Sculptor Ray Lonsdale left frustrated after he says original artwork is copied without even a credit

But South Hetton sculptor Ray Lonsdale has been left frustrated after he says one of his original sculptures has been replicated thousands of miles away in New Zealand.

Back in 2010, Ray was commissioned by late businessman Alasdair Houston MBE, who helped turn Gretna Green into the UK’s wedding capital, to create a striking piece to stand in front of the famous Blacksmiths.

Entitled The Big Dance, it shows a male and female hand in a loving embrace, made using Ray’s trademark material of corten steel and has since formed the backdrop of countless wedding photos.

Ray said: “I was contacted by someone in New Zealand who saw a post by a sculptor called James Wright who had been commissioned by a family who had visited Gretna Green. They asked him to make the sculpture they had seen there.

“My wife did write to him and said it was a copy of her husband’s work, but he said he had never heard of me and claims it is an original work.

“I’m not sure on the laws around this, but it’s so annoying because it just confuses people more than anything else. I don’t want people googling my work and finding his, and vice versa. I don’t know why he would want that as an artist either.

“Alasdair, who commissioned the original Big Dance piece, had a lot of input in the work. It’s supposed to be an original work of art and he is not here anymore to defend it. Even I wouldn’t replicate it again, and I made it.”

You can see the similarities in Ray’s post here:

The artist added: “If you’re going to try and replicate an artwork at least change it somehow. I put a post on my Instagram about it and didn’t want to preempt opinions, but everybody can see it’s a clear copy.”

Moving forward, Ray said: “I don’t want to see it destroyed or anything or to see the family lose their sculpture, but just to recognise it is a copy of The Big Dance would be a first step.”

Ray is one of the area’s most-respected artists with his striking works including Tommy and Coxswain in Seaham, Gan Canny in Keel Square, the recently unveiled shipbuilding sculptures in St Peter’s Riverside, Fiddlers Green in North Shields and many more around the country.

Next week, he will unveil another new piece, commissioned by Bell’s Fish & Chip shop in Seaham. Standing three metres tall, it will show a miner’s head and is set to be another landmark piece for the East Durham town.

Artist James Wright has been approached by the Echo for comment.

The meaning behind The Big Dance

Based on the first date that leads to a lifelong romance, the words on The Big Dance are:

“It was a night club in some or other city, when she caught him looking at her.

She said ‘Hey you! You need to buy a ticket if you want to just stand and stare. But if you want to talk, then I’m prepared to listen and maybe we can have some fun.’

They laughed out loud but neither had the notion that the big dance had just begun.”