Sculptor casts new light on the natural world

The annual Sculpture at Doddington exhibition returns with more pieces from talented sculptors including Nichola Theakston, a Lincolnshire based artist who creates evocative sculptures of animals in both ceramic and foundry bronze.

Nichola’s work is exhibited internationally but her reputation and the quality of her work have evolved from her own roots as a very creative child growing up in West Yorkshire.

“I was always drawing, making, cutting and gluing, and at school art was my favourite subject.” Nichola’s creative path continued with a Foundation Course at Jacob Kramer College of Art in Leeds, followed by a Fine Art degree at Exeter College of Art. This led to a Master’s Degree in Ceramics at the Cardiff School of Art and Design where she met her husband, sculptor Anthony Theakston, whose work is also featured in the exhibition at Doddington.

“Exeter College of Art is where my love of clay began, and some of the best advice I was ever given was by my one of the tutors, Lawson Rudge, a practicing ceramicist who proclaimed that ‘there is room for everybody’ – that the art world is big enough for you to find your niche – and when to a student the art world felt inaccessible and beyond my remotest expectation was a real encouragement.”

The couple settled in Bristol and were instrumental in establishing communal artists studios in an abandoned warehouse providing an invaluable post-college space to work from and where the early foundations of an artistic career were laid. But it was the arrival of children which began to make the juggle of work and family life more difficult. The decision to move was made and relocating in Lincolnshire in 1996 offered space for their studio, a village school for the children and closer proximity to family.

“Our farmhouse and acre of land in North Lincolnshire fit the bill perfectly. Being able to work from home in the evenings was a game-changer in enabling me to find the time to be able to continue making.”

Nichola worked for almost twenty years as a ceramic artist producing small runs of limited edition sculpture exhibited at galleries but also around the country via an extensive calendar of pottery markets and art and craft fairs, including at local events such as The Lincolnshire Show and Burghley Horse Trials. It was these direct selling events with the opportunity to engage with the public and show and sell work which was instrumental in helping establish her career.

Overtime began to find a market and build a reputation for more experimental one-off pieces which in 2016 led to a visit to Castle Fine Arts bronze foundry in Wales, from which she has not looked back.

Authentic voice
“I love making for the kiln but I was finding it a struggle to make enough work of the quality I expect to be able to supply galleries properly. Working with a good bronze foundry has been pivotal in allowing me to expand the number of pieces I am able to show as I can now replace editions as they sell. I still enjoy a close working relationship with the foundry, and their talented staff.”

Working at the foundry involves a lot of travel but Nichola does all the patina work herself. This takes her back to her Art College roots in painting and colour through the finishes she is able to achieve on her bronzes.

“I loved the glazing/finishing side of ceramics prior to firing and knew that I would need to learn how to patina in order to try and achieve the finishes I wanted on bronze. I have been so fortunate to have benefitted from expert help and advice from the patina artists at the foundry as well as being accommodated with the space to experiment.

“It was so important for me to keep my own authentic voice in my work. I wanted my bronze finishes to have a flavour of my ceramics. There is a wonderful alchemy and it is such an exciting process to see a sculpture made in clay transformed to a work in bronze. I especially enjoy that the resonances in the fabrication of the original material are so evident in the finished sculpture.”

It is now 10 years since the decision to step sideways and work with a foundry was made – a huge learning curve and she is still very hands-on, attending to waxes and checking metalwork to ensure each sculpture is just as it should be. As time has passed, Nichola has found she has entered a different period in her career where less is more. She now finds her work more considered and is able to be more selective as to the opportunities and commissions she chooses.

Nature studies
Nichola is often drawn to animals which have an intertwined historical, social or domestic relationship with mankind. Dogs, cats, horses and cows are recurrent subjects alongside a wilder repertoire including African animals.

The work varies in scale and appears to resonate with a quiet intensity. Some of the animals have their heads bowed as if in thought. Others have eyes half closed as if in contemplation and her two rescue Podenco dogs have also been inspirational muses!

“Working with fresh wet clay on a new sculpture is my happy place. I can completely lose track of time. In the summer months, daylight hours are longer which is great but sometimes the light is too intensely directional and the heat can cause the clay to dry out so material management is important.”

Building an audience
A typical day for Nichola would involve breakfast before a walk in the local forest with the family dogs. The rest of the morning will be spent in the studio, refining waxes, patinating pieces with a blowtorch and chemicals or sculpting a new piece. Being able to patina pieces at home is a fairly recent development and is mitigating the amount of travelling and time away; however it is not ideal and plans are being considered for a purpose-built area for this activity away from the sculpting studio.

“I would like to complete more in my day but there is often a lot of admin to get through. There are enquiries, orders, galleries and general paperwork, not to mention trying to keep up and navigate the online world! Social media is a window into the worldwide art scene now. Instagram is the most important space online at the moment and I find a supportive, knowledgable and connected international creative community there. It’s amazing to be able to see the work of so many artists and galleries across all disciplines.”

Nichola is represented by Sladmore Gallery in London and Beaux Arts in Bath. You can follow her work on Instagram at @nicholatheakstonsculpture. Visitors to Sculpture at Doddington will be able to see a small collection of Nichola’s recent work including the maquette for a life-size gorilla bust created for her solo show in London at Sladmore Gallery last year.

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