Creativity has enveloped Fen D'Lucie's life. Her parents are both artistic so as she grew up their knowledge was absorbed.
Fen developed a feel for both clay modelling and drawing from an early age.
"I have fond memories of modelling animals from clay and producing wobbly pots on the wheel in my mother's pottery workshop.
The smell of damp clay even today conjures images related to this time: rows of drying pots on shelves, glazes being stirred in large buckets,
the heat from the kiln and the excitement of waiting for the heavy kiln door to open to reveal a prized creation.
I still have a Robin that I made for my father, which he kept in his studio, now handed back down to me and perched in the rafters of my studio!"
Fen naturally gravitated toward art, undertaking Art History and Drawing at college in Somerset.
On leaving college her art was put on hold for many years as she worked for employers in unrelated streams.
In the early 2000's she returned to drawing and painting for her own pleasure.
Fen continues painting in oil for dog commissions today.
(See Menu Bar > Dog and Equine Portraits)
A large proportion of Fen D'Lucie's life has been spent in Dorset where she continues to live and create her works.
In 2016 she took early retirement allowing time to diversify in medium and attend clay sculpture courses in Somerset and Devon.
Further courses in wax modelling in Dorset enabled learning from a range of styles and teachers.
Inspiration for Fen is never too far away from the living world, whether wildlife - fur or feather - or human figures with what she describes as their "inexhaustible range of gestures".
Fen loves to observe form. Utilizing various elements of previous employment, but particularly Personal Training,
she applies her deep understanding of anatomy and physiology of the human body in her sculpture.
"... portraying people's energy as they express life is a distinct joy for me.
The stretch of a neck, that exerts tension along fascia tissue down through the torso, which in turn supports the movement in active muscles at the top of the legs.
We are nothing in isolation. One movement sparks energy to another area and my passion is expressing those lines of connectivity; the body moving as one."
Fen's creations evolve in different ways.
Sometimes they form from planned designs where she will make metal armatures to support the desired position.
Other times no internal framework is used and the form seeps straight from her mind as she teases out shapes from a lump of clay or wax,
not knowing in advance where the suggestion of limbs will take the pose.
"It is a pleasure to indulge in one's own thoughts, capturing that mental energy in durable forms."
Fen's ultimate choice for her sculptures is to cast in Bronze.
All work on this site is copyright (c) Fen D'Lucie.
Website (c) Mick Grant 2007 - 2022