Lesley D McKenzie is a successful and well regarded artist who trained as a Graphic Artist. She became a full-time artist and sculptor in 1996. Based just north of Aberdeen, Lesley's diverse work is in collections throughout the world. She has a wealth of experience in animal anatomy and is admired hugely by her ability to capture the very essence and actual attitude of her subject. Her raku animal sculptures are all one-off hand built originals, no two are the same. Made using earthenware clay, Lesley adds paper pulp to help with the raku firing, with painstaking attention to detail the sculptures are then dried before bisque firing and glazing. They are then raku fired at 980°C, the red-hot sculpture is removed and placed in a metal chamber with wood shavings. The special process continues and after thermal shock, tiny hairline cracks appear in the glaze absorbing carbon leaving a rich crackle glaze with a wonderful smoky finish.
Gallerist comment- 'I was fascinated when I met Lesley as I had loved her work for many years. Lesley's passion and attention to detail with her one-off sculptures means that there are often very few Lesley MacKenzie sculptures available to buy on the market, hence we're delighted that she's chosen to exhibit at the Ballater Gallery'.