A career as a vet is extremely helpful when producing animal sculptures.
The route that Liz Watts from Wiltshire in the UK has taken into sculpture is probably as unique as the one off pieces she produces.
“You see I know which direction the joints should go,” says Liz, who is well qualified in the field after training at the Royal School of Veterinary Studies, Edinburgh. Liz worked with large animals in dairy production in Shropshire and then with domestic animals at Blue Cross, London, after which she moved to Aberdeen to work with small animals and reptiles. Being a vet is demanding and Liz could juggle the shift work when she was bringing up her first child but when two more arrived it became more difficult not least because her helicopter pilot husband was now a fixed wing pilot and the change took them to France. It was when the family moved to France as part of husband Steve’s six month contract that Liz embarked on studying sculpture and ceramics at l'Atelier des Beaux-Arts Henri Matisse, Creil.
“We fell in love with France and ended up staying there for 10 years and my children are now bilingual,” she says. “Adult education is very accessible at this level in France and I was able to dip in and out of studying as I brought my children up, and thus have two rewarding careers as parent and artist.
Liz is exhibiting her ceramics at Cloth Roads Art Trail between May 3 and May 11 at The Vaults, Lambs Yard, Bradford on Avon with three other artists: JoAnne Huntley glass, jewellery and installation, Andy Hopkins, a stone carver and Paul Workman, a painter.
From July 4 to 6 Liz will be exhibiting at Art in Clay at Hatfield House, Hatfield.
