Swans getting airborne is no small thing - it has to run flat out across the surface of the water, wings hauling, feet slapping down one after the other, until it has built enough speed to lift. This piece catches that moment of take-off, the point of most effort rather than the ease of a bird already in the air, with the wings working and the body straining forward across the water. I sculpted it after watching the swans take off and land down at Abbotsbury in Dorset, where the whole business of getting such a large bird into the air plays out in front of you.

It is cast in white bronze, an alloy with a higher nickel content that gives the metal a pale, silvery appearance rather than the usual warm brown, which suits the swan and its white plumage. It is a limited edition of only six, each cast signed by the artist and supplied with a certificate of authenticity.