Harriet Mead Explained

Harriet Mead
Birth Date:1969 9, df=yes
Birth Place:Tring, England
Nationality:British
Field:Wildlife art, installation art, sculpture
Training:St Albans College, Norwich School of Art
Works:Suffolk Trinity
Awards:Capmark Wildlife Award 2007

Harriet Rebecca Mead (born 2 September 1969) is an English wildlife artist specialising in metal sculptures.[1] [2]

Mead's work is inspired by animals and birds. From an early age she was encouraged to observe and develop a keen interest in British wildlife due to the influence of her late father, Chris Mead,[3] who was a well-known author and broadcaster. She uses personal experiences and direct observation to provide inspiration for her work. The countryside and wildlife around her home in Hilborough in rural Norfolk and her travels in Asia and Africa, provide subject matter for her work. She received formal art education during a foundation year at St Albans College, followed by a degree in Fine Art at the Norwich School of Art.[4]

After showing at its annual show for several years, Mead was elected a full member of the Society of Wildlife Artists, SWLA. In 2004, she was elected to Council of the SWLA and won the Society's Capmark Award in 2007 and was runner-up in 2006.[5] [6] In 2009, she was elected as the Society's President, making her the youngest and first woman to hold the post in the Society's 47-year history. Mead continued to hold the position of president through at least October 2020.[7] [8]

Her work

Although predominately a sculptor, Mead also produces drawings and prints, but focuses on using steel to create her sculptures. Her steel sculptures fall into two categories;- the "true-to-life" form made predominantly from sheet steel that resemble as accurately as possible the species being created, and "found objects" in which Mead uses everyday objects to produce an abstract form of the animal.

Mead tends to work to commission, but does maintain a few examples of her work in key galleries.[9] She seems to be able to tackle any subject from the natural world.

Art and conservation

Mead has used her art to promote and raise funds for conservation and animal charities. Most notably amongst the organisations she has supported are the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, the Countryside Education Foundation[10] and the Suffolk Horse Society.[11] Together with other leading international wildlife artists Mead has taken part in two Artists for Nature Foundation[12] [13] [14] projects, which bring artists together to promote and raise funds for conservation projects around the world, including the Great Fen Project in Cambridgeshire, and the Hula Valley in Israel.

Public art

Mead has produced two large-scale public art pieces. One is the Suffolk Trinity[15] which includes a life-size Suffolk Punch horse, a Suffolk Ram and a Suffolk Redpoll Bull providing an impressive feature at the entrance of Trinity Park (the Suffolk show ground), near Ipswich. The other is a life-size heavy horse being led by a man at Dromore, West Tyrone, Northern Ireland.[16]

Awards

In 2023, Mead was awarded the Dilys Breese Medal of the British Trust for Ornithology.[17]

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Members: Harriet Mead . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220516040925/https://swla.co.uk/members/harriet-mead . 16 May 2022 . 20 September 2022 . Society of Wildlife Artists.
  2. Web site: Symes . Gunild . 2016 . Harriet Mead Portfolio . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220921025807/https://pdfs.xray-mag.com/articles/Portfolio_HarrietMead_Gunild_71_locked.pdf . 21 September 2022 . 20 September 2022 . X-Ray International Dive Magazine . en.
  3. Web site: Unwin . Brian . 21 January 2003 . Chris Mead . 21 January 2017 . The Guardian.
  4. Web site: Sculptors - Harriet Mead . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20211025043506/https://pinkfootgallery.co.uk/pages/62493/sculptors/artists/harriet-mead/117014 . 25 October 2021 . 31 May 2019 . Pinkfoot Gallery.
  5. Web site: Tyrrell . Katherine . 4 October 2007 . Society of Wildlife Artists at the new Mall Galleries . Making a Mark.
  6. Web site: 22 June 2007 . The Call of the Wild: Exciting New Work To Opens . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120213083946/http://www.artdaily.org/indexv5.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=20678 . 13 February 2012 . Art Daily .
  7. Web site: Current SWLA Council . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220921024333/https://swla.co.uk/footer/current-swla-council . 21 September 2022 . 20 September 2022 . Society of Wildlife Artists.
  8. Web site: Winter . Stuart . 27 July 2015 . Look again: Wildlife artist's seascapes like a vivid photo . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220921024543/https://www.express.co.uk/news/nature/594079/Look-again-Wildlife-artist-s-seascapes-like-a-vivid-photo . 21 September 2022 . 20 September 2022 . Express . en.
  9. Web site: Harriet Mead . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20030716034446/http://buckenham-galleries.co.uk/Sculptors/Harriet_Mead.htm . 16 July 2003 . 14 January 2022 . Buckenham Galleries.
  10. Web site: Silent Auction - CLA Game Fair - Harewood House, Leeds, 27th-29th July 2007 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071030203217/http://www.countrysidefoundation.org.uk/events/artauction/artauctionevent.htm . 30 October 2007 . 14 January 2022 . The Countryside Foundation for Education.
  11. Web site: Phillips . Carol . 29 October 2003 . Sculpture raises funds for rare breed . limited . 20 September 2022 . Horse & Hound . en.
  12. Web site: Harriet Mead at Work . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20081210092945/http://www.artistsfornature.com/Projects/Video . 10 December 2008 . 14 January 2022 . Artists for Nature Foundation.
  13. Web site: Education Projects at Local Schools . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220921022721/https://www.artistsfornature.com/education/ . 21 September 2022 . 20 September 2022 . Artists for Nature Foundation .
  14. Web site: 5 May 2016 . Sark, Artists for Nature Foundation 20th anniversary project . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220921022922/https://www.artistsfornature.com/projects/sark/ . 21 September 2022 . 20 September 2022 . Artists for Nature Foundation . en-GB.
  15. Web site: 2004 . Visual Arts Listings in and around Ipswich - Making the Connection Artists Directory - Public Art in Ipswich . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071028224057/http://www.visualarts-ipswich.org.uk/public_art/level_3/Harriett%20Mead.asp . 28 October 2007 . 14 January 2022 . The Townhall Galleries - Ipswich.
  16. Web site: Allen . Kenneth . 20 February 2007 . The Dromore ploughman . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20121012144902/https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/343938 . 12 October 2012 . 20 September 2022 . Geograph Britain and Ireland .
  17. Web site: Medallists. British Trust for Ornithology. 2023-11-03.

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