About Tanya Russell

I've been a sculptor for 35 years and my focus has been towards celebrating our relationship with animals. I particularly focus on highlighting animal welfare and conservation issues, and donate 10% of the proceeds from my sales to 3 animal rescue charities. In the past, I've lived with many weird and wonderful creatures, and I've volunteered at an animal sanctuary. Now on my small hill farm in Wales in the UK, I rescue animals, rehabilitate injured wildlife, offset carbon by planting trees, and I look after my herd of multicoloured alpacas :) I create my artwork here in one of my studios, initially in clay or wax. They are then moulded in rubber onsite or off depending on size, before being cast at one of my bronze foundries or resin casters in England or Wales. My sculptures are made in Foundry Bronze metal, Bronze Resin, Stainless Steel metal or Stone Resin. Much of my work is drawn from life and I also perform a large number of editioned commissions. My most recent large work was a 6-meter (19.5 feet) tall bronze nature spiral, and a 4 meter (13 feet) wide pair of flying house martins in Central London near the Thames, and I have a number of large statues in the US and Canada, amongst other places. My modelling style ranges from the traditional (predominantly my commission work) to the contemporary abstract (predominantly my self-driven work). I enjoy accessible symbolism and emphatic and expressive mark-making. I draw a lot of my energy from my direct work with animals, and enjoy and take inspiration from ancient art composition and modern abstract figure work. I turn over about $750,000 selling statues in a year, with about 30-40% of my clients being in the USA, about 45% in the UK, and the rest in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East. I am looking for a curated online platform that can broaden my exposure internationally, through which I intend to focus on selling my limited edition sculptures. I prefer to focus on quality within my practice. I have spent years working with my casters to improve the longevity of the statues I sell (in material, colour life, and engineering strength), and I only work with those who can produce something that my clients can enjoy for many years. This is also the reason why I include complimentary cleaning kits with all my larger work, to build in a level of aftercare which will keep my sculptures looking their best, and to keep clients coming back to purchase more bronzes. My website is one of the top-ranking authorities on subjects on Google such as 'the difference between 'cold cast' bronze resin and foundry bronze metal' and 'how to tell if your bronze is real'. I'm seen by some as the top dog sculptor working in the UK. I authored the Bloomsbury publication 'Modelling and Sculpting the Figure' and I am the lead contributor to the sculpting part of Dorling Kindersley's 'The Artist's Manual'. I feel that the way to engage people around the world in protecting the health and well-being of our planet and its animals is to inspire them. My belief is that this inspiration drives people to want to learn more about habit introduction and conservation, and about all the amazing creatures we share a collective future with. I love being a sculptor and expressing myself through my art, and this empathy and awareness is the most important thing I can achieve through others appreciating my work. I really hope you can help me work towards this goal, by representing me on Artfinder and bringing me in touch with a new audience.