Bulls

Running bull: bronze, 33cm high, 57 cm long

Angry bull: bronze, 10cm high, 20cm long

The bull has long symbolised masculine power and virility. It is unpredictable and untameable, heavily muscled but admirably quick on its feet. In myth and legend it is seen as a beast both terrifying and beautiful, the protector and destroyer, one respected by all. Running Bull' (left) was sculpted directly from life, using rough clay dug up from the farm the bull lived on.

The small Angry Bull (below) was made later, from imagination. The original was in wax. It was the first time Deborah van der Beek had tried modelling in wax, a technique she is now developing.