JD Ross (Birth name Johannes Daniel Lombard), grew up wanting to be in the bush rather than at school. He spent time studying the habits of the wild animals, tracking and observing them with enormous patience, and learnt many of the ways of the bush from the Shangaan people he was living amongst.

His journey started by making animals out of clay as a child. JD Ross then started sculpting under the tutelage of Bobbie Lawrence – learning the practical parts of building an armature and using his welding skills to build the structure that the wax could be placed on. He has been sculpting for the last 30 years, doing more and more after the sudden death of his oldest son. His first large sculpture was a large eagle with wings spread that was put up at Izak’s grave.

Over time, he started to incorporate the collected driftwood that his wife would bring home after her walks in the bush with her dogs.

After travelling through much of sub Saharan Africa by road, he now lives in his favourite area: the Okavango Delta.

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Actual colours may vary slightly from the images shown, due to lighting when photographed, and colour variations in monitors and on phone screens.