Lloyd Le Blanc obituary | Sculpture

My father, Lloyd Le Blanc, who has died aged 85, was a sculptor who, with his wife, Judith Holmes Drewry, created a bronze foundry and studios in old farm buildings in the village of Saxby, Leicestershire.

Renowned for his works depicting flora and fauna, Lloyd used his expertise with bronze to create a range of large, exciting pieces, exceptional in their scale and technical brilliance. Unusually he was involved in every phase of their making, from the initial modelling in clay through to the finished bronze. He also cast in his foundry for many other artists.

Among Lloyd’s biggest champions was the chef Raymond Blanc, who, from the 1980s, commissioned a number of his sculptures to adorn the gardens at his hotel, Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons in Great Milton, Oxfordshire, including a giant artichoke that stands in front of the main building.

Born in Boston in the US to Frank LeBlanc, a shipwright and fisherman, and Regina (nee De Comeau), a housekeeper, Lloyd spent his early years in Nova Scotia in Canada before a move back to Boston. After secondary schooling there he gained a fine arts degree at Yale University followed by a master’s degree at the same institution.

Lloyd then moved on to become a lecturer at Connecticut art college, where he met Judith, a student from Britain. They moved there, and Judith studied at Norwich School of Art while Lloyd worked as a welder on oil rigs in the North Sea, then taught sculpture at Falmouth College of Art in Cornwall.

Returning to the US, they headed for San Francisco, where they built a foundry on a beach and just about managed to make a living by selling their sculptures. In 1972, by which time they were married, they decided to go back to the UK to settle permanently on Judith’s family farm in Saxby. There they created the Le Blanc Fine Art foundry, working as full-time sculptors and running the foundry business together, while also establishing a sculpture garden at Saxby that was open to visitors.

After Judith died in 2011, Lloyd turned to making smaller pieces, but he never stopped working: from his first bronze pour when he was 16 to his last at 85.

Outside his art he enjoyed tending to his kitchen garden, cooking, and discussing politics. He was a great storyteller and made Saxby a special, welcoming place for friends, family and artists.

Lloyd is survived by his two children, me and Peter, and a granddaughter, Jenna.