I had been wanting to create more birds so I was thrilled when a childhood friend approached me and asked me to make a red-tailed hawk sculpture for him and his family! I was excited at the opportunity to create a beautiful raptor for someone I cared about.

This was a very time consuming project as their feathers are so intricately patterned but still relatively subtle. This hawk sculpture was mostly in the white and gold color range so it relied heavily on getting the feather patterning right to have it come to life! I had to hand grind every detail with an 1/8 micro grinder. It was tedious but the final effect was completely worth it! I also loved creating the focused eye, the beak, and those scary talons! Such a beautiful creature! It was also an interesting challenge to design out the body but luckily I could hide the seams needed to make the complex curves with overlapping feathers. As a metal sculptor you gotta love an animal with feathers or scales! I think this red-tailed hawk turned out amazingly well and I am excited to create more bird sculptures in the future! Also strangely on a side note, the day after I completed this sculpture a red tailed hawk attacked one of my chickens! Luckily I managed to chase it off and after 20 or so stitches from a vet friend little Dot is back and happy with the flock!

This metal red-tailed hawk sculpture is wall hanging, made entirely of stainless steel, colored using only heat patinas, and is safe to be kept outdoors!