A Dutch-born artist’s sheet metal sculptures are available to see in the grounds of Whitaker Park in Rawtenstall until next May.

The hare, cow, and dog have been installed on the lawn outside The Whitaker Museum and Art Gallery and they have been created by artist Marjan Wouda using computer aided design (CAD).

The largest is the hare standing at 3.6m tall and is the first sculpture to be spotted from Haslingden Road.

Marjan, who has a fascination with folklore, said: “The characters in these stories have a timeless character that speak to us through the ages.”

Entitled ‘Familiar’, Marjan’s three sculptures and other indoor sculptures will be added to the exhibition from February 25 to May 7, next year.

Marjan says she "loves having her work placed in the landscape," where people can engage with them at their leisure.

She enjoyed the challenge of making complex three dimensional forms out of a thin, flat material, soon discovering that paper was the perfect medium with which to explore, test and play. Learning to CAD allowed her to design works at scale and communicate with the metal cutting industry.

Visitors to Whitaker Park can access an audio-recording of a re-telling by Jacqueline Harris of each of the three stories that inspired the sculptures via the QR codes on the sculpture labels or by searching: The White Dobbie, The Dun Cow, or Dandy and Skriker on YouTube.

Sir Hare is one of 77 different names listed in a 13th Century poem the ‘Names of the Hare’. It is made of Corten steel and is protectively weathered by rust.

Dandy – the dog – was the name given by one of the so-called Pendle Witched James Device to his dog-familiar. The sculpture is also influenced by a ‘Skriker’ a wolf-like dog associated with the night and it is fabricated from stainless steel and given a black patina finish.

Finally, the Dun Cow – tells the story of a gigantic cow in the Forest of Bowland who would generously provide milk to all, until one human took too much. The sculpture is made from mild steel that has been left to develop a red-brown surface.

The artist has thanked the following companies for their generous support on her artistic journey.

  • Castle Fine Art Foundry
  • Arts Council England
  • The Making Rooms, Blackburn
  • Steel Dynamics, Blackburn
  • The Cardboard Box Company, Clayton-le-Moors
  • The Whitaker Museum and Art Gallery for hosting the exhibition

For more information visit www.marjanwouda.com or her instagram www.instagram.com/marjanwoudasculpture.