Alan Dun: Bath’s Lion Sculptor

Sculptor Alan Dun is the man responsible for the majestic lion sculptures which will grace the streets of Bath next year in the city’s “Lions of Bath – Pride in Our City” public art event.

Alan studied sculpture at Chelsea School of Art in the 1970s, and went on to become a commercial sculptor.  He has worked on public and private projects all over the world and now creates portraits and sculpture from his studio in Limpley Stoke near Bath. 

After designing the much-loved King Bladud’s pigs for Bath’s latest big public art event, Alan was a natural choice for the Lions of Bath event.  His challenge was to come up with a lion sculpture that was neither too civic, nor too Lion King.  It needed to have smooth, flat surfaces for artists to decorate.  And it need to be more “teenage lion with attitude” than curly-maned Trafalgar Square statue.

The design process began with the creation of a small scale clay model, known as a maquette.  Once the design was agreed, Alan built a steel frame, covered it with mesh and clay and then scaled-up the design of the maquette to create a full size clay lion.  A plaster mould was then made of the lion (which is destroyed in the moulding process) from which a fibreglass lion was produced, known as the “pattern”.

The pattern was then taken to Country Leisure, a fibreglass factory near Salisbury.  There a more heavy-duty GRP mould was made, from which the rest of the pride of 100 majestic beasts will soon emerge. 

Meanwhile, Alan is already busy working on a number of other projects including a series of sports-themed sculptures to coincide with the 2010 Olympics.

To find out more about Alan’s work visit www.alundun.co.uk

For artist, sponsorship or event enquiries relating to Lions of Bath 2010 visit www.lionsofbath.com