Bio
“Eyes are so important to me because ‘eyes are the window to the soul’. There is a real clarity in them.”
Steve Winterburn’s eclectic body of sculptures represent a deep understanding and respect for his subjects, visually encapsulating some of the world’s most striking creatures in bronze with subtle, organic movement that denotes life.
Unlike many other accomplished sculptors of Steve’s pedigree, his career didn’t begin under professional tutelage. Despite having sold sketches and miniature maquettes while at school, it wasn’t until 1994 that Steve began his own self-taught foray into learning the art of sculpting.
“I started building and customising motorcycles, doing what they call ‘airbrushing,’ which is essentially graphics,” explained Steve. It was through the medium of design that he eventually found his passion for wildlife and re-discovered his love of sculpture. “Through designing, I had started a textile company with screen
printing, and the leap from that to wildlife art was influenced by a chap called David Lawson, a well-renowned photographer who had approached me to work on an image of a snow leopard.” Upon learning more about Lawson’s photography and conservation work, Steve’s passion to capture wildlife in three dimensional form was reignited. “When I first got into wildlife I was drawing and painting. Sculpture took it to a whole new level. I needed to understand the anatomy and the movement of the animal in its entirety; how it feels, how it moves, the magic of that animal, and not many people understand that.”
The Yorkshire-based sculptor’s first official commission was from fellow wildlife artist, Alan Hunt, who, together with David Lawson, inspired Steve to use his art to help conservation efforts. “I’ve been fortunate enough to travel around the world in pursuit of my wildlife reference, with several trips
out to Africa providing tremendous inspiration for some of my most recent works. As a wildlife artist, I feel a real responsibility to help save and protect some of our most threatened species and environments. The future of wildlife, I believe, is in our hands.”
As his sculpting skills progressed, Steve developed an ambition to shape his work from concept to completion. Earlier in his career, he had entrusted the casting of his bronzes to established foundries but became disillusioned by the changes that resulted from not undertaking the finishing stages himself. After obtaining a diploma in bronze casting at The Yorkshire Craft Centre at Bradford University, Steve moved to Yorkshire, converted the workshop next to his house into a studio and foundry, and established Yorkshire Fine Arts.
“I found that fundamentally, I needed to know my material, how it worked, how it forged, how strong it is, how it grows, how it shrinks through the process of casting. Now, I'm doing what the greats did, the masters. I think what we're trying to do is get back to real art.”
With Steve’s mastery of sculpture and bronze came a unique fusion of artist and artisan, sculpting, casting and finishing each unique sculpture by hand. The process doesn’t end when the wax is complete, it continues all the way through to the final unique patina.
“I think, that type of passion, history and humanity is in every piece.”
Steve Winterburn has made his #MorningCoffee an open invitation to all. Tune in every morning to his Instagram stories @SteveWinterburn and watch the video below to hear the artist explain why it gets his day off to the best start.
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