The stunning life-size horse sculptures made out of driftwood

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Artist Heather Jansch, of the little village of Olchard near Newton Abbot in Devon, makes beautiful life-size sculptures of horses out of driftwood that had been washed up on the nearby beach.

You can buy one, but you'll have to have up to £55,000 handy....

Pictured: The stunning life-like horse sculptures made entirely of driftwood washed up on the beach



By Daily Mail Reporter
28th November 2008
Daily Mail



From a distance they are the embodiment of equine grace, three creatures ready to burst into a gallop across the sands.

Only on closer examination are they revealed to be sculptures made, incredibly, from driftwood.

They were created by artist Heather Jansch, whose individual works take up to three years to produce and fetch up to £55,000


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Frozen in a series of dynamic life-like poses: These beautiful horse sculptures are even more incredible because each one is made entirely from driftwood found on the beach


Despite its fragile appearance, each horse weighs three quarters of a ton and is free standing. 'The structure must not only be strong enough to withstand public display, it must also be able to withstand heavy winds without falling over,' says Miss Jansch, 60, who has a long waiting list of buyers.

'The larger sculptures require a steel frame coated with glass fibre to give a roughened surface. I then tie the driftwood to the sculpture with wire, then nuts and screws to secure the solidity of the piece.'



Artist Heather Jansch


Miss Jansch, who is based in the Devon hamlet of Olchard, near Newton Abbot, made the step from painting to sculpture in the 1970s. 'One day my son could not find any kindling to light the woodburner and had chopped up a piece of ivy that had grown round a fencing stake,' she says. 'He had left behind a short section that I immediately saw as a horse's torso.

'The next question was where could I find more or similar shapes. The answer was, of course, driftwood.'


Four-legged flotsam: Artist Heather Jansch with two more of her driftwood stable


Since then Miss Jansch has created almost 100 wooden horses, along with the occasional stag. Each stands at about 17 hands, or five and a half feet.

She refuses to lower her sights to a Shetland pony, declaring: 'They are fat and uninteresting compared with a raging stallion.'

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Monarch of the glen: Miss Jansch decided to branch out into antlers

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