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The best-selling bronze artist in the world, and known to his many fans around the globe as the ‘Frogman’ – because of his favourite subject – Tim left school at 15 after his mum was told by a teacher that he’d never amount to anything (“I’d like Mr Middleton to see me now,” he laughs. “Although to be fair to him, I was a complete pain in the you-know-what!”).
He started his career with six years of training as an electrical engineering, before deciding it wasn’t for him, much to his father’s horror: “You’re giving up a good pension, son,” he told the 21-year-old.
‘But nothing in life is ever wasted,” says the charming and chatty Tim, now 68. “I’m still using some of the skills I learned then.”
It’s hard to imagine how when you look at his brilliantly coloured, sinuous frog sculptures. They’re as far removed from the brass tacks of engineering – and from construction, landscaping and stonemasonry, Tim’s subsequent, and typically varied, careers – as it’s possible to be.
But this resourceful, creative artist – who’s never had any formal art training – has woven his many skills together to create a unique technique that results in bronzes which, while heavy in the hand, are visually ethereal.
![Tim Cotterill Frogman Arrow](https://images.artmarket.co.uk/images/news/frogman-tim-cotterill-is-a-renaissance-man-and-the-best-selling-bronze-artist-in-the-world-IG8MF9.jpg?w=1000)
He uses the classic ‘lost wax’ technique to mould the bronzes, which is over 2000 years old – a silicon mould is filled with wax to create a maquette which is then coated in a ceramic material to produce a second, heavy-duty, mould capable of holding the molten bronze.
But that first silicon mould is made from his original ‘master’ which is built from metal and – believe it or not – car body filler.
“I learned how to acetylene gas weld at the age of 20,” he says. “Believe me, I can make a gas torch talk!
“I start out by making a metal armature, welding rods together and using ball bearings to make the frog’s little toes.
“Then I add car body filler. We call it Bondo over here in the States; in the UK, it’s known as P38. It’s very strong – I can work on it with steel files, taking it off, putting it on, until I get the result I want.
“I then add two or three coats of primer, and rub that down until I have a perfect finish – the silicon mould will pick up even the tiniest imperfection, so it has to be absolutely right.
“Most bronzes are big, chunky lumps of metal: maybe a torso, or a head. Mine are airy – I can even sculpt orchids in bronze – because of the materials I use.”
Tim’s frogs come in a remarkable range of colours and patinas, ranging from the subtle to the vibrant, but he’s a little cagey about that process.
“My foundry is great – they experiment all the time with chemicals, with dyes, with pigments to create all sorts of finishes. You look at a poison dart frog, which has brilliant colours because of all the frog’s toxins – the foundry can recreate that colour.”
Tim’s frogs attract passionate collectors from around the world – on one gallery visit recently, he met 12 couples who between them had over 3,000 of his pieces.
“They’re genuine hot-cast bronze, not cold-cast, which is essentially resin with bronze powder. So you’re buying a piece of real quality, something that can be handed down through generations.
“And they’re very addictive. They have big eyes, and feminine curves – they’re actually rather sexy, if you can say that about a frog!”
Tim lives and works happily alone in his compound – a ‘funky barn cabin’ is how he describes it – in LA’s artistic enclave, bohemian Venice Beach. When he’s not creating covetable works of art, he turns his hand to designing remarkable vehicles – his extraordinarily futuristic Rocket II Trike features on the Emmy Award-winning show Jay Leno’s Garage and the YouTube video – which has so far attracted well over a million views – is well worth a look.
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