CRAIG A ERIKSEN
Pewter Artist and Sculptor
“Bringing art to Life”
I work with pewter, and have mostly sculptured fish of various species and more recently, birds. When I started, I lived next to the River Tay in Perthshire, Scotland, and as a result, there has been an emphasis on salmon, rainbow trout and brown trout. I use my own bespoke tools to craft, engrave and etch each piece. This produces a very tactile surface where I try to mimick the real thing. Gentle manipulation of the finished pewter produces the relief effect, bringing the piece to life.
I use copper for some of the mounts. With a bit of alchemy and patina, the copper takes on an antiqued bronze effect. For some mounts, I use different patinas to get a particular coloured effect (greens and blues). The alchemy ensures that no two mounts are the same.
Close up of two rainbow trout passing. The fish are of pewter, and after completing the metal work, each is painted with acrylic and gold leaf then a thin coat of resin. The mount here is copper with many applications of patina to create the blue-green effect.
I have always been fascinated by the shape of the nautilus shell and its mathematical spiral. Here I used black patina and gold leaf on the shell crafted from pewter, and the front is covered with a very thin sheet of mother of pearl. The sea fan coral, found washed up on a beach, sits against a “full moon” of gold leaf. The mount is aluminium with resin, as are the sides.
This is a very special piece for me.
(Size: 30 x 30 cm)
Birds are fascinating. Their structure, feathers, colours and their movement of flying. The birds of Southern Africa are extremely special, vastly numerous and full of variety. I remember counting about 50 species on the first day of a game reserve trip in Botswana. My first sculpture is the Grey Heron (right) and I have tried to capture its elegance and grace. The completed works can be seen in “Bird Art”.
I recently completed a pair of African Hoopoes, which are also stunning birds. This is the pewter model first of the pair, with most of the outline complete. Work on the wings taking shape. Next step was to finish the pewter work, shape it into full relief, then paint. The second of the pair is also in flight. Each hoopoe is mounted on board with golf leaf (each is 50 x 50 cm)