Max the miracle dog Archives | The British Craft House

It has been wonderful to see people’s reactions to the sculpture of Max the Miracle Dog, now in situ on his Honister slate bench in Hope Park, Keswick.

I was absolutely thrilled when the owner of the world’s favourite Springer Spaniel, asked if I would accept a commission to sculpt ‘Max’. It would be a lasting tribute to the service dog that has been his lifeline and has since helped so many people.

A fundraising page was set up before I was asked to take on the commission and more than £26,000 was raised in just one day. With £15,000 needed for the original commission, Mr Irving pledged any additional funds raised to the PDSA, knowing they would put the money to good use.

I was excited to accept the commission and to work with Aron McCartney at the McART Studios, who would turn my original wax sculpture into the beautiful bronze you can see today.

It has been quite a journey.

The Max the Miracle Dog statue will be forever displayed in Hope Park, in the heart of the Lake District. It will commemorate ‘Max’. Aron and I hope it will give a much-needed boost to Cumbrian tourism and local businesses. I am so pleased that I was asked to create this tribute to a wonderful little dog who means so much to so many.

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’!

Tag: Max the miracle dog

Max the miracle dog statue commission

My ‘Max the Miracle Dog’ bronze statue commission!