JWS Logo Artwork

About Joel Portrait Sculptor, based in South Wales "My great enthusiasm for portrait sculpture is largely due to childhood visits to waxwork museums and attractions of a similar nature. I was absolutely captivated by depictions of fascinating, legendary characters, and how tableaux can be used to tell stories. In the years that followed I made repeated visits to Tussaud's (both Madame and Louis), Tunnels Through Time (Newquay), Flambards (Helston), Trocadero Rock Circus, The London Dungeon, to name a few. I collected museum paraphenalia and became quite the wax museum connoisseur! In 2010 I decided to take my lifelong interest a step further by studying the wax head creation process at City Lit under the instruction of Tussaud's artists. I came away after four weekends with a rather frightening wax life-cast of my own face, with eerie wisps of real hair punched in! I decided then to enrol on a course taught by renowned sculptor Luke Shepherd, whose bronze busts of politicians I had seen in local museums. The course was absolutely fantastic, and gave me the opportunity to hone my sculpting skills and learn about bronze resin casting.