Red Squirrel
November 2021
Storm Arwen tore through Cumbria leaving a trail of destruction, felling trees that had stood for many years. One such tree, a Norway Spruce, originally a family Christmas tree from the 70’s which had long outgrown its indoor use and been allowed to find its true potential in the garden, toppled. Once the main trunk had been cut, the stump fell back into place leaving a perfect plinth for a sculpture!
June 2022
Lowfield House, a luxury rental property is still owned by the same family. They contacted me asking for a design for a red squirrel to sit atop this stump.. Little Langdale is of the last red squirrel habitats in the lakes.
Research
After looking at various different poses we decided that actually the traditional red squirrel stance with the s bend tail and compact body is the most typical and sets it apart at a glance from its grey counterparts. As you know I like a bit of movement, so how to give it life? Watching squirrels and how they move, their tails appear to flow behind them – light but so expressive. So the tail was the key along with a twist of the body, and a hint at the musculature that allows them to spring away at a moments notice.
Scale and Materials
To give the squirrel real impact, it needed to be larger than life. In this case almost 4 times larger at 900mm high. When making larger sculptures I make a maquette (scale model). This allows me and the client to better visualise how it will look from all angles. Because of the history of copper mining in the valley, we did consider copper plating with a view to waxing it to avoid a verdigris squirrel. The sample (pictured right), is quite close to the red squirrel colour but is a bit brash and would require regular maintenance. We settled on burnished stainless which would be more robust and subtle in colour.
July – September 2022
Making the sculpture
It started with a wire armature to set out the pose and proportions. Next, I made the head, added it to the armature and fleshed out the body. Then added an acorn and sorted out its toes. Nearly finished, it was getting heavy and I had to use a trolley to more it around. Lastly, I coloured the stainless and it was ready to be installed.
October 2022
The squirrel is installed in its new home
