Theakston arrives at forms of this kind by carving, not modelling. He transfers a drawing onto a solid block of Herculite plaster and cuts it back with chisels, saws, surforms and files until the volume is established, reducing the bird to its essential structure. From the finished plaster a mould is taken, and the bronze is produced by the lost-wax method at Castle Fine Arts Foundry in Wales, where he has worked for a number of years. A flexible mould of the plaster master yields a wax copy, which is encased in a ceramic shell and fired so the wax is burnt out, then filled with molten bronze; once cooled, the shell is broken away and the surface is finished and patinated by hand. He works in editions and applies the chemical patina to each cast individually, which accounts for the variation in colour across the body.

The reduction of form is the defining feature of Large Turnaround. Theakston pares the barn owl back to its essentials, dispensing with plumage, wings and feet so that the whole bird is carried by a few continuous, unbroken surfaces. This economy of form concentrates all attention on the essential character of the species: the head is distilled to a near-flat plane, broken only by the ridge of the facial disc and the two incised eyes, while the body becomes a single swelling volume of remarkable purity. The interplay between the angular, geometric face and the smooth rounded mass of the torso gives the form its presence, and the polished surfaces draw the light across broad, uninterrupted areas, allowing the silhouette and the patina to express the bird. The reduction is total, yet the owl is unmistakable.