The Process

From start to finish and everything in between. A visual snapshot of how we did it.

The Starting Point - The Comunity Art Project

It was hugely important to work with the community on this project. With local artist Darrell Wakelam, that's exactly what we did. Many of the core details, like the ammonites on Mary's skirt and the fossils she walks on, all come from local school children who worked with us on this project. Engagement is key, especially as these children will be the custodians of Mary's statue long after we are gone. 

To the first sketched ideas From Denise.

Working closely with the sketches the local school children created, Denise worked on the statue's composition. All unanimously agreed that she would be striding out to the beach with Tray, her dog, following along. In her hands would be the tools of her trade, and beneath her, she would walk across the fossils she would have found. 

...to the making of the maquette...

Once the piece's overall composition was agreed upon, Denise worked on a 12" high maquette of Mary made from polymer modelling clay. A maquette is a model for a larger piece of sculpture, created to visualise how it might look and to work out approaches for how it might be made. The maquette is now on a tour of the UK. Check out where she's been and where she is going next on our 'We Did It' page 'Mary On Tour'.

...to the building of the life and quarter Mary in clay...

Once the committee signed off the beautiful maquette, Denise started work on the life and a quarter of Mary and Tray. Denise works with a metal frame to hold up the heavy clay. She sculpts every element of her works of art from scratch, as can be seen above. Artists work to life and a quarter rather than life size because a static depiction of a person situated outdoors can be diminished in the landscape and give the illusion of actually being smaller than life. 

...through to the casting process...

Mary and Tray are given a rubber coating first. Once that is dry, they are given an outer jacket of fibreglass before the rubber mould is removed from the clay sculptor. 

...to the finishing bronze...

Because Mary was complicated and quite large, she had to be cast in sections. Once all the sections were cast and finished, Mary was soldered together in the workshop. 

The finished statue in place

Finally, Mary arrives at her forever spot. The area where she was going dipped and pitched badly. After surveyors had worked it all out and built the final platform, she was slowly lowered into place. She was then wrapped in the campaign colours, ready for her big day.