We can't resist touching sculptures
We just can’t we resist touching bronze sculptures.
There’s something irresistible about bronze. It has such a tactile quality.
It’s heavy - there’s no worry that you might break it by running your hands over it.
What makes it even more irresistible is seeing that shiny bright bronze colour shining through the rest of the patina. You know it’s been rubbed by many, many loving and curious hands that came before yours.
It becomes part of the history of the sculpture, part of its story - a story that belongs to everyone who has touched it.
Greyfriars Bobby - Edinburgh
Legend has it that a little dog called Bobby sat for 14 years by his master's grave in Edinburgh. There's some truth to that story and his loyalty was rewarded in 1873 with a bronze statue sculpted by William Brodie.
His nose gets rubbed clean through to the bare bronze by generations of hands giving it a shine for luck. Edinburgh has tried to stop people doing that, but it hasn't worked.
I think about Bobby a lot when I think of how my bronze sculptures have their heads patted and bellies rubbed in their new homes.
People often comment that they can feel how my hands have shaped and formed the sculptures when they run their hands over them. I wonder if they can feel their family and friends' energy if they too run their hands over them.
Duke Of Wellington and his horse - Glasgow
Photo by Germanlphoto - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=73219142
Outside Glasgow's Gallery of Modern Art stands a bronze of the Duke of Wellington on his horse, sculpted by Carlo Marochetti. Since sometime in the 1980s, he's worn a traffic cone on his head.
The council removes it.
Someone puts it back.
In 2013 they tried raising the plinth to stop people climbing up and Glaswegians turned out in the street to protest... and won.
Some might say it's vandalism. I think it's Glasgow embracing a public landmark in their own humorous way and it's inspired, silly and iconic. Brilliant.
The Bullring Bull - Birmingham
Six tonnes of bronze, and people still travel into the city specifically to touch his nose.
Laurence Broderick's bull has become one of the most photographed statues in the country. But photos aren't really why he gets so many visitors.
Paddington Bear - London
Author Michael Bond’s character Paddington Bear was inspired by a Christmas gift to his wife. Now, sculpted my Marcus Cornish, he's in bronze for everyone to enjoy.
Slouching around on Platform 1 of Paddington Station in London since 2000. Countless adults and children have rubbed his nose on their way past.
Nobody tells them to do it. There's no sign encouraging it. It just happens. Having strangers interact with your sculptures in such a loving way is what it's all about.
If you'd like to see my bronze sculptures (which are just as tactile but much more manageable in size! Visit The Bronze Collection
