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Fish for Art Carp Sculptures
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Written by Julian Grattidge
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Tuesday, 04 December 2012 10:56
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I was quite intrigued when Mark Ricketts first contacted me about his range of carp sculptures from Fish for Art. Historically, any half decent ones I’d seen were so expensive that I’d have needed to re-mortgage my house to acquire one, or, at the other end of the scale, were such appalling mass produced examples that it was actually quite difficult to make out they were carp!
To say that I was blown away when mark sent out one of his sculptures would be an understatement. The attention to detail is simply amazing. Most sculptures I’ve seen in this price band look more like trout when inspected up close, but this fully scaled mirror carp was anything but. Without trying to get too anal about it, all I can say is that as somebody who breeds and rears specimen carp - it’s perfect! The body shape is absolutely bang on; the muscle definition over the shoulder and flanks is so accurate it’s untrue, and the scaling is to die for...
What’s also important – at least to me – is that it also feels ‘just right’, both in its finish when you touch it and when you feel its weight. On speaking to Mark in greater detail I was very keen to learn exactly how they were made as it was clear an awful lot of work had gone into them and I was soon to learn that every piece is the result of a detailed study followed by hours of meticulous work driven by enthusiasm, and backed by over thirty years of sculpting experience.
The process starts with an original master sculpture made of hard modelling wax, which Mark tells me can take anything up to 150 hours to complete depending on the amount of scales – of which there’s 800-odd on the common carp! A mould is then made in order that each piece can be cast. Each sculpture is in effect a real bronze metal piece made from a very thin shell supported by a special mineral powder filled resin. The outer shell is a proper bronze metal powder (not an applied finish) added as an integral part of the casting process, which means it can be quite a headache to work on some pieces as Mark says you can’t do any fettling to finished castings - they have to be perfect first time. After which, all the polished highlighting is carried out which really brings each sculpture to life.
The finished result is absolutely breath-taking, and the fully scaled mirror carp which sits proudly on my desk is without doubt the best carp sculpture I’ve seen. What’s really nice (and shows through and through) is that each piece is made completely by hand… not a machine in sight and the fact that each piece is made in the UK is the icing on the cake!
Highly recommended.
There are three carp sculptures to collect; Common Carp. Stands at 70mm high by 135mm long, priced at £44.95. Linear Mirror Carp. Stands 80mm high by 115mm long, priced at £39.95. Fully Scaled Mirror Carp. Stands 90mm high by 145mm long, priced at £49.95
To order visit: http://www.fishforart.co.uk/
Julian Grattidge
December 2012
CALL US NOW ON: 01482 703485