Tess Wilmot

Devon born Sculptor Tess Wilmot interprets domestic and wild animals in cast stone. Following creative work in Europe in the 1980s and 90s, Tess returned to her roots at Cleeve, in the Erme Valley near Ivybridge, setting up her Riverside Studio in 1994.

Tess likes to use local stone, when possible, the black is Delabole Slate and the grey is Dartmoor Granite but the white is Cararra Marble. Tess creates tactile sculptures with realistic markings with her distinctive method of bonding the natural-coloured stone within each figure, rather than painting the colours on afterwards. Each piece is finished by hand being rubbed down with wet and dry sandpaper so the surface is silky smooth and then polished to bring out the natural colours of each grain and fleck of stone so they gleam like wet pebbles. Each piece is important to Tess, so even when they have very fine detail or texture, they always feel wonderful to touch.

Tess's reputation for making extraordinary cats has grown over the years. The larger pieces are limited editions and the variety of different colours and markings makes each cat extra special and individual. Each Tabby and Tortoiseshell cat has distinctly different markings, just like every cat! Tess says, "I take my inspiration from the wildlife that lives in this beautiful part of Devon and each cat shape is named after cats I have known over the years. My studio is surrounded by my organic perm culture garden. I like to have some of the sculptures in the garden - one of the large sitting cats keeps the birds away from my raspberries in the summer and the badger peers out from the bushes!

Grey sleeping kitten