Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Aberdeen artist’s passion for animals pays off after walrus sculpture shortlisted for prestigious award

Lesley McKenzie's sculpture "Sunkissed" has bee shortlisted  David Shepherd Wildlife Artists of the Year Award 2022. for Supplied by Lesley McKenzie.
Lesley McKenzie's sculpture "Sunkissed" has bee shortlisted David Shepherd Wildlife Artists of the Year Award 2022. for Supplied by Lesley McKenzie.

An Aberdeen wildlife artist’s animal sculpture has been selected to be in the running for a “world recognised” award.

Lesley McKenzie’s marine mammal sculpture joins 200 other artworks vying for the David Shepherd Wildlife Artists of the Year Award for this year.

Known as the “highlight of a wildlife artist’s year”, the art competition and exhibition is internationally renowned and attracts entries from all over the world.

Mrs McKenzie said it was an encouraging recognition: “I was absolutely delighted when I heard that the piece had actually been shortlisted for the awards.

Artist Lesley McKenzie in her workshop. Supplied by Lesley McKenzie.

“The walrus will be part of the exhibition. It’s pretty much the highlight of a wildlife artist’s year if they actually get shortlisted for it because it’s such a big, big kind of exhibition.

“It’s such a big title you know, it’s world recognised. It is something to be rather proud of.”

Picked up dead animals to understand anatomy

With 50% of the proceeds from artwork sales going to the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (DSWF), Mrs McKenzie said the competition has raised a lot of money since it was founded in 2008.

She added: “It’s all based on artists contributing to help save wildlife, which is something I’m quite passionate about.”

Being a keen animal lover herself with “too many” cats and fish kept at home, the 55-year-old has always enjoyed capturing wildlife.

“I’ve always had a passion for wildlife,” she said. “I’ve always drawn and sketched and I’ve always done animal related works.”

Supplied by Lesley McKenzie.

It is this same passion for animals and some slightly morbid hobbies that has helped Mrs McKenzie to produce lifelike forms.

She said: “This sounds a little bit strange, but when I was a kid, I used to pick up like dead animals from the side of the road and take them to bits to find out what happened inside so it gave me a really good understanding of anatomy.

“So now I when I look at an animal, I understand how things are joined together inside its body.

“I understand how all the tendons and ligaments and how bones join together. So I find sculpting comes very naturally to me.”

Making artworks that ‘little bit different’

Using a Japanese firing technique used on clay called Raku, it centres around “firing clay sculptures without oxygen being available to the flame.”

The Bucksburn resident said: “You get this lovely crackle glaze effect with really natural colors. And it’s absolutely perfect for wildlife sculpture, it just gives you such a sort of tactile, natural look.”

Sculpting for over 20 years now, Mrs McKenzie said the process helps to highlight small details and textures.

The technique helps to highlight textures on the sculptures. Supplied by Lesley McKenzie.

She added: “It’s just something from an artistic point of view to really get involved with. And it gives you that bit of inspiration just to make something a little bit different as well.”

Mrs Mckenzie will not find out the results of the exhibition until August 31. She added: “So I’ll be extremely nervous waiting to find out.”

“Sunkissed” is currently on display in her and husband’s Frameworks Gallery where visitors can view the artwork and see Mrs McKenzie at work.

It will also be included in the exhibition which runs online from September 1 to October 2.

Conversation