piece to come from my studio is a bronze standing Otter sculpture… called ‘Erik’.

Realistic and detailed Bronze standing Otter sculpture by Kirsty Armstrong Sculpture next to a lake — Bronze Otter sculpture

Why ‘Erik’?…

‘Erik’ has been named after my Grandfather, and also the name gives a nod to my recently discovered ancestral VIKING heritage!

How was ‘Erik’ made?…

I made the original wax Otter sculpture completely by hand using traditional sculpting techniques. It was then taken to be moulded and cast in the Cumbrian Lake District.

The Otter Sculpture is now in production as a limited edition of 300 pieces, cast in small batches to order, in four different finishes. Erik is available in cold-cast bronze, iron, and pewter, as well as a metal-rich lacquer bronze with a verdigris patina.
You can watch the first bronze Erik being brought to life in my workshop in this short YouTube clip HERE

Close up of the bronze otter sculpture by Kirsty Armstrong — Erik the otter in bronze

The Shetland connection…

I lived on Shetland as a child, where there is still a population of European Otters. The Hillswick Wildlife Sanctuary is the only Wildlife sanctuary on Shetland, and they rescue injured and abandoned Otters and seals. They provided invaluable reference material for me during the sculpting of ‘Erik’, and so I’ll be donating an amount to them for every 25 Otter sculptures sold.

This month I will be travelling up to Shetland with two bronze Otter Sculptures, one of which will live at Hillswick.

As a child I played on Shetland’s beautiful ‘Spiggie beach’, and so I managed to incorporate a little bit of Spiggie sand onto the original sculpture’s base, which has been reproduced on each piece.

I was also given a number of clam fossils by one of my followers, and so these have been incorporated into the sculpture’s base as well.
Please find the listing for the Bronze version of the Otter sculpture in my ‘Just Kirsty Sculpture and Gifts’ shop on the British Craft House. The other versions of ‘Erik’ will be available here very shortly.

Thank you for reading!
Kirsty

Posted on 18/02/202130/05/2023 by Just Kirsty Sculpture & Gifts — Leave a comment

My ‘Max the Miracle Dog’ bronze statue commission!

I’ve been a sculptor for more than 30 years and in that time I’ve made all sorts of things! I’ve sculpted animals for figurine manufacturing companies… I’ve designed and produced the annual awards for ‘General Electric’ in the USA … I’ve made Spitfire sculptures, one of which was given to the squadron leader of the Battle of Britain memorial flight… HRH Prince Charles even has one of my copper red squirrels!

However, in September last year I was given my biggest commission yet; I was chosen to sculpt a rather special spaniel called Max. Max the miracle dog. It was to be a life size bronze sited in a public park in Keswick, in the heart of the Lake District.

As Max is now almost 14 (and ‘required’ to be at the unveiling) I was asked to sculpt him as quickly as possible. This meant I had to virtually shut down my business including my JustKirstySculpture British Craft House shop, and to close my books to any Christmas orders!

As I live and work in Cumbria I was able to work very closely with Max and his owner, Kerry Irving. Every stage of the project was broadcast to Max’s huge following all over the world via his ‘Max out in the Lake District’ page. I have to admit that at times this proved extremely stressful, for both me and Kerry! And so at Christmas I had to withdraw from the glare and get back to just ‘sculpting’ and enjoying that ‘process’ rather than worrying about people’s reactions.

Two weeks ago we drove the finished sculpture through the snow over the Pennines to the bronze foundry where he’ll soon be converted into bronze.

For this camera shy sculptor there are now unnerving rumours that ‘royalty’ may be coming up to Cumbria to unveil Max sometime in the spring!! Curtsying may have to be practised and nervously performed!!!

Little glimpses of my work have been shown to Max’s adoring fans, but the whole piece won’t be seen until the day of the unveiling. So far, people seem to particularly like my sculpting of his paws and his ‘chops’, so here are a couple of shots of ‘Max’ in the modelling wax in which I sculpted him.

Meanwhile, I’m nervously waiting to hear when the unveiled will take place, and working on new pieces to produce for my shop! An otter cub is first on the list!!

Kirsty

: Details from the Original wax sculpture of Max the miracle dog by Kirsty Armstrong Sculpture

: Max’s ‘chops’!

Posted on 27/02/202030/05/2023 by Just Kirsty Sculpture & Gifts — Leave a comment

The sculpting & making of Harriet Hare

The little video above shows the various stages which my Harriet Hare Sculpture went through during the year it took to sculpt her. Obviously I was producing other work during that time as well because I needed money coming in before she went into production, but she took around 200 hours to sculpt…

If Harriet has been a ‘one-off’ then all that sculpting time, backed up by my 30 years sculpting experience, would have had to have been reflected in the price of the ‘one’ Harriet, so instead…a mould was taken from her and I now make her in different metallic finishes. This way all that initial designing and sculpting time, as well as the production costs, are spread over the limited edition number making her more affordable for more people.

Customers sometimes don’t realise the time, skill and cost which goes into producing handmade pieces like Harriet. I was recently asked if I’d sculpt and then produce in cold-cast iron a gentleman’s two pet dogs… I explained the process of producing these ‘one-offs’ and their likely cost. As is often the case, he unfortunately changed his mind when he realised they couldn’t be made cheaply!

The purpose of this post then is to show you the many stages of a sculpture’s development from the initial 3D sketch (or maquette) which I make in wax through to the finished original with ALL its detail, and this is before it then goes off into production! It is also to point out that art doesn’t just materialise. It takes skill, knowledge, practise, expertise, patience, attention to detail and … the love of it. ❤️

Posted on 09/02/202030/05/2023 by Just Kirsty Sculpture & Gifts — Leave a comment

Traditional V Digital Sculpture techniques?

I’ve been a traditional sculptor for more than 30 years. I enjoy the relationship I have with the medium I use, and also the close interaction with the reference materials I choose, both of which combine to help me create the sculptures I produce.

: Close up of my Harriet Hare sculpture created using traditional sculpting techniques

I am rather resistant to change, and have tended to view ‘digital’ sculpting as… cheating! Well, to some degree any way! However, a figurine designing company recently contacted me after they began following me on Instagram and they commented that they were impressed by my ‘sensational fur sculpting skills’! (?) They went on to ask me to sculpt a type of Tiger for them, even though they employ several digital sculptors. It seems that perhaps fur can’t easily be replicated using a computer and that the hand and eye of a traditional sculptor might still be useful in this digital age!

I was thinking about how I was going to approach this project and I had an idea about how to incorporate working ‘with’ digital sculptors which would save the company time and money and still produce the finish on the sculpture which they came to me for.

I admit to feeling slightly apprehensive when I emailed them my idea… I know nothing about digital sculpting or 3D printing and was expecting my idea to be shot down in flames, but… the reply came back almost immediately hailing me as ‘innovative’ and a ‘genius’! (?) They also believe that they might have quite a bit of ‘traditional’ sculpting work for me in the future!

So, traditional V Digital Sculpture techniques? You’ll have noticed that I haven’t spilled the beans on exactly ‘what’ my brilliant idea is (it isn’t always a good idea to give your best ideas away!), but I’m so pleased that after my resistance to digital sculpting I have found a way to combine it with the way I work to the mutual benefit of both me and the customer in a faster and ultimately a more satisfactory way.

: My Harriet Hare sculpture created in wax using traditional sculpting techniques