'Oh deer! What happened to Frederick?' (2021) 
 
 This original deer skull is a by-product sourced from kent also known as ‘The garden of England’. “It was my first visit to a very best friend’s home which was built as the Bishop’s house many years prior, bursting with character and acres of land to explore I could not wait to take it all in!” Trees with wild peacocks living in them, dragonflies, dogs, cats, Chinese running ducks, owls, deer also a private lake beyond the swimming pool with eels and fish, Oh and 3 little girls though not “quite” as wild haha.
 
The girls accompanied us one sunny afternoon on my big tour of the grounds, we were greeted by several huge deer as we entered the woodland which was beautiful and terrifying as those antlers are no joke. In the forest area stood a spectacular hidden woodland where the girls would play, it was truly magical until it looked ever so ‘Blair with project’! There was a deer skull on the floor with huge branches at the side of its head to represent antlers that the little rascals had placed there. The skull lay in the dried leaves with a purple ‘F’ chalked on to it so he was given the name Frederick. I said that I would love any skulls or antlers if they became available as future leftovers and she said;“just take this one”.
 
I smuggled it behind my back and one of the toddlers noticed he was missing and cutely asked “what happened to Frederick?”, I laughed and said this is what I should call the piece and I quite rightly did! He travelled back to the Manchester studio with me and I must admit I was aware that I had an animal head in my bag. The head was scrubbed, boiled and bleached before drying, once dry he was primed, glossed and ready to be illustrated. I love this pieces as it’s a macabre yet fun artwork, it came from a loving home and I love that it was such a cute find.
 
36cm x 15cm x 13cm
 
Original bone animal by-product white antique gloss Original freehand illustration in black UV ink This white gloss will develop an antique patina over time.
 
Avoid placing in direct sunlight and above sources of heat.