Roxy Winterburn launches new Faithful Friends collection with charming horse and child sculpture

Yorkshire-based sculptor Roxy Winterburn’s previous collections for Castle Fine Art have often featured animals from around the globe, but her latest work comes much closer to home, and very close to her heart.

Shelter’ is a new limited edition bronze, featuring a horse sheltering a small child, showing the intimate relationship between horse and rider, which Roxy says “is like no other”. She has ridden horses since she was three and wanted to portray the relationships she has forged with them in her work. 

“As a young child I used to ride an old piebald horse called Kasey,” explains Roxy. “I always felt as though he was looking after me and like he was full of wisdom. ‘Shelter’ represents that kind of a friendship - the horse being a guardian to the vulnerable child who in turn offers the horse a new lease of life and freedom”.

The versatile artist and chemist has a diverse background in art, science and animal conservation. Blending all three passions has allowed Roxy to forge a unique identity as an expressive, stylised sculptor with a keen eye for detail and talent for producing high-quality bronze works. 

Her background in chemistry has greatly influenced her patination techniques; Roxy uses different chemicals to produce some exceptional finishes. She now uses her own custom chemical mixtures to create patinas, individualising her as an artist, and makes every work entirely on her own.

Read on to find out more about the creation of ‘Shelter’, and to shop Roxy Winterburn’s other works, click here.

 

Featured art: 'Shelter' by Roxy Winterburn, limited edition hand-finished bronze sculpture with piebald grey patina, £3,950.

The story behind 'Shelter'

Roxy has written a story to accompany her latest work, a copy of which will be included with every purchase. “Stories and sculptures come hand-in-hand for me,” she explains. “Usually, a story develops as I'm sculpting and then sometimes as I've got an idea, it starts to play into the sculpture a bit more.

“With ‘Shelter’, I developed the story of the horse and the child. As a rider, there was something there in that relationship I could really relate to, so it came to life that little bit extra for me.

“Horses have always had a very special place in my heart. The bond between horse and rider is like no other and just being in their presence is a fulfilling and joyous experience. I grew up around horses and was lucky enough to experience this bond throughout my childhood, so I wanted to capture this in my work.”

After Roxy and her family moved to Yorkshire – her father is fellow sculptor Steve Winterburn – horses provided much-needed companionship. “Moving as a child is a daunting experience until new connections are made. Being around those horses, at that age, in a new place, was really important for me because before and after my move to Yorkshire, horses always offered me friendship – that’s sort of what’s happening for me in the first horse and child sculpture, and in the story.”

Roxy believes horses all have their own personalities, and that horse and rider become one when they are together. “When you’re out riding, there is complete trust between horse and rider which is very special,” something illustrated by the relationship between the horse and child in ‘Shelter’.

 

Making the sculpture

Every sculpture is individually handmade by Roxy at her workshop in Yorkshire, and all carry unique features as a result of differing patinas, which cannot be replicated. "Every day in the workshop is different from the last, which is what makes it so much fun," she says. "Some days I may be sculpting, but others I may be making moulds, doing lost waxes, or welding and chasing the bronzes. I can complete every part of the process from the very beginning of sculpting right to the final patinated bronze."

"Horses have always had a very special place in my heart. The bond between horse and rider is like no other."

Roxy Winterburn

Featured Artist

From the blog

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