Pet Portraits
11th April was National Pet Day. We loved seeing all the photos of pets online, daft bunch of animal lovers that we are! Sometimes though a photo of our furry family member is just not enough though. Over the years we have had a few people commission sculptures and illustrations of their beloved pet, so in honour of the day, here are some of Simon’s ‘Pet Portraits’:
Our first is ‘Cheila’, a German Shepherd completed around this time last year.
Cheila
After purchasing Simon’s ‘Lion Cub’ sculpture at a Born Free charity dinner around 18 months ago (a charity very close to our heart due to our involvement with the ‘Pawtraits’ book and exhibition a few years ago which featured Virginia McKenna), our clients – Steven and Leslie Smith – decided that they would like to commission Simon to produce a life size sculpture of their beloved dog, Cheila, to immortalise her in wood.
Simon spent time measuring Cheila and photographing her here at the workshop when Steven and Leslie came to visit, to make sure that the sculpture was absolutely accurate and then drew a number of sketches of her in the pose that Steven had requested in order to best capture all of her wonderful features, characteristics and quirks that make her, ‘Cheila’.
Needless to say that they were absolutely thrilled with the finished piece and wrote us a fantastic testimonial to back that up which you can find here.
Dachshund
Our most recent of Simon’s Pet Portraits was the bust of a dachshund, photographed above. People often ask us about the process, and there’s no doubt; it’s fascinating to watch Simon work. To answer the ‘viewers’ he got out his Olfi Action Camera last week so you can see him working on this commission.
https://www.facebook.com/simonorourketreecarving/videos/2232117843715966/
Portrait Panels
Of course, not everybody has room for a sculpture of their pet, and as the saying goes, ‘We have an app for that’!!! Well, not really an app, but a solution! Other clients over the years have opted to take advantage of Simon’s illustration training, and commissioned instead, a portrait on flat wooden ‘panels’.
We leave you this week with some examples of other pets; Debbie the cat and Dan the horse!
And of course, no National Pet Day Blog would be complete without our own O’Rourke pet and Tree Carving mascot, Poppy . She’s photographed here ready for a day of work and – just like Simon – wearing her Stihl clothing!
Get Your Own pet Portrait
Although this blog has focused on ‘man’s best friend’, Simon loves the challenge of sculpting animals and is happy to talk with you about any pet. To see more of his animal and wildlife work, visit
https://www.treecarving.co.uk/portfolio/wildlife/
If you are interested in one of Simon’s Pet Portraits, get in touch with us at simon@treecarving.co.uk