St John the Evangelist - Sculpture for Heron's Ghyll church. In making and designing the sculpture of St John the Evangelist for Heron's Ghyll church, I tried to illustrate as many aspects of the saint's life as I could and to express the effect on the body and face of the saint himself.

The sculpture was to stand in front of a very large wall. I decided that with such a wall, I should hang the sculpture on it so that, like the island of Patmos on which St John was exiled, the sculpture was also surrounded by nothing and isolated in its position.

From his isolated position, the sculptured saint emerges from a rocky matrix, his island crag. Immediately above the saint rests a large eagle, its wings extended, protective and vast. The eagle has its beak to the saint's ear as if communicating with him. The eagle is symbolic of the heights of inspiration that St John received when writing. To further emphasize this notion, the eagle's left wing has a feather missing and this missing feather is to be seen in St John right hand, being used as a quill. The eagle's vast size is also to show what St John was 'shouldering' with his sudden knowledge. The eagle's wings are also configured so as to create a funnel between them which filters light down onto the head of the saint.