About Bill Prickett SWLA
Bill’s work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Mall Galleries in London; Wells Art Contemporary at Wells Cathedral, where he received a People’s Choice Award; The Maraee Exhibition in Bahrain; and numerous galleries across the UK. He has also exhibited with the Royal Society of Marine Artists and the prestigious David Shepherd Wildlife Artist of the Year, where his work was shortlisted every year from 2011 to 2022 and was awarded the David Shepherd Wildlife Sculpture of the Year Award in 2012. His sculpture Preening Peregrine won the Art Prize at the Festival of Falconry in Abu Dhabi. He is an elected member of the Society of Wildlife Artists, part of the Federation of British Artists.
Bill’s sculptures have been sold through major auction houses such as Christie’s and Sotheby’s and now reside in private collections around the world, including the Ömer Koç Collection in Istanbul and the Royal Collection of Bahrain. While he continues to develop his artistic practice (using new and innovative materials such as plywood and acrylic) some of his time is devoted to private commission. If you are interested in commissioning a piece, please visit the commissions page—Bill is always happy to discuss ideas and possibilities.
From Working with Animals to Sculptor
Bill brings a rich and varied background to his artistic practice. Born in Kent, UK in 1965, he was determined from an early age to work with animals. At 17 he began his career at Windsor Safari Park, marking the start of 15 years of international work and exploration.
His career led him across the globe—from expeditions in Australia, Congo, and Borneo to volunteer work with organisations such as the Pacific Whale Foundation in Hawaii, where he assisted with humpback whale research. In Congo, he volunteered at a gorilla orphanage and spent 6 weeks in the rainforest tracking lowland gorillas in their natural habitat. In Scotland, Bill supported Cambridge and Loughborough universities in their studies on dolphin echolocation. While backpacking in Australia, a carving of a great white shark—crafted with a penknife and later sold to a gallery—provided the funds for further travel to Borneo and offered an early glimpse of a possible future in the art world.
Ten years later, Bill committed full time to sculpture. His early works were carved from wood – a material which is not only beautiful but relatively cheap and easy to access, and he loved that he could to take something of relatively low value and turn it into something precious. Although he now produces work in many materials including bronze and stone, wood, (including in the last 15 years, plywood) is a material that continues to be a major part of his practice.
In recent years, Bill has become increasingly inspired by the abstract forms found in the environment as well as other elements of the natural world such as maths and physics. This evolution is reflected in works such as Pinned, Collapsing Spinnaker and Strange Attractor.
Artistic Approach
“My aim is to portray aspects of the natural world, sometimes through accurate representation, and at other times by capturing the essence of an animal’s behaviour or character. An important part of the process is selecting the material that I feel best highlights the movement or texture I want to emphasise. This might be through the figuring in the grain within a piece of interesting timber (such as “Octopus III”) or the contemporary medium of plywood that has a unique beauty all of its own (for example “Spanish Dancer”‘).
Craftsmanship is also very important to me and I have spent many years honing my carving skills. I enjoy pushing the material as far as I can, and developing new ways of working with my chosen materials.
For my limited edition bronzes I work with a small family run foundry here in Kent, and the quality of their work is excellent”
BIll now lives in Kent, UK with his wife Lesley who is also an artist.