Bridget
McCrum
migration through time
Long before I met Bridget I was interested in her work; animals and birds and abstract forms drawn from the ancient artefacts of other cultures. My awareness of her sculpture stems from the 1980s when she was beginning to make her name as an artist of note. Her figures, animal and bird sculptures were economically carved, capturing the essential characteristics of their nature or habit. A subject may appear to be soft, although the profile would be sharp as her sense of curve and rhythm – still her hallmarks – tell of form as well as the incongruity to be found in birds or beasts. The surface of her sculptures, whether worked in stone or bronze completes her vision. Bronze is a covert material which may mimic characteristics way beyond its intrinsic qualities, in Bridget’s hands communicates the essence of her subjects outside the purely pictorial. When I eventually got to know her through being invited to write about her work, Bridget was already in her seventies and working very well indeed. Through our contact I became impressed by her determination, by her modesty and her unwavering aim to succeed. In her youth, she was a strong student with the possibility of future success. However, her marriage to a naval officer and then bringing up her family put her career on hold. When time allowed, she kept her interest and commitment to her art alive through visiting museums across the world, wherever her husband’s duties took them. She observed and thought about sculpture and made drawings. Her flowering as a sculptor came when she had time to concentrate on making and greatly encouraged by Elisabeth Frink, her store of ideas spilled out into work that expressed a deep understanding of nature, of history and of the economy of form. When writing for Touch and Time I was moved by Bridget’s honest vision, her resolve and by the immense support she received from her then ailing husband. Captain Robert McCrum was a critical supporter and without doubt her greatest admirer, closely followed by those who collect or commission her work, and also those who are privileged to write about her. Ann Elliot Author of Touch of Time, April, 2014
2. Poignade
kilkenny and carrara marble 173 x 64 x 25 cms 681⁄8 x 251⁄4 x 97⁄8 ins
‘We have long admired Bridget’s work and surround ourselves at home with smaller pieces inside, each of which evoke movement and flow. Probably our favourite is an abstract sheep and lamb – all tenderness. Outside we have birds to gaze over the valley and to protect the rose garden. A hawk sits on top of a granite plinth gazing over the field down the valley. Bridget is part of our lives and we love her work and admire all that she does to give life to stone and bronze’. Will Hobhouse
5. Knife Birds
bronze - an edition of 6 225 x 145 x 31 cms 885⁄8 x 571⁄8 x 121⁄4 ins
52. Migration over Gozo 3 charcoal 56 x 76 cms 22 x 297â „8 ins
53. Migration over Gozo charcoal 56 x 76 cms 22 x 297â „8 ins
54. Autumn Flight
charcoal, acrylic and gesso 102 x 72 cms 401⁄8 x 283⁄8 ins