Usually big designs materialise because of a commission, but sometimes I just want to play. The osprey paper sculpture was such an example of my playing, and is my largest one so far. I’ve made other big pieces for commission, but none as a regular member of the menagerie, like this guy. He’s 50 cm from beak to tail, and about 40 cm tall on his tree stump.

Ospreys are one of my favourite birds of prey. I love their long, expressive neck feathers, making them look like some sort of friendly dilophosaurus (those neck frilled little dinosaurs from Jurassic Park). I am also mighty fond of their giant, fluffy legs.

My favourite pose of the osprey is the dive they make while fishing; feet first, 30 metres in the air, wings tucked into a perfect arrow shape. However, I didn’t think that would make the best position for my sculpture, so I settled for a pose standing to attention. Their legs are long and, when stood, they look fairly straight, their ankle and knee hidden in their belly plumage. (If you’re thinking; Kate, I can clearly see the ankle just by the toes; that is not their ankle. Birds do not have a backwards facing knee. Their knees and ankles bend the same way ours do, you probably just don’t notice the knee, because it’s often hidden by plumage. They do have backward facing toes though, for grip and balance.)

It took a fair amount of time to collage and cut out the white tipped arrow feathers along his back, tail and wings! I don’t think these markings are quite so distinct all year round, but I thought it looked rather fancy. And Mr Osprey deserved to be fancy. This particular guy was destined to be displayed at The Hub in Sleaford, and as such he could not be above a certain height for display purposes. I think if I wasn’t working under such restrictions, I would have made his tree stump larger. He’s very stable on this one, but I think it would aesthetically balance better.

I wish I’d taken more photographs as I worked on him, but documenting my work as I go tends to rather take away my momentum. Recently a fabulous potter I follow on Instagram, Lucy Baxendale, explained why she would no longer be posting so many making videos, as it distracts her from her design- a rather personal interaction between herself and her materials. It is always nice to show how things are handmade, but it can feel rather performative for social media, rather than fly-on-the-wall documentary. And when I’m making, I’m not really thinking about who else might want to see my progress. So I hope these little snippets will do!

I’ve wanted to make more birds of prey for a while, and I’ll be adding to this collection. I definitely think a golden eagle and a kestrel should be on the list. Still waiting for the day an American customer commissions a bald eagle! Wouldn’t that be fun!