The Journey to Bronze – Hares

The Journey to Bronze – Hares
October 2, 2026

Living in the countryside, I enjoy going for long walks, armed with my camera, watching for any wildlife I may come across. As well as deer and birds, I often come across hares. I love lying low for a while, watching their movements and capturing images of them going about their business, always alert to their surroundings.

Throughout history, hares have been both spiritually and symbolically significant to people. They have long been associated with spring and Easter. They symbolise fertility, immortality and mystery, and maybe it is their mysterious quality that keeps me coming back to them time after time. Over the years, they have become one of my favourite subjects to sculpt, and for me, they are also markers of how I have progressed as a sculptor and how my style has evolved. During lockdown, walking in the countryside became a great privilege, and seeing hares was even more special. During this time, I sculpted Boxing Hares 2021; these hares are monumental in proportion. I wanted the challenge of sculpting something dramatic, energetic, and maybe because of lockdown, it seemed more symphonic to sculpt them at this scale.

My latest three hare sculptures were sculpted together in my studio, drawing on the research and photographs I have gathered over many years. Sculpting in unison has become my preferred way of sculpting, allowing me to sculpt more than one of the fleeting moments that I have witnessed and recorded.

Rather than simply capturing the anatomy of the hare, I try to capture a moment in time – their vigilance, energy and character. To enhance this sense of movement, I have used loose, gestural and expressive markings across the surface of the sculptures, allowing the bronze to retain a feeling of energy and spontaneity.

One of the three new sculptures is Hare Airborne 2026. This hare is captured at full stretch, suspended in mid-air with all four feet clear of the ground. It is that fleeting moment I have watched so many times in the countryside – the instant when a hare launches itself forward, its body extended and its energy focused. I wanted to capture that feeling of speed and freedom rather than simply reproduce the anatomy of the animal. The branch supporting the sculpture allows the space beneath the hare to remain open, helping to create a sense that it is almost floating. The expressive marks across the surface of the clay emphasise the movement and help to give the bronze a sense of energy and life.

Hare Standing 2026 is a very different moment. I photographed this hare in a local farmer’s field, standing upright and completely alert, taking in everything around it. There is a wonderful tension in this pose – it is perfectly still, but you feel that it could move at any moment. It is this sense of anticipation that I wanted to capture in the sculpture. The elongated form, upright stance and alert ears give the hare a strong silhouette, while the expressive marks in the clay bring out its character and sensitivity. For me, observing hares is as much about these quiet moments as it is about their speed. They are constantly assessing their surroundings, ready to react, and that vigilance is one of the qualities I find so fascinating about them.

The third sculpture, Boxing Hares 2026, reflects one of the most extraordinary sights I have witnessed in the countryside. During the spring breeding season, hares can be seen boxing, often in March. It is an incredibly energetic encounter, with the hares twisting, stretching and rising into the air. I wanted to capture that moment of interaction – the tension between the two animals, but also the extraordinary agility and grace in their movements. Although they are locked together in a moment of action, the forms remain light and fluid, almost as if they are suspended in the air.

With hares, there is always something more to observe, another fleeting moment to capture, and another way to translate what I see into bronze. The hare may be a familiar subject, but for me, the journey is never quite the same and I know I will come back to sculpting hares again in a few more years.

Sculpting Hares 2026

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