Heather Jansch was a British sculptor best known for her driftwood horses, these big, almost breathing creatures that felt alive in a strange way. She’d been sketching ponies since she was little, studied art at Walthamstow and Goldsmiths, then moved to a Welsh hill farm with musician Bert Jansch. Breeding Welsh Cobs and painting them taught her every tiny detail of how horses move and behave.
By the early 80s she wanted more spark in her work. Wire and plaster didn’t cut it, they felt kinda flat. Driftwood changed everything. She found pieces on Devon beaches and suddenly the shapes fit together like they were waiting for her. Her sculptures started showing in bigger galleries, and the Shape of the Century show led to the Eden Project inviting her in.
The Eden Horse became her breakout piece, a huge driftwood stallion that visitors adored. Because driftwood doesn’t last outdoors, she spent years figuring out how to cast her sculptures in bronze without losing that raw, weathered feel. She kept exploring too, making horse heads, dancers, and these bold “warrior women” from wood, copper and whatever objects felt right.
Heather spent her later years in Devon, living in a converted coach house surrounded by woodland where she opened her gardens to visitors. People wandered through the trees finding her sculptures tucked into the landscape. She showed her work across the UK and abroad, wrote books, and inspired loads of artists. After she passed in 2021, Devon Open Studios created an annual award in her name to honor the warmth and creativity she always shared.