(From Jenni and Trevor Campbell.)

On our way home from our holiday in Northern New South Wales, we called in to meet Chris Fussell, the sculptor who is making Donald’s giant kookaburra.

And what an interesting visit it proved to be. Chris lives at Pokolbin in the Hunter Valley, and is surrounded by vineyards. He and his artist wife, Frances, bought 25 acres there just after they were married, and Chris proceeded to build the family home, making his own mud bricks. 

In the meantime they lived in their art studio for seven years till the house was finished. 

He and Frances have two daughters, one living on the Sunshine Coast and one living nearby. Sadly Frances passed away two years ago from brain cancer. 

Not only is Chris a sculptor, but also an artist. He trained for five years at Art School in Sydney and his studio is filled with hundreds of his and Frances’s paintings. Chris mainly paints landscapes, whereas Frances concentrated on flowers and still life subjects.

Chris has our kookaburra well on the way and hopes to be able to bring it to Donald in the spring. 

He says it will take a couple of weeks to install, as it needs to be firmly anchored into the ground with cement and the body of the bird will also be filled with cement. We look forward to meeting up with Chris again when he comes to Donald.