Montana sculptor Deborah Butterfield has focused on horses throughout her career and her pieces range from delicate animals of straw, sticks and mud to sturdier cast bronzes or found metals. In order to cast her work, Butterfield first puts together an original sculpture of logs, sticks, branches and boards and then carefully photographs the resulting horse. The sticks are then covered with a ceramic-shell molding compound and fired in a kiln where the wood is then burned out. The mold for the molten bronze has been made. In the above photo of a resting horse made of driftwood and other found materials, the tire that forms the horse’s rump represents the car that has replaced the horse.

Artist: Deborah Butterfield
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