Sculpture dubbed 'Angel of the South' appears in Devon town for Christmas
Topsham has become the temporary home of a new sculpture dubbed the '12ft Angel of the South'.
It is made from a huge piece of driftwood found on Exmouth beach by artist Brendan Rawlings, and was moved to St Margaret’s Church in Topsham on Monday 30 November for the Christmas period.
Brendan, the creator and artist of Zen Wood Design, is fast developing a far and wide reputation for creating stunning sculptures.
In February, he took an imposing 6ft crouching male angel with wings to Exmouth beach for the day. The artwork, entitled Your Guardian Angel, was created after Brendan was asked to replicate a wall piece angel into a 3D life-sized sculpture for an exhibition. It was made using bits of driftwood from Devon and Cornwall.
Now he has doubled his efforts by creating an angel twice the size.
Brendan said: "I have erected the 12ft sculpture in Topsham to help footfall in the town over Christmas in the wake of Covid-19.
"I would like to thank the Love Topsham team for helping me to install it."
Explaining why he enjoys creating angels, he said: “My interest in angels began when I saw a painting of an angel about 10 years ago and loved it. I painted a version of it and it just popped in my head one night that an angel would look amazing in driftwood.
“I started it off without a plan and it turned out really well. An angel symbolises so many things including strength, protection or losing a loved one."
The response to the sculpture has already been huge and very positive on social media with comments including, 'breathtakingly incredible', 'absolutely stunning', 'amazing', and 'beautiful'.
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