Shearing of the Ram

The ‘Shearing of the Ram’ sculpture on Federation Way at Lowesdale was officially launched on Wednesday 27 March. In attendance were Councillors and staff of the Federation Council, Artist Andrew Whitehead, and students and teachers from Lowesdale Public School.

 

Artist Andrew Whitehead was commissioned by Federation Council in 2018 to create a life size replica of a shearer using blade shears to shear a curly horned ram, inspired by the famous Tom Roberts Shearing of the Rams painting.

 

The iconic Shearing of the Rams painting is based on a number of preliminary sketches Roberts completed on the spot at Brocklesby Station near Corowa in the late spring of 1888.

 

As part of the commission the artist met with the students from Lowesdale Pubic School last year requesting that each student collect and donate an old cast iron cog to the project. The student’s initials were then carved into their clog before the artist included them in the fleece of the ram in the sculpture.

 

The ' Shearing the Ram' sculpture was installed late last year in front of the school and is already proving to be a popular tourism spot to pull off the road and take a selfie with the shearer.

 

Andrew is a scrap metal sculptor specialising in recycled large figurative artworks. He has created ten public artworks and many private commissions including ‘Swagman & Dog’ at Boree Creek, ‘Not so Itsy’ the giant spider at Urana, Morundah’s ‘Toolbox & Jockey,’ and the ‘Savannah Goanna’ recently installed at Urana. Andrew’s sculptures are largely made from recycled metal, offcuts, old tools, bearings, nuts and bolts, and hand forged objects. People can follow Andrew’s Whitehead Sculptures  from his website.