Whanganui artist Peter Shepherd creates African animals for commission

Artist Peter Shepherd with his rhino and three giraffes. The third giraffe is for his wife, Debby. Photo / Paul Brooks

Peter Shepherd has long been known for his functional art, turning the oddest of things, like brass band instruments, into something equally useful, like a standard lamp.

Using various metals and discarded materials, Peter can turn his hand to any skill required to create his art.

Now, he has transformed steel rods into animals of the African savannah.

It's all for a commission Peter received from Neil Oldfield, from Marton.

The original brief was for one giraffe ... then two. And then Neil asked if Peter could make a rhino.

"I decided to do the biggest one, which is the white rhino: 4.5m long and 1.9m at the shoulder."

Even though the rhino is a hollow structure, its living weight is obvious. The presence of each animal, curved steel rods and multiple spiral shapes to add body, is immense.

The giraffes are tall and graceful, at 3.6m, while the rhino rumbles with mass and heft.

"I did them in the spiral shapes — if giraffes and rhinos were native to New Zealand, maybe they'd be covered in koru shapes — so I went with that," says Peter.

Anatomically accurate, with quirky components, the animals are destined for Neil's big garden in Marton. Neil has given Peter free rein regarding size, look and eventual location.

"Quirky, without being gimmicky," says Peter. "I didn't want to get hung up on too much detail — I wanted to have a bit of fun with it."

Using 12mm steel rods for the structure and 6mm for the koru and other "details", Peter has created substance without filling in the spaces.

"With the spirals, because they're welded together, it allows you to mould and curve. So you don't need too much of a structure, and it allows you to bring it to life."

He says excessive detail might make the sculptures technically correct, but you can lose the essence of what you're trying to create.

"The spirals create movement, which is quite a cool thing to have in a sculpture," says Peter.

The rhino is getting galvanised, being a white rhino.

"He'll come back shiny, but eventually go grey." The giraffes have developed a sepia patina through natural oxidisation, and that's the way they will stay.

The animals are exactly how Peter envisaged.

Peter took the rhino to Palmerston North to get galvanised, and has since been informed the plating firm is entering it into an international galvanising award.