Ian G. Brennan

Born in Dover, Kent, in the United Kingdom in 1950, Ian became a professional sculptor in 1984. His work appears in Windsor Castle, Westminster Abbey and various museums, boardrooms and private collections all over the World.

In 1989 Ian was appointed "Sculptor to the Most Noble Order of the Garter and Honourable Order of the Bath" and now spends around three months of each year on a wide variety of commissions in both wood and bronze for the British Royal Household. He also has completed commissions for King Juan Carlos of Spain, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, King Harald V of Norway and Emperor Akahito of Japan.

Over the years, Ian has worked on a large variety of commissions, which have been as varied as producing a life size "Osprey catching a Pike" bronze for a fountain, to spending several months carving the scrollwork on Lord Nelson's Flagship HMS Victory. Ian has created a life-size statue of the "Risen Christ" for a local church and an 8 foot "Bald Eagle in Flight" sculpture for an American Corporation. (The eagle was carved from the fork of a 150-year-old lime tree).

As well as his original wood sculptures, Ian also produces limited edition bronze sculptures with wildlife subjects and birds of prey as a particular specialty. These woodcarvings and Bronze sculptures are all produced in very fine detail with many of the wood sculptures being produced from a single piece of wood.

Although he has exhibited his wood and bronze sculpture in the past (including showings at some of the finest art galleries in London), nowadays he prefers to work on commission.

Ian started using wood as a medium for his sculptures in 1984, enjoying the challenge of carving from a single solid block. In 1996, he began to cast in bronze and, occasionally, silver. When appropriate Ian still produces the original master copy for the bronze casting in wood, which is then moulded to produce the bronze sculpture. This highly detailed woodcarving 'master copy' can then be polished and retained as a unique sculpture. This is unlike the normal method of working where the master copy of the sculptor is usually produced directly from clay or wax, which is then often destroyed during the moulding process at the foundry.

Preparations on a 7 foot tall bald eagle, called "By the Dawns Early Light", were started in early 2002. Huge slabs of seasoned lime wood were brought inside the studio to acclimate. However, during the following months, the larger seasoned timber was slowly "borrowed" for urgent commissions... until the timber had almost disappeared! It wasn't until almost a year later that the missing larger pieces of seasoned timber were eventually replaced, and work on the sculptor was resumed. However, work is not likely to really start full-time on the seven feet high version until the end of 2004.

One of Ian's most recent completed commissions was a ten foot wide relief carving of the village of Warsash in Hampshire. It was carved from lime wood and was recently placed above the Vestry in the centuries-old village Church, and it shows various landmarks throughout the village.

More recently Ian has been working at Southwick House at HMS Dryad, General Eisenhower's Allied Headquarters in Southern England during WW II (where D-Day was planned). He has been restoring and replacing detailed carvings on antique mirrors and picture frames.

He also has produced sculptures for company logos, ads and trophies. These have included the Heraldic Lion logo sculpture for Chivas Regal Whisky, and the Trophy for the Scotland V Barbarians International Rugby Cup Final.

"The College of Arms is one of the few remaining heraldic courts in Western Europe," Ian says. "And it is now the oldest existing such College in the world. It has been granting armorial bearings (coat of arms) from their original building in London since the 1670s."

While that may seem like quite a record, our guess is that the exquisite work of master carver Ian Brennan will be treasured for a whole lot longer.