Eddie Hallam

Eddie is an artist; a biology graduate; an award-winning nature reserve warden; and a former wildlife park director. First and foremost, however, he is an active and passionate wildlife conservationist. For many years Eddie has lived in a small hamlet in the Derbyshire Dales. An outdoor countryman through and through, he is never happier than when in remote, wild places studying and watching wildlife. Although widely travelled, his favourite places are the outlying islands of Scotland, Ireland and Wales. He feels particularly privileged to have spent an entire month camping on the inaccessible and now uninhabited islands of St. Kilda which lie 45 miles west of the Outer Hebrides. Here he was able to live alongside, study, and sketch the massive seabird colonies. It was this particular expedition which fuelled his desire to sculpt a range of seabirds and have them cast in bronze. All Eddie's sculptures start from sketches which are completed in the field at various favourite haunts throughout Britain, including southern Ireland. Selected sketches are then refined and made into a small mannequin to create a suitable pose. Accurate measurements are then collected from various sources, including museum storerooms and detailed life size drawings are prepared. These are then converted into a life-size study which is sent to a fine art foundry in Birmingham to be cast into bronze. Through his artwork Eddie hopes to promote an interest in wildlife and foster support for its effective conservation.