A Biographical Sketch of a Paleo Artist

From a very early age, Dunedin-native Shaun Bolton was fascinated by dinosaurs. Then, at age 10, he came face-to-face with a conundrum – dinosaurs were long extinct, yet there they were; living, breathing, walking around and fighting each other and man, on the motion-picture screen. The movie was Ray Harryhausen’s The Valley of Gwangi, and Shaun’s life was forever changed.

In the ensuing years, he learned about the stop-motion process used to bring long-dead creatures to life and developed his drawing and sculpting skills, much influenced by Willis O’Brien’s masterpiece, the classic King Kong which he has seen over 150 times.

Eventually, Shaun’s art and stop-motion animations secured him a position at Wellington’s Weta Workshop, where he worked on the sculpture and design team on the Lord of the Ring trilogy, the remake of King Kong, and The Water Horse.

It should also be noted, that while Shaun keeps up with the new discoveries and theories, he remains a dedicated classicist!

Join us as Shaun discusses his life-long fascination and work with dinosaurs and the paleo world.

Seating limited and venue capacity strictly adhered to – we appreciate your understanding