About The Artist
Roger Coolbear is a Hampshire-based sculptor and the artist behind Rusticmania, creating highly detailed wildlife, figurative and imaginative sculpture in wood, steel and mixed media.
My work has always been driven by a fascination with wildlife, anatomy and the challenge of turning an idea into something three-dimensional.
Although chainsaws are an important part of my process, I don't really think of myself simply as a chainsaw carver. Depending on the sculpture, I work with chainsaws, traditional carving tools, pyrography, paint, steel fabrication and other materials to achieve the detail and character I'm looking for.
Commissioning a Sculpture
I work from my studio near Romsey, Hampshire, creating private commissions, public art and site-specific sculpture.
If you have an idea — whether it's a wildlife sculpture, a standing tree you'd like transformed, or something rather more unusual — I'd be very happy to hear about it.
Art, Nature & the Wild Life
Nature is at the heart of much of my work. Birds of prey, owls, horses and other wildlife have become recurring subjects, alongside more unusual commissions ranging from mythical creatures to large-scale dragons.
Every commission presents a different problem to solve. Sometimes that means working around the natural shape, grain and imperfections of a piece of timber; sometimes it's designing a sculpture around a standing tree; and sometimes it's combining carved timber with fabricated steel or sculpted concrete.
That problem-solving is one of the things I enjoy most.
From Dragonflies to Dragons
My work ranges from small, highly detailed wildlife pieces to large-scale private and public commissions.
Recent projects include Faẽla the Wickham Dragon, carved from a standing beech tree in Hampshire, and public wildlife sculptures commissioned by local authorities, including a White-tailed Sea Eagle for BCP Council and a Kingfisher for Test Valley Borough Council.
I've also created bespoke work for private gardens, schools and community spaces, with each sculpture individually designed for its location and the people who will live with it.
Recognition
My work has been exhibited at Bankside Gallery in London, and my life-sized steel dragonfly received the Royal Miniature Society Visitors' Choice Award.
But some of the most rewarding reactions happen after a sculpture has been installed — seeing people stop to look at a public piece, children discovering it, or hearing that something I've made has become part of a local landscape.
Commissioning a Sculpture
I work from my studio near Romsey, Hampshire, creating private commissions, public art and site-specific sculpture.
If you have an idea — whether it's a wildlife sculpture, a standing tree you'd like transformed, or something rather more unusual — I'd be very happy to hear about it.