A WESTBURY artist has designed a larger-than-life sculpture of the Great Bustard, that will be replicated and used as part of Warminster’s 2012 Jubilee and Olympic celebrations.
Following the re-introduction of the Great Bustard to the UK on Salisbury Plain, Warminster has decided to take on the bird as its icon and will be creating a number of bustards for Warminster, an idea modelled on the Lions of Bath.
The first model, Percy ‘The People’s Bustard’, has already been made and is being used to raise awareness and collect funds for the project, which is being managed by the Warminster Art Society along with the Warminster and Villages Development Trust.
Westbury artist Ian Hooper started his work through studying the bustard both through photos and in real life. “We went to the Hawk Conservatory in Andover because they’ve got three bustards up there in captivity,” he explained. “We went up onto Salisbury Plain with binoculars, and then after that it was a case of looking at photos.”
Once he had settled on a design, he made his model from a wire frame and plaster of Paris. The model was then taken to the casters, County Leisure of Cholderton, near Amesbury, who are manufacturing the sculptures.
“I designed and built the model, and now Country Leisure are making the fibreglass models from that. The bustard is five foot high from the base to the top of the head, and then the actually body is a metre long and half a metre wide, so that gives you an idea of the scale!
“I’ve been playing around with sculptures for around 50 years! It’s a hobby but I’ve sold a few and been in some galleries. I thought this was an interesting project.”
Ian has since seen the finished product. “I think it’s very good, and the people who see it like it,” he said.
Percy the bustard currently resides in Warminster Library. Further bustards are to be made which will be available for individuals, groups, and businesses to buy and decorate, making a community art event that will be a major part of the Warminster Festival next autumn.