Gemsbok
The Flora and Fauna Society celebrated 150 years in the public eye. To commemorate this Judy was asked to sculpt a gemsbok to be presented to the stalwarts of the natural world, Sir David Attenborough and the late Dame Miriam Rothschild.
My nearest live subjects were in Marwell Zoo, I went for a couple of days drawing and actually sculpting the head study of the gemsbok in situ. I was outside the enclosure, they were inside the enclosure but every time by moved across to the other side, I had to gather everything up and follow them. There was one occasion when I set up with the nearly finished sculpture outside the oryx enclosure. The real oryxes came around the corner, saw my sculpture and ran off in shock on seeing it, thinking that it was a live threat. Added to this there were many school groups coming around wanting to know what I was doing and so I did a few imprompu workshops.