Stunning driftwood sculpture

In the art world, it can be difficult for many people to appreciate the beauty of your work unless it has a more recognisable realism to it. I can understand how some abstract works can be confusing and even off putting unless you have been involved in the art world in some way yourself.

This artist will have no difficulty in that regard. Her abstract sculptures are so life-like, you cannot help but appreciate and admire the beauty of each piece. I don’t know about you but I would be more than happy to have such a stunning sculpture in my garden.

Pictured: The stunning life-like horse sculptures made entirely of driftwood washed up on the beach

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 11:40 PM on 28th November 2008

From a distance they are the embodiment of equine grace, three creatures ready to burst into a gallop across the sands.

Only on closer examination are they revealed to be sculptures made, incredibly, from driftwood.

They were created by artist Heather Jansch, whose individual works take up to three years to produce and fetch up to £55,000.

Frozen in a series of dynamic life-like poses: These beautiful horse sculptures are even more incredible because each one is made entirely from driftwood found on the beach

Despite its fragile appearance, each horse weighs three quarters of a ton and is free standing. ‘The structure must not only be strong enough to withstand public display, it must also be able to withstand heavy winds without falling over,’ says Miss Jansch, 60, who has a long waiting list of buyers.

‘The larger sculptures require a steel frame coated with glass fibre to give a roughened surface. I then tie the driftwood to the sculpture with wire, then nuts and screws to secure the solidity of the piece.’

Artist Heather Jansch

Miss Jansch, who is based in the Devon hamlet of Olchard, near Newton Abbot, made the step from painting to sculpture in the 1970s. ‘One day my son could not find any kindling to light the woodburner and had chopped up a piece of ivy that had grown round a fencing stake,’ she says. ‘He had left behind a short section that I immediately saw as a horse’s torso.

‘The next question was where could I find more or similar shapes. The answer was, of course, driftwood.’

Four-legged flotsam: Artist Heather Jansch with two more of her driftwood stable

Since then Miss Jansch has created almost 100 wooden horses, along with the occasional stag. Each stands at about 17 hands, or five and a half feet.

She refuses to lower her sights to a Shetland pony, declaring: ‘They are fat and uninteresting compared with a raging stallion.’

Monarch of the glen: Miss Jansch decided to branch out into antlers

Source: UK Daily Mail

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