Public Art on the Black Country Route


 

"Horse and Rider" Tessa Pullan 1997

 

"Horse and Rider" by Tessa Pullan 1998 31Kb

 

  This 1.5 times lifesize horse and rider was constructed as a half size wooden model by Tessa Pullan and was subsequently scaled up in steel by Arden Fabrications of Knowle in Warwickshire. The sculpture is galvanized and painted. It sits opposite Jamie McCullough's Bilston Oak.

Tessa sculpts wooden animals. She has sold her sculptures in North America and exhibits at the Royal Academy. This is the first time that she has worked in steel and this is her largest sculpture.

The image was conceived by Jamie McCullough as Bilston (the rider) making their way through the ages. Proposals were produced by three artists. Originally it was planned to cast the sculpture in steel but this would have been prohibitively expensive and the alternative casting material, bronze was not commonly used in the Black Country. Steel fabrication proved a cheaper but slower process.

 

Tessa Pullan at work.

The unfinished sculpture at Arden Fabrications Works

 

"Horse & Rider" with "Bilston Oak" 32Kb

"Horse and Rider" looking towards the "Bilston Oak"