Sula

Commissioned life-size portrait of retriever bitch.
A very resistant material to work upon ; but truly rewarding results once polished and buffed.
All the work was carried out entirely by hand : no motor assistance used at any stage of the production of this sculpture after the block of Belgian Blue had been delivered to the studio.
Reference materials were in the main the dog itself, who would sit for me for a few minutes at a time, most weeks, especially towards completion. The animal was sketched exhaustively and many photographs were used to assist with obtaining Sula’s exact likeness.
This was the last work ever to use new stone : after which it was decided not to contribute further to my home planet’s despoilment. Henceforth only salvaged stone is to be used for my sculptures.