Spadge Hopkins Artist
Public Art - The Cormorants of Woodbridge
&
The Deben Yacht Club Sign
A series of outdoor sculptures on the waterside trail along the River Deben in Woodbridge, Suffolk.
Spadge's fascination and love of birds continues to inspire his work in metal. Creating works for outside and inside, he creates beautiful renditions of birds which seem to capture the very essence of their characters. From eagles soaring above, to little Jenny Wren, he captures their shapes, mannerisms in a stunning and unique fashion. Working in metal he manages to create a delicacy which gives a subtlety to the sculptures not often seen in this media. The pieces are given added interest by the shadows they are designed to create, not one but two art pieces are created here, one the sculpture in itself, and two, the play of light upon it and the shadows thus created. Beautiful pieces for any situation.
The Deben Yacht Club Sign
The Deben Yacht Club loved their Cormorant so much that they commissioned a piece of their own for their clubhouse, which would also double up as a sign. It was galvanised to match the gate and railings. The inspiration came from a photograph from one of the exciting dinghy races that are regularly held by the club.
Artist Spadge Hopkins creates trail of cormorant sculptures along River Deben in Woodbridge
By Rhoda Morrison-
rhoda.morrison@iliffepublishing.co.uk
Published: 05:00, 30 November 2020
A Suffolk artist has created a new sculpture trail in Woodbridge which he hopes will encourage people to get out and about in the town.
For the last few months, Spadge Hopkins has been working to make lifesize sculptures of the cormorant waterbird which he has installed at various points along the River Deben.
He was inspired to make the sculptures, which are created by scanning in hand drawings which are then laser cut in steel, after he held an exhibition in the town's The Longshed by the river.
Spadge Hopkins has created a trail of steel cormorant sculptures along the waterside in Woodbridge. (43324767)
"I loved seeing the cormorant sitting on a post in the Deben and a fellow artist suggested I create one," said Spadge, who lives in Framlingham.
"I liked the idea but I wanted to do something for the public so I came up with the idea of an unofficial trail of lifesize cormorants along the Deben which is an area I love."
Seven cormorants have been installed on the riverside so far, at the Deben Yacht Club, Woodbridge Boatyard, Art Safari at the Harbourmaster's office and on three private boats.
Spadge has also confirmed four more sites along the waterside where the steel birds will appear.
"I hope people appreciate how they change with the light," he said.
"The black birds often shine in reality because they are wet and I've tried to capture that as well as the wonderful shapes when they are in silhouette."
And Spadge hopes that they will provide some entertainment for families out on walks as well as encourage them to visit and support businesses along the river.
Seven birds have been installed so far, with four more sites having been confirmed.
"I hope people will enjoy spotting them; I love the birds and the river," he said
Reproduced by Kind Permission of The Suffolk Free Press
Artworks can be purchased from the artist. Please contact Spadge directly if you wish to make an enquiry.
Sculptures are all available as indoor or outdoor sculptures.
The indoor sculptures can be scaled up and surface treated to allow them to live outdoors.
Many of Spadge’s pieces are unique. Several of his copper sculptures have been hand made in a limited batch of 5. The process of laser cutting which is all done by Spadge himself except for the actual machine work, lends itself to mass-production. However, all Spadge’s designs are limited to a run of 10, no matter what size. They are now marked as ev (edition Variee) */10 as well as being signed.
