www.artinsteel.co.uk - Garden Sculptures Large Fish

I started making fish sculptures almost as soon as I began working in steel, I think it is their streamlined and efficient shapes that led me to this one. A style I developed a few years ago involves breaking a shape down into a series of simple curves, leaving the observer to fill in the gaps, this initially started off the series of large fish, a few examples of which are shown below. When planning these pieces I start from anatomical drawings and go through a process of exagerating the most important physical characteristics to end up with almost a cartoon of the species.

These are made of mild steel strip bent into the curved components with the head and fins made of steel sheet and the surface details added as beads of weld. They would make excellent eyecatching additions to the entrance to commercial fisheries and fish farms. They are typically in the region of 2m long. Prices from around £800 at this size.

Below is the most recent sculpture in this series, a model of a Striped Sea Robin, also known as the 'Wingfish', image inspired by the book 'Fishes of The Gulf of Maine' by Bigelow and Schroeder. He measures in at 7ft (2.00m) long by about 5ft(1.5m) . The nearest equivalent species to this in Uk waters is the much underated Red Gurnard. There is a photograph of this piece in his final home on my customer photographs page.

Sold 26/8/07

garden sculpture fish

I was recently asked to make a wall mounted fish sculpture in this style for the Madison Restaurant in Swindon. This sculpture modelled on a brown trout came in at 3m long and makes a great addition to the space.

I have made several other sculptures in the first style all of which are sold, below are a few examples to give you an idea of what I have made, if you have particular species of fish that you would like making or if you would like a piece similar in style to any of these please feel free to get in touch. I am also able to scale this type of work down in size.

Another recent sculpture is the Red Snapper below, similar in size to the Sea Robin sold 23/1/07

fish sculpture

An earlier example is a Seabass, 2m long hugely popular among anglers and seafood enthusists. Sold 5/8/05

sea bass sculpture

The next of these is a Sunfish, chosen because I liked the look of his fins, again supplied unmounted. Sold 6/7/06

fish sculpture

A brief note re finishes and mounting. Regards the two sculptures above the Bass was supplied in an a natural finish to rust in his own time, and the Sunfish was supplied lacquered. These are both finishes that work but watching your sculpture go rusty can be a painful process, and lacquer does eventually succumb to the effects of weathering. Both of these were supplied unmounted as I had always wanted to avoid the artificiallity often see in sculptures that are just mounted on a pole.

The next fish sculpture; The Brown Trout adresses all these issues. In the first photograph he is shown with a natural finish ready for lacquering or weathering. Sold 15/9/06

garden art

The next photograph is of this piece after being treated with Ammonium Chloride, a process I have called 'Speed Rusting' which takes about three hours to transform the shiny look into a weathered look as seen below. This was my first go at this technique, I was stunned by the results. The chemical involved washes off and has no harmful effects on the environment. I am able to offer this option on work commissioned. Positioned to catch the evening light this can look stunning as the setting sun shows of the red and orange tones.

garden sculpture fish

The final shot of this sculpture shows it after treatment with 'Waxoyl' a treatment that seals the surface, dulling the finish and inhibiting the development of rust. This leaves a rich deep finish similar to that seen on old iron banisters etc, probably my favourite surface treatment. It is also a low maintenance finish, being scratch proof and easily topped up once in a blue moon. I have also mounted the Trout in response to my customer's needs and in doing so have got over my dislike of mounting my work. Again I am able to offer both these options on work commissioned.

garden sculpture trout

I have been asked over the years if I can make smaller scale versions of the large fish shown above, below is an example of this downsizing. This is a smaller version of the Sea Bass shown above. Made for a customer in South Wales who's husband 'is always after bass and never catches any' She wanted ths fish mounted as though swimming to go outside by a garden pond. Measuring in at 90cm (3ft).

small sculpture

Contact artinsteel@tiscali.co.uk