On Wednesday evening our Bury St Edmunds group invited members from Diss, along with some of our friends and family, to listen to a talk given by local sculptor HARRIET MEAD. Harriet is a hugely talented, internationally respected wildlife artist from Norfolk who works with ‘found objects’ made of metal – tools, kitchen utensils, bits of agricultural machinery etc – and creates the most wonderful sculptures of birds, mammals, fish and insects. Using items like rotor blades, spanners, pliers, spades, egg-whisks, scissors, nuts and bolts, she can recreate almost anything from a life-sized horse, through hares, curlew and pike, to a dragonfly on a reed!
She fascinated us with explanations of where her inspiration comes from, described the way she welds the metal together to make a creature, showed us photographs of some of the many things she has made, and told of projects she has been involved with – including the Society of Wildlife Artists (SWLA) of which she is currently President. We agreed with her that it’s ridiculous that some people are still astounded when they find a woman donning protective gear and flourishing welding equipment!
Working mostly to commission, she is hugely in demand and certainly not wanting for work. You may have seen her on ‘Countryfile’, and she is often asked to feature in programmes for ‘discovery’ channels.
